The Best Home Exercises For All Levels

Every workout environment has its advantages. Gyms are well stocked with every kind of fitness equipment along with experts who can guide you through your workout, while exercising in the great outdoors offers you the chance to get in touch with nature and enjoy some sun in the process. The main advantage of home workouts is that you don’t have to go anywhere for your exercise, saving time and ensuring you can slip in some training the moment you have the motivation.

If you are going to work out at home, however, you need to have a plan because it is highly unlikely that there will be a personal trainer standing by ready to tell you what to do (and if there is, do make sure you ask them what they’re doing in your house). So to help you get fit at home we enlisted Optimum Nutrition athlete Dom Heap for his picks of the best beginner, intermediate and advanced home exercises. We’ve added a few of our favourites, too.

Before we go into the exercises it’s important to remember that every home workout should start with a warm-up. Heap recommends five minutes of jogging on the spot followed by five 20-second rounds of star jumps, with 20 seconds of rest between each round. Then you’re good to go.

Beginner Home Exercises

Unweighted squat

“Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and turn your toes out slightly,” says Heap. “Put your arms out in front of you and engage your abdominals while broadening your chest and gently pulling your shoulder blades together.

“Bend your knees slowly while pushing your hips and glutes out behind you as if you are about to sit down. Lower until your knees and hips are parallel, then push back up through your heels to the start position.”

Pike press-up

“Assume a press-up position with your arms straight and hands under your shoulders,” says Heap. “Walk your feet towards your hands, keeping your legs straight until you form a V-shape. Once in this position, slowly bend your elbows so your head goes towards the ground. Go as low as you can, then press back up, locking out your elbows.”

Crab walk

“Start by sitting with your hands on the ground planted behind your shoulders,” says Heap. “Raise your hips until both your hands and feet are flat on the ground. Once in this position, proceed to walk both forwards and backwards, making sure you brace your shoulders as you move.”

Plank

This simple hold should be one of the first exercises a beginner masters because it will do wonders for your core strength. It’s also ideal for those starting out at home because all you need is the space to lie still.

To do a plank, support your weight on your forearms and your toes, and form a straight line with your body from your shoulders to your heels. It’s all too easy to lower your hips too much or raise your rear too high. Get someone to check your form if you can, but failing that do it in front of a mirror so you can correct yourself. Perform the plank for a set period of time – for instance, three sets of 20 or 30 seconds.

Intermediate Home Exercises

Plank raises

“Start in an elevated plank or top press-up position with your arms straight and
elbows locked,” says Heap. “Making sure you’re looking forwards, slowly raise one arm out in front of you, bringing it up to eye level. Then lower it without planting it back on the ground and repeat the movement until you have to stop. Then do the same on the other arm. You can also try raising your arms to the sides as well as forwards.”

Resistance band squat press

“Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart,” says Heap. “Step on one side of the resistance band and grasp the other side of the band with your palms facing up and out. Bring the band up until your hands are in line with your shoulders with your elbows bent. This is your starting position.

“Squat down until your knees and hips are parallel to the floor, then push back up and press the band overhead until your arms are extended. Bring the band back down to the starting position in a controlled manner and repeat, making sure your feet stay in place throughout the movement.”

Burpee

“Start off in a low squat position with your hands on the floor, then kick your feet back so you’re in a press-up position,” says Heap. “Complete one press-up, bring your feet back into the low squat position, and jump as high as you can.”

Mountain climber

It may be easy to master, but this full-body exercise is versatile enough to put it in the intermediate bracket. Place your hands on the floor directly beneath your shoulders, arms fully extended, with your toes being the only other contact point to the ground. Your body should form a straight line from your shoulders to your heels. If you’re struggling to do this, take a step back and use the plank to firm up your core first.

Once you’re set up, bring one knee towards your chest, leaving your other foot planted on the ground for support, then return it to the starting position and bring your other knee to your chest.

Whether you perform the move slowly and deliberately or at pace is up to you. The faster you go the harder your heart will work, giving you a cardio workout, while slower movement holds greater benefits for your core and abs.

Press-up

A staple of any home workout once you’ve reached a middling level of fitness, a press-up with good form will not only work your chest, triceps and shoulders, but tax your glutes, core and legs as well.

Place your hands on the floor directly below your shoulders – the only other contact point with the ground should be your toes. Keep your legs straight and ideally together – moving the legs apart is a means of making the press-up easier. Once your hands and feet and in position, ensure your body is straight by bracing your glutes and core to keep your frame stable. Lower slowly, ensuring your elbows are tucked in, until your chest is around 2cm from the ground, then push up until your arms are fully extended. Try to take one second to push yourself up, but three seconds to lower.

Advanced Home Exercises

Kettlebell swing

“Stand with both hands on the kettlebell,” says Heap. “Lower yourself into a squat position and allow the kettlebell to swing slightly back between your legs, then explosively drive your hips forwards, swinging the kettlebell out in front of you. Engage your core and glutes throughout the movement. The kettlebell should come up to around eye level, then control the swing down and repeat the movement.”

Kettlebell press

“Start by holding the kettlebell in one hand at shoulder height,” says Heap. “Let the kettlebell rest on your forearm and keep your elbow close to your body. Make sure your feet are firmly planted on the ground to provide stability. Brace your abs and glutes, then drive the kettlebell up over your head, fully extending at the elbow. Bring the kettlebell down slowly and repeat. Do all reps on one arm, then switch to the other.”

Kettlebell jump lunge

“Hold the kettlebell with both hands next to your chest and stand tall,” says heap. “Step forwards on one leg, lowering your back knee into a lunge position. Drive up with both legs and jump. Switch your legs while airborne and land on the ground in the lunge position with the other leg forwards.”

Burpee pull-up

Burpees are no-one’s friend, but a burpee pull-up is just a straight-up bully. Stand beneath a pull-up bar, drop to the ground and complete the standard burpee movement. Once you’re back to standing, jump up and grab hold of the bar. Complete one controlled pull-up, lowering slowly to a dead hang, then return to standing. That entire action counts for one rep. HAVE. FUN.

Diamond press-up

What seems like a small change makes a press-up much more difficult by moving the focus away from your chest and to your triceps. Rather than placing your hands directly under your shoulders, bring them together, with your forefingers and thumbs touching so they form a diamond shape on the floor. Keeping your elbows tucked in to the sides of your body, lower slowly until your chest is as close to the ground as possible without touching it. Then push back up powerfully.