Fitness Day One

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Exercise

How Did Robert Costa Lose Weight?

If you’re wondering if Robert Costa lost weight, the answer is definitely yes.

Showing off a slimmed-down face and trimmer upper body, the political reporter has shown it is possible to shed pounds and live a healthier life, even with a busy working career.

Costa has shared very little about his weight loss journey with the public, but he has given a few tips surrounding his approach.

Diet First. Exercise Second.

When speaking about living on what he calls the “Campaign Diet” for several years (hamburgers and other fast foods), Costa said that simply changing his dietary habits created a world of a difference in shedding the pounds.

This may not sound like rocket science, but what’s interesting is how realistic Costa’s approach to a healthier diet can be for everyone.

Simply put, make gradual changes over an extended period of time. Don’t try to lose the weight overnight.

For example, Costa mentioned eliminating cream and sugar when drinking coffee. For some, drinking black coffee might take some getting used to, but it won’t be hard when you consider a sugar packet can have 40 calories and creamers can be north of 50 calories per serving.

Imagine easily eliminating 90 calories from your diet every day just by making this simple change?

And for those who really can’t do black coffee, there are some great zero-calorie syrups you can try that will add some additional flavor.

Or maybe you aren’t a coffee drinker but drink a lot of regular soda. Switching to diet soda can easily erase a ton of calories that you normally consume. For example, a 12 oz can of regular Coke has 140 calories (with 39 grams of sugar), while the same size can of Diet Coke has 0 calories.

While some may argue the negative effects of soda altogether, as a soda lover myself, I can personally attest to the weight loss that comes with switching to diet soda. The taste took a bit getting used to, but now I only drink diet. I also personally find Diet Dr. Pepper to be the easiest to start drinking first.

By eliminating roughly 100 calories from your daily caloric intake by making a simple change like adding zero-calorie sweeteners to coffee or drinking diet sodas instead of regular, you could potentially lose 12 pounds a year without doing anything else.

Slowly Add More to Your Routine

The great thing is, you can keep slowly changing other things in your routine in conjunction, which is exactly what Costa did.

He started by simply just taking a walk every day.

Walking a mile a day could potentially burn another 100 calories. This could lead to possibly losing another 12 pounds in a year. Combine that with removing sugar and cream from coffee, and that’s potentially 24 pounds lost in a year.

And if getting out and walking a mile seems too daunting at first, then start with half a mile. Or work on just adding extra steps to your day. Park further away in the parking lot. Walk up the stairs instead of taking the elevator. Walk around the house while brushing your teeth.

Or try something like circuit training if you’re looking for a better caloric burn.

Anything to get your body moving and calories burning.

These are the little things that almost certainly helped in Robert Costa losing weight (although I can’t confirm he walked around while brushing his teeth).

Start small. There is no rush to weight loss.

Enjoy the journey.

Hack Squat Machine vs. Barbell Hack Squat [Simple Guide 2020]

Whether you’ve been doing hack squats for a while or you’re new to the exercise, you want to know how machine hack squats and barbell hack squats stack up. Maybe you’ve only had the chance to try one style so far. But which is actually better for you?

The machine hack squat and barbell hack squat look like two completely different exercises but they truly work toward the same goal. In this article, we’ll dive into the difference and the pros and cons of each.

What is a Hack Squat?

The hack squat is a variation of the squat which places the weight low and behind the lifter, providing different benefits than the traditional barbell squat, where the weight is usually placed across the shoulders.

The hack squat is a targeted lower body exercise that can be performed using a hack squat machine or a barbell.

Using a machine to perform hack squats requires specialized equipment. A hack squat machine requires the user to lay back at a 45-degree angle and use leg drive to move a weighted sled. Since there’s no other machine that can really fill this function, you have to have a hack squat machine in your gym to perform the exercise without a barbell.

Using a barbell to hack squat is performed by placing a weighted barbell behind the legs and lifting the barbell off the ground. Think of it like a deadlift except the weight is behind your legs instead of in front.

What Muscles does the Hack Squat Work?

The hack squat targets the quadriceps. Specifically, the hack squat targets the muscles in the front of the thigh. A good set of hack squats will leave your quads burning from the workout.

While quadriceps also activate the glutes and calves, the primary focus of the exercise is on the quads. However, the hack squat is a compound exercise that uses several joints and muscle groups due to the hip hinge motion. It works several large muscle groups, especially when performed with a barbell.

Machine vs. Barbell

When you look at someone performing a hack squat using a machine, then someone doing barbell hack squats you’d be forgiven for thinking they’re doing completely different exercises. Side by side, the two exercises look nothing alike.

The machine hack squat and barbell hack squat may look completely different but they work toward the same goal. Let’s break each lift down a bit further so you can try both variations for yourself.

How to Perform the Machine Hack Squat

Proper machine hack squat form is crucial in order to target quadriceps muscles and protect your knees from injury. Here’s how it’s done:

  • Place your back against the hack squat machine. Retract your shoulder blades and keep your back straight.
  • Place your feet about shoulder width apart. By placing your feet a bit further forward on the footplate you will ensure that when you sink into the squat you move into a sitting position. If your feet are placed too far back (heels close to the ground) your knees will be pushed forward over your toes at the bottom of the squat, which places unhealthy strain on your knees.
  • Grip the machine handles. Press up and unhook the safety bars.
  • At a slow, controlled rate sink down into a squatting position (your thighs should be parallel or lower). If your thighs do not reach at least parallel your leg muscles will not fully engage, and you’ll be cheating yourself of the hack squat benefits.
  • Push up fully, but do not extend or lock your knees.
  • Repeat for the desired repetitions.

Benefits of Machine Hack Squat

The benefits of machine hack squats are definitely worth the effort. Although the machine hack squat is similar to the barbell variation it does some things more effectively than its free weight cousin.

  1. Exclusively target quadriceps to encourage muscle development.
  2. Can be performed with one leg to correct or prevent muscle imbalances.
  3. Correct foot placement on the machine can prevent knee injury more easily than free weight exercises.
  4. Exclusively targets leg muscles, so any upper body injuries or weaknesses that could hamper leg the exercise are taken out of the equation.

How to Perform Barbell Hack Squat

The barbell hack squat is a totally different beast than the machine hack squat. If you’ve only performed one variation, review the rules of form before trying the other style.

  • Place a barbell with appropriate weight behind your legs. Warm up with an empty bar. Then, begin training with about half the weight you would deadlift.
  • Place your feet shoulder width apart. It’s okay to for your toes to point outward at about a 30-degree angle.
  • Make sure the barbell is not too close to your lower legs. While you don’t want to allow the bar path to travel far from your body, it can be very painful to scrape your Achilles tendon on a knurled barbell.
  • Get into a squat position. Make sure to push back into a sitting position. Do not allow your knees to push forward over your toes.
  • Grab the barbell with either a double overhand grip or a hook grip (one overhand, one underhand).
  • Lift the weight. To do this, drive up through your legs while keeping your feet flat on the floor. Keep your back straight and straighten your waist at the same time you straighten your legs.
  • At the top of the hack squat, the barbell should be at the back of your thighs just below the glutes.
  • Slowly lower the bar back to starting position on the ground.
  • Repeat for desired repetitions.

Benefits of Barbell Hack Squat

The barbell hack squat is a compound exercise, providing benefits that go beyond just the lift. Here are a few benefits of barbell hack squats that the machine version doesn’t share:

  1. Engages stabilizer muscles to complete the lift. These small muscles used during free weight lifts protect and strengthen joints.
  2. Engages back, shoulder, and forearm muscles, as well as leg muscles,  to complete the lift.
  3. Because it uses several muscle groups, the barbell hack squat triggers increased testosterone production, which enables even more muscle and strength development.
  4. Trains and improves form for other foundational exercises such as deadlifts and regular squats. If you’re struggling with standard squats, add hack squats into your routine and you’ll blast through plateaus.

The Verdict: Machine or Barbell?

Both machine hack squats and barbell hack squats are great lower body exercises. They can be a welcome addition to leg day when finding the motivation to lift can be a bit more difficult.

While you may want to know who wins in a head-to-head comparison of machine hack squat vs. barbell hack squat, the answer is truly situational. While you may choose one today, your decision might change tomorrow.

Here are reasons to pick one over the other.

When to Choose Machine Hack Squats

Machine hack squats sacrifice some of the benefits of compound exercise that engage several muscle groups but there are several occasions where you may choose to go the machine route.

  1. Injury/Rehab: If you’re recovering from a lower-body injury (such as knee injury), or have been battling back injury, machine hack squats can be a great starting point. With correct foot placement, they help reinforce good form and keep you safe.
  2. Rebalancing Muscles: While many lifters hail the benefits of free weight and compound exercises, the truth is compound exercises give you the most opportunity to overcompensate with stronger muscles and neglect weaker ones. This can happen despite your best efforts. Performing single-leg machine hack squats can help correct these deficiencies.
  3. Accessory Lift: If you’re performing a routine with several heavy compound lifts, a machine hack squat can be the perfect addition to round out the workout. Beginning a leg workout with squats and deadlifts is draining, and performing another heavy compound lift can result in bad form due to tired muscles. Machine hack squats come in as a great isolation exercise to add to a routine like this.

When to Choose Barbell Hack Squats

Barbell hack squats won’t isolate the quadriceps as completely as the machine lift, but they provide a host of compound exercise benefits. Here are the reasons you might opt to add some barbell hack squats next time you lift.

  1. Activate Several Large Muscle Groups: The barbell hack squat is a total body exercise. The compound movement of hip hinge, leg drive, and back straightening works the body from head to toe. Fully tensing muscles at the top of the lift fires the glute muscles. Maintaining grip on the weight while keeping your shoulders back works the shoulders and trapezius. If your program lacks compound exercises, add the barbell hack squat.
  2. Improve Squat and Deadlift Performance: Squats and deadlifts are two of the most foundational exercises in any lifter’s arsenal. As such, they’re two that lifters struggle with most often. Facing a plateau in performance can be frustrating. Barbell hack squats use the quads, glutes, and hips slightly differently than back squats and deadlifts, but increased strength and muscle control here will improve your form and your potential in both of these exercises.
  3. Develop Stabilizer Muscles: Because free weights are after all…free, your body has to work harder to maintain control of the weight you’re lifting. Barbell hack squats have no track to guide them. You’ll be forced to engage small muscles in the legs, back, and shoulders to perform the exercise. This sort of exercise builds muscles that protect joints and prevent injury long-term, although they can be too strenuous when initially recovering from injury.

While we often preach the virtues of free weight, compound exercises at Fitness Day One, the fact is isolation exercises and machines can be just as valuable for overall health. If you’re doing hack squats of any kind you’re already miles ahead of the “chest and arms” lifters. Choose the right one for your routine and add some more horsepower to your leg day lift.

6 of the Best Benefits of Boxing for Weight Loss [and More]

Boxing workouts are fun, fast-paced, tough, and provide amazing weight loss results. Whether you’re slugging through a heavy bag routine, doing some speed bag drills, or sparring with another boxer you’ll get a fat-torching workout.

However, that’s not all. Here are some of the best benefits of boxing for weight loss and why you should consider it for your fitness routine.

a women taking advantage of the benefits of boxing for weight

Burn Calories Fast

In a 1-hour boxing class, you can burn up to 450 calories. That number rises as you tackle other boxing workouts. Sparring or 1-on-1 sessions with a trainer can burn upwards of 800 calories, and fighters routinely burn over 1000 calories during a match. The number of calories you burn while boxing puts it in an elite class of cardio exercise alongside intense running and biking.

Keep in mind, a caloric burn is the number one key to losing weight through exercise. By burning more calories than you take in during your meals, you put your body in a caloric deficit. In response, your body breaks down fat to create energy and fuel your activity.

Burn Calories at Rest

Like other types of high-intensity circuit training, boxing puts your body into the aerobic zone during the workout. Not only does this improve heart health, but it also has other benefits.

In order to repair once an intense aerobic workout is complete, your body needs to consume additional oxygen to refuel. This increases your metabolism at rest, putting your body into a sustained state of calorie-burning. Thanks to boxing, crucial you’ll be burning calories even on rest days!

Get a Total-Body Workout

So often, when people think of boxing they only consider the upper body. If you haven’t boxed before you’re probably most concerned with throwing punches. Yes, when you’re punching your way through a heavy bag routine your arms and shoulders to get an intense workout, but there’s a lot more to boxing than that.

Boxing is a whole-body sport. You’ll be on your toes and moving the entire time you’re hitting the bag, which is part of what makes a boxing cardio workout so intense and rewarding. Add in “slip” and “under” moves and you’ll be getting quite a leg workout. It’s almost like doing bodyweight squats while running and punching. After your first boxing workout, don’t be surprised if your calves and thighs are almost as sore as your shoulders.

Improved Muscle Tone

One of the great benefits of boxing exercises for weight loss is that you’ll naturally see more of your muscles as you shed weight. Muscles that were there all along will be more apparent as you burn calories and trim fat.

In addition, boxing builds incredibly toned muscle. It does this by 1) requiring the use of large muscles in both the upper and lower body to power your punches, and 2) engages all of the smaller stabilizer muscles to perform the precise actions required for boxing. This will give you that ripped and toned look you’ve been seeking. Look to see the first changes in your shoulders, arms, and calves.

Build Skill and Confidence

Often when we talk about workouts we focus only on the body. We ask “Is boxing good for weight loss?” or “Does boxing build muscle?” and stop there. While the answer to both of these questions is a resounding yes, it also pays to think about your emotional well-being.

There’s an immense sense of satisfaction in seeing yourself improve in boxing. Whether it’s finally nailing a combination of punches that was too advanced for you on day one or stepping into the ring for your first sparring match, you can feel real progress happening.

Your own confidence will rise, knowing that you can take care of yourself and that you’re in top condition—although we should note that we absolutely do not condone looking for a fight! When we weigh the pros and cons of boxing it’s important to note that a sense of satisfaction and stress relief is often cited among the biggest motivators for those who put on the gloves.

Did we Mention Abs?

Most boxing programs contain a lot of ab workouts. This stems from a long boxing tradition. Fighters in the ring know they’ll be taking punches to the stomach and that the best way to absorb these blows is with strong, tensed abdominals. It’s not uncommon to end a boxing training workout with a series of ab-specific exercises.

Combine a good ab workout with the cardio burn of boxing, which works wonders to burn belly fat, and you’ll see why boxing for fitness is known to deliver rock hard abs.

Boxing at Home

Boxing training at home workouts is a great way to begin. In fact, you can start to learn boxing at home without any equipment at all.

Start with Shadowboxing

To begin shadowboxing, stand in front of a mirror, get up on the balls of your feet, and begin throwing punches.

You might think shadowboxing is silly or useless, but it’s actually an important part of training for fighters. Shadowboxing teaches you to recover when you miss with a punch, which is something you won’t get from a punching bag cardio workout. As you progress in boxing you’ll continue shadowboxing, so the skills learned here are crucial.

Get a Bag and Gloves

If you have space at home, a heavy bag is a great investment for your home gym! We’ve already done a review on some of the best punching bags on the market. With a heavy bag, you can begin your own at-home boxing training. Set it up in a space where you can move freely around the bag (about 5–10 feet of clearance on all sides) so you’ll have room to continuously move and throw punches.

Some hand wraps and a great pair of boxing gloves are the next necessities. While they primarily protect your hands from injury, they’ll also allow you to throw harder punches, resulting in an even better workout.

At Home Boxing Workout

Below is a great 1-hour beginner boxing workout you can perform at home or in any boxing gym. It’s guaranteed to burn a bunch of calories and have you come out the other side ready to face anything.

  1. 10 minutes cardio warmup (running, jump rope, biking)
  2. 5 minutes active warmup (jumping jacks, burpees, bodyweight squats)
  3. 3 minutes of punching the heavy bag
  4. 1-minute rest
  5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for 10 rounds. Try mixing up your punches, from hard and heavy, to quicker punches. Make sure to work in jabs, hooks, and uppercuts.
  6. 30 seconds hitting the bag as hard as you can.
  7. 30 seconds hitting the bag as fast as you can.
  8. Repeat steps 6 and 7 with 1 minute of rest between rounds. Repeat 3 times.
  9. End with some light stretches.

Find a Boxing Gym Near You

If you’re not sure you want to commit to buying a heavy bag and gloves until you know boxing is for you, boxing exercise classes are a great place to start. Many of them offer a free first class to newcomers and they’ll set you up with all the gear you need on day one.

Here’s how to get started:

Pick the Right Gym for You

As mentioned before, a good gym should offer deals for newcomers, as well as a welcoming atmosphere. Having an expert wrap your hands on day one and show you the ropes can make a big difference in whether you want to stick with boxing.

Make sure the gym you go to is clean and organized. Also, a good beginner gym will have experienced instructors. If the gym you’re looking at has youth and children’s boxing programs that’s usually a good sign. It means the people there love to teach and are focused on fostering a lifestyle of health and fitness.

Come Prepared

It’s okay not to have specialized boxing gear. You don’t need to show up to your first boxing class with gloves and a mouthpiece. To begin, a pair of athletic shoes, shorts, and a t-shirt are fine. But you should check the class schedule beforehand to see what time boxing classes begin.

It also pays to show up early on day one. You should plan to arrive 10–15 minutes before the class starts to sign any waivers, get fitted for gloves and wraps, and get your bearings. It’ll make the first class more comfortable for you.

Boxing isn’t as Intimidating as you Might Think

Movies might depict boxing as a down and dirty sport with tough people working out in old-school gyms, but the reality is much different. You can box at home and get a great fat-burning workout, with punching a single piece of meat, a la Rocky.

Most professionals who own gyms work to build a positive atmosphere and love to welcome newcomers. If you step in looking to get a great workout and lose weight, you’ll find you’re surrounded by plenty of people who share the same goals. With so many boxing workout benefits it’s definitely worth a try!

Wide Grip Lat Pulldown: The Total Back Workout

The lats, or latissimus dorsi, are the broadest muscle in the body. The wide grip lat pulldown is one of the best exercises to work this muscle.

Your lats begin just below your armpits and run down to their lowest connection point just above the hip bone. Because of their size and prominence, the lats generate a huge amount of power and contribute to a well-built physique.

You might be wondering how to get wide lats. The key is an exercise that isolates and develops this muscle. We’re talking, of course, about the wide grip lat pulldown.

What Muscles do Wide Grip Pulldowns Work?

The wide grip lat pulldown may primarily be a back exercise, but there’s more to it than that. A thorough understanding of the muscles we work during lat pulldowns helps us optimize the workout for results.

Primary Muscles

It’s right there in the name—wide grip lat pulldown—the lats are the muscles most targeted during the exercise. The wide grip lat pulldown targets the largest back muscles. When done correctly there’s probably no exercise that works the lats better.

The wide grip lat pulldown machine really encourages good form, making sure you use your lats completely and don’t rely on secondary muscles. This sort of over-reliance on secondary muscles can sometimes happen when doing other back exercises, like pull-ups.

Secondary Muscles

There is a laundry list of secondary muscles worked during the lat pulldown. Below, they’re listed in order of how much work they get during the wide grip pulldown, from most to least.

  • Biceps brachii – Behind lats, the biceps are probably worked the most during wide grip cable pulldowns.
  • Teres major/teres minor – The muscles just below the armpit.
  • Posterior deltoid – Muscles at the rear of the shoulder.
  • Infraspinatus – Layer of muscle over the shoulder blade.
  • Trapezius – Muscle that runs from your neck to your shoulder. Also includes the muscle that runs between your shoulder blades.

As you can see, not only are the lats worked hard by the wide grip pulldown, but also several muscles in the arms, back, and shoulders are incorporated. The wide grip lat pulldown allows you to work several muscles in one exercise, providing a lot of benefits in one motion. Having these sorts of multi-muscle exercises in your routine is key to building total fitness.

How To Do Wide Grip Lat Pulldowns

Now that we know what muscles are targeted during the wide grip pulldown, let’s dive into how to do them correctly. Maintaining good form will ensure you get the most gains out of your workout with the least risk of injury.

How Wide is the Grip?

Since we’re talking wide grip pulldowns, the first thing we need to tackle is the grip, right? First, when you sit down at the lat pulldown machine you’ll want to grip the pulldown bar with your palms facing away from you.

Second, your hands should be more than shoulder-width apart. Do a classic double bicep flex in the mirror. See where your elbows are? Your hands should be at about that width on the pulldown bar.

In fact, most pulldown bars have a downward bend toward each end. A grip just above or just below this bend is usually optimal. You can go with whichever feels most comfortable for you, but we recommend gripping just above the bend. This will give you a bit more stability and provide a perfect grip that activates the lats completely.

Set Your Shoulder Blades

It’s important to focus on bringing your shoulder blades down and back while gripping the lat pulldown bar. A good way to think about this is to imagine putting your shoulder blades “in your back pockets.”

This causes your back muscles to come into play more fully and also allows you to generate a lot more power during the lat pulldown. If you’ve been doing lat pulldowns without retracting your shoulder blades you’ll be amazed at the difference you’ll feel in your back muscles. You’ll also see the amount of weight you lift rise almost instantly.

Keep Your Back Straight

There’s a tendency to lean back while performing the wide grip lat pulldown. This can cause you to cheat by levering with your lower back, which is a dangerous use of those muscles.

Leaning back also focuses more on the muscles of the upper back and robs your lats of a great workout. To work on your upper back muscles you should be doing another foundational back exercise: the bent over row.

Concentrate on keeping your back straight throughout the motion of the pulldown, as if you’re sitting with perfect posture. This will ensure your lat muscles are worked from top to bottom.

No Half Reps

When You perform your lat pulldowns, make sure to get the most out of each rep. Pull the bar all the way down until it touches your chest, just below the collarbone.

At the bottom of the rep try to really pull your elbows down as far as they’ll go. At the same time squeeze your shoulder blades together. This muscle contraction will work the trapezius muscle between the shoulder blades and ensure you’re doing the exercise correctly.

Control the Weight

When you’ve completed the downward portion of the rep, slowly straighten your arms and guide the bar up. Don’t simply let the bar pull your arms up or you’ll lose out on the essential eccentric contraction phase of the exercise.

By maintaining form and keeping your shoulder blades down and back throughout the exercise you’ll naturally control the weight more confidently. With this focus, at the top of your rep, your arms will remain slightly bent and your body won’t feel completely stretched and “starfished.” This is good. If your arms are extended and your shoulder blades are no longer pulled back, you’re out of position for your next rep.

By keeping your back muscles contracted, you’re able to really control the weight during the wide grip pulldown.

Why Do Lat Pulldowns?

Lat pulldowns are an excellent exercise for targeting the lats and maximizing their development. There’s a reason “lat” is right there in the name. But what makes them so important?

Build a ‘V’ Physique

For many, the dream is the V-shaped body that’s trim at the waist and widest at the shoulders. This is the classic lifter’s body. Someone who is fit but hasn’t built their body may feel like their hard work in the gym disappears when they put on a t-shirt. This is usually because they’ve started to develop some muscles but haven’t built their physique yet.

In order to build out that shape and size that shows off your fitness in day clothes, you have to build the back muscles. Because the lats are such broad muscles, they add the width and shape to your body. The wide grip lat pulldown is the exact workout you should be doing to attain this.

Balance Out the “Mirror Muscles”

There’s a tendency to get in the gym and focus on what we call “mirror muscles.” These are the ones you can see when you’re checking yourself out: biceps, chest, front delts, and abs. The thing is, all of these muscles are on the front of your body.

Think of your muscles like rubber bands. As you work them out, you make them thicker and stronger, even when you’re resting. If you focus on muscles on the front of your body—those mirror muscles—then they’ll become much stronger than the other muscles. Eventually, this puts an unnatural strain on your body.

Strong abs without a strong lower back pulls your posture down. Strong chest muscles without strong upper back and lat muscles turn your shoulders inward, causing poor posture and eventually leading to injury.

Lat Pulldowns for Total Health and Fitness

To combat muscle imbalances and remain healthy, as well as looking your best, it’s important to work the muscles you can’t always see in the mirror. Because the lats are such a large muscle, make sure to exercise them regularly. The wide grip lat pulldown a great way to maintain muscular balance, build the body you want, and turn heads in and out of the gym.

Best Workout Routine at Home (No Gym Membership)

There may be several reasons you want to pursue the idea of home workouts instead of a traditional gym membership. Several commons reasons for beginning a home workout routine are:

  1. You don’t have time to go to the gym.
  2. You take care of children or other family members and trips to the gym don’t fit your lifestyle.
  3. A gym membership doesn’t fit into your current budget.
  4. There are no gyms close to you.
  5. You don’t feel comfortable in the gym just yet and want to improve your fitness before you join.
  6. You feel that if you work out at home you will be more successful at sticking to your routine.

Do any of those reasons apply to you? Whether you see yourself in one of the entries on that list or not, it should be good news to hear that you absolutely can get an incredible workout at home that burns fat and builds muscle. Not only that, but there’s a variety of at-home exercises you can do without purchasing any expensive equipment.

Gym equipment used during a workout routine at home.

What Exercises can I do at Home?

When it comes to choosing workouts to do at home, the fact is you can do nearly any exercise available to you in the gym. With a few dumbbells and some creativity, you can tackle almost any exercise. However, you may not have any training equipment in your home. Let’s cover the best bodyweight exercises to do at home.

  • Body Weight Squats
  • Push-Ups
  • Body Weight Lunges
  • Glute Bridges
  • Prone Back Extensions
  • Planks

With these exercises, you’ll target all the major muscle groups—legs, arms, back, chest, and abs. If you perform 20 reps of the first 5 exercises followed by a 60-second plank, all with 30 seconds rest in between, you’ve got a great beginner home workout. Repeat that sequence for 20–30 minutes and you’ve just completed your first home exercise routine.

What cardio can I do at home?

This question comes up frequently when people ask how to create the best home workout plan—how can I do cardio without a gym? Even more importantly, how can I do cardio at home without purchasing any special equipment?

Create a Cardio Circuit

There are dozens of exercises to do at home that will boost your heart rate into the aerobic zone, work several muscles, and get you burning calories. The thing is, most of these workouts are best done for a short period of time, mostly because no one wants to do burpees for 20 minutes straight!

One of the best ways exercise at home is to create a cardio circuit. You can follow our aerobic-focused circuit training plan, which was created to be performed anywhere and requires no special equipment, or you can follow the simple cardio circuit laid out below.

Perform each exercise for 1 minute, followed by 30 seconds of rest. Repeat the circuit 2–3 times.

  1. Jumping Jacks
  2. High Knees
  3. Burpees
  4. Butt Kicks
  5. Jump Squats
  6. Skaters
  7. Jumping Lunges
  8. Mountain Climbers
  9. Long Jump and Jog Back
  10. Step Ups

If it gets too easy, lightly jog in place during the 30-second period between exercises to maximize your calorie burn.

Get into a Cardio Rhythm

Maybe a cardio circuit doesn’t appeal to you because you prefer the meditative Zen of a continuous workout. This type of endurance exercise may help you get into the zone and power through to your potential. While you may feel this kind of cardio experience isn’t possible without leaving the home, there are a few ways to achieve it.

While jogging in place and shadowboxing can be done in your home, one of the best cardio exercises for your home requires a very simple and inexpensive piece of equipment—a jump rope.

A good jump rope, such as this one made by Epitomie Fitness, can provide one of the best-sustained cardio workouts in or out of a gym. Start small, by jumping rope for a few minutes at a time with rest periods. Then, work your way up until you’re jumping rope 10, 15, or 20 minutes nonstop. Still, think jump rope is a kid’s game? In 20 minutes of jumping rope, you can burn up to 400 calories.

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What Exercises Can I Do at Home to Build Muscle?

A good home workout plan can include a wide variety of workouts, and by choosing the right exercises you can focus your home workout on muscle-building. Remember, your muscles aren’t built by the machines in the gym; they’re built by your effort and dedication.

Step Up your Bodyweight Game

Maybe you’ve mastered the bodyweight exercises we discussed above. Perhaps you’d like to try a few more strength training exercises at home. That’s no problem. Here are some great exercises, along with the muscles they target, that turn a basic bodyweight workout program into a strength training master class.

  • Bulgarian Split Squat – Start by putting one foot behind you on the seat of a chair. Then, bend your support leg until it’s in a lunge position and come back up. A great exercise to target your quads.
  • Pistol Squat – Essentially a one-legged squat with no support. This will improve both balance and leg strength.
  • Incline Push-Up – Perform this push-up with your legs elevated on the seat of a chair. Targets shoulders and upper chest.
  • Diamond Push-Up – Bring your hands together until the forefingers and thumbs of each hand touch, creating a diamond shape. This will blast triceps and chest.
  • Handstand Push-Up – Best done with your back/legs against a wall for support. You’ll get a great shoulder workout.

Invest in a Few Home Gym Essentials

While there are plenty of great workouts to do at home that don’t cost anything at all, you may want to consider some equipment to improve strength training workouts at home. If so, there are a couple of essentials that will take your home workout to the next level.

The first of these is the simple pull-up bar. Our pick comes from Iron Age. Designed to stay in place while you work out and not damage your home, this is exactly what you need. Pull-ups are one of the best exercises anyone can do. They provide an intense back and bicep workout and there are a number of variations that pinpoint different muscles.

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Our pick for the best home gym equipment would have to go to a set of adjustable dumbbells, like this from Bowflex. By adding a set of dumbells you not only provide yourself with the ability to perform a wider range of exercises, from bicep curls, to tricep kickbacks, to bent over rows, you also get the chance to add weight to your bodyweight exercises. Squats and lunges take on a whole different meaning when you’re holding dumbbells overhead during the exercise. Not to mention, trading in those handstand push-ups for an overhead press can be a welcome change of pace.

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How can a Beginner Start Working Out at Home?

The key is to just start. This article provides a great template to begin working out at home. By beginning with the fundamental bodyweight exercises listed at the top, you’ll have taken on one of the best workout routines for beginners at home.

From there, as your skills and confidence progress, try out the cardio circuit or add in a bit of jump rope. Soon, you’ll be trying out those advanced bodyweight exercises to create your own intense home workout. Just remember, the best home workout program is one that you can stick to and makes you happy with the results.