Whether you are hitting the road for the holidays, traveling for work or pressed for time, it’s possible to build muscle with at-home workouts. Inbar Naor-Maxwell, M.S., ACSM EP-C, EIM2, an exercise physiologist at Piedmont, shares her tips for a safe, effective home workout.
“Exercising at home is really good for people who don’t have a lot of time,” she says. “Many studies show that time is often the number one reason people give for not working out. If you only have 30 minutes, fitting in a workout at home can be time-efficient.”
Before you start an exercise routine at home, Naor-Maxwell highly recommends meeting with a certified fitness professional, ideally an exercise physiologist. A fitness pro can:
Help you determine the right exercise routine to meet your goals
Tailor your workouts to address injuries or other chronic conditions
Teach you proper form so you get the best results and avoid injury
Fitness equipment to build muscle at home
Naor-Maxwell suggests starting with your own bodyweight or resistance bands since they are lightweight and affordable. Moves like pushups, lunges, squats and planks require no equipment and can be done anywhere. You can advance the moves by adding the resistance band.
Once you have established a regular workout routine, you might consider investing in:
An exercise ball
A TRX strap
Dumbbells
Kettlebells
As you gain strength, you can challenge yourself by increasing the weight you lift or by decreasing the length of your resistance band.
“Bicep curls, for example, are harder to do with a shorter resistance band than with a longer band,” she says.
What to know before trying online workouts
“These days, anyone can post fitness videos online,” says Naor-Maxwell. “Be cautious with what you find online – not everything is safe and if you have injuries, you don’t want to make them worse. It’s really important to research your source and even run it by someone with exercise experience.”
The best exercises to build muscle at home
“I’m a big fan of circuit training,” she says. “Circuit training can give you a great workout anywhere, whether you’re at home, in a hotel room or at a park.”
She suggests choosing eight to 10 resistance training/strength exercises and performing each move for 30 to 45 seconds, or 10 to 12 repetitions. Once you’ve gone through all of the moves, repeat the circuit twice more for a total of three rounds.
How to get the best results from home workouts
“You can build muscle at home if you do it the right way,” says Naor-Maxwell.
To get the best results from your home workouts, she recommends to:
Start slowly. If you are new to exercise, slowly work your way up to higher reps or weight.
Warm up first. “Always warm up first with dynamic movements, such as high knees, butt kicks and arm circles,” she advises.
Wait 48 hours before working the same muscle group again. Try a total-body workout three times a week or target your upper body twice a week and your lower body twice a week on nonconsecutive days to get the best muscle-building results and prevent injury.
Incorporate cardio. While strength training is crucial for bone health and injury prevention, cardiovascular workouts keep your heart and cardiovascular system healthy, increase your endurance and can help you lose weight.
Work opposing muscle groups. Opposing muscle groups include the abs and back, biceps and triceps, and quadriceps and hamstrings. “We see lots of people working their abs because they want a six-pack,” she says. “But you have to make sure to work your back as well. We start to see lower back pain in people who have strong cores and weak back muscles.”
Stretch. “When you stretch, you increase your range of motion around your joints,” says Naor-Maxwell. “When you aren’t flexible, you won’t perform the moves correctly and won’t get the best results.”
Change up your routine every three months. “Our bodies can get used to a workout routine and we might stop seeing results,” she explains. “I recommend changing the exercises, order, number of reps or amount of weight.”
Take at least one day off a week. This gives your body time to rest so you get more from your workouts.
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FAQs
Fitness equipment to build muscle at home
Is it possible to build muscle at home? ›
With the right training programs and proper diet, building muscles at home, even without weights, is achievable for most people. Working out regularly can help you not only build muscles but also aid in overall health and well-being.
What is the fastest way to build muscle at home? ›
Perform bodyweight exercises like pushups, squats, planks, and lunges to build muscle mass without weights or gym equipment. Use household objects like gallons of milk, heavy books, or home dumbbells (if you have them) to aid with upper body and arm workouts.
Is it possible to build muscle without weights? ›
Since no special equipment is required, you can do bodyweight exercises just about anywhere. You're likely already doing bodyweight exercises (push-ups, squats, lunges, planks, and burpees) as part of your workout routine. But you can also build muscle and strength doing bodyweight exercises.
What foods help build muscle? ›
To maximize muscle growth, a clean bulk is better than simply eating high calorie foods. This may include a well-balanced diet of healthy fats, carbohydrates, and proteins. Some foods include chicken, shrimp, eggs, salmon, brown rice, quinoa, sweet potatoes, and fruits.
How many pushups per day? ›
Doing 100 push-ups a day can be an impactful element of your overall strength-building and -maintaining routine. And you don't need to be at a gym to do them. “It's a quick and efficient way to strengthen some upper body muscles,” Rad says. “It is a bodyweight move that can be done virtually anywhere.”
What grows muscle the fastest? ›
Compound exercises like squats, deadlifts, presses, and pull-ups will help you gain muscle more efficiently and increase your strength. You'll also maximize your time in the gym by working several muscles at a time. Make compound exercises the core of your workout, and add some isolation training when you can.
Should you workout every day to gain muscle? ›
It's not necessary to lift weights every day, and if you do, you increase your risk for overuse injuries and overtraining syndrome. For most people, strength training two to three times a week is sufficient, but if you prefer to split training different muscle groups, then you can train up to five days a week.
Which muscle grow easily? ›
Muscle Groups That Grow Fast
Leg Muscles (Quadriceps and Hamstrings): Growth Rate: Fast. Reasons: Heavily engaged in daily activities like walking, running, and squatting. Compound movements such as squats and deadlifts provide strong stimuli for growth.
What will 500 pushups a day do? ›
It will build strength in your triceps, pectoral muscles and core. If that's what you mean by "help", then yes. Making time to get 500 pushups per day into your exercise might appear to be overwhelming, yet it very well may be finished.
Walking won't build large muscles. But it can help you increase lean muscle mass and functional strength. If you want to challenge your muscles, you have to walk at a high enough intensity. Try increasing your speed or adding resistance exercises to boost your walking workout intensity and strengthen your muscles.
Can you gain muscle just by eating protein? ›
Protein is important, to be sure. After all, your muscles are made of protein, and your body requires adequate protein in your diet in order to have the building blocks it needs to build up muscle mass. But protein alone won't do. You need to pay attention to the rest of your diet and exercise routine as well.
What is the number one thing to build muscle? ›
The solution is to lift weights — often enough, long enough, and heavy enough. "Weight training is the best way to keep the muscle mass you have and even increase muscle mass you may have lost with aging," says Shawn Pedicini, a physical therapist at Harvard-affiliated Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital.
What is the hardest part to build muscle? ›
Calves are often either the most complained about muscle to build mass or the most overlooked. Either way they often pose more of a problem compared to other muscle sets. And there's an actually a reason behind why they are so challenging. The anatomical configuration of the calf muscles resists the act of hypertrophy.
What body type is the hardest to build muscle? ›
Ectomorphs have a difficult time putting on muscle mass because their metabolism has a tendency to run higher than other body types. In the fitness terms, they are often called “hard gainers” for this very reason.
How long does it take to build muscle at home? ›
The longer and more consistently you work out, the more your strength gains will come from true muscle growth. Most beginners will see noticeable muscle growth within eight weeks, while more experienced lifters will see changes in three to four weeks.
Can your body build muscle without exercise? ›
Protein also builds muscle, so by adding a substantial amount of protein into your diet it will help your body develop muscle through your daily activities, such as walking, performing basic household tasks like vacuuming, and lifting general household items.
How can I make myself muscular? ›
Weight training for 20 to 30 minutes, 2 to 3 times a week is enough to see results. You should try to target all your major muscle groups at least twice throughout your weekly workouts. While you may not see results right away, even a single strength training session can help promote muscle growth.
Can you build muscle with dumbbells? ›
Dumbbell exercises are ideal for creating hypertrophy if you want to put on size. This is done by overloading muscles with rep ranges 8, 10 or 12. If you want to focus on just building muscle and strength, focus on 8-12 rep.
