The Best Home Exercises For All Levels

Get fit in your front room with these beginner, intermediate and advanced home exercises.

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.

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. 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. 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. 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.

Intermediate Home Exercises

Plank raises

Start in an elevated plank or top press-up position with your arms straight and
elbows locked. 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. 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. Complete one press-up, bring your feet back into the low squat position, and jump as high as you can.

Advanced Home Exercises

Kettlebell swing

Stand with both hands on the kettlebell. 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. 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. 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.

Written by Nick Harris-Fry for Coach and legally licensed through the Matcha publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@getmatcha.com.