Home Workout Plan For Beginners
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You need a home workout plan for beginners? If you are new to fitness and just decided to start working out at home, things can seem rather confusing, but actually are quite simple: Compound exercises (those that work many muscles at once) and whole body workout routines will build your basic strength.
Equipment Needed?
As hinted, this beginner workout routine is designed for those of you that work out at home. It requires little to no equipment, not even a pull-up bar, even though pull-ups are an essential part of the plan. All you need is a place where you can do pull-ups, which doesn’t necessarily have to be a bar; this article has many suggestions for possible places where pull-ups can be done. If you do want to buy a pull-up bar, this one seems like a good deal to me
Before You Start
It is a good idea to get a check-up by your doctor, to make sure everything is a-ok and you are ready to expose your body to this form of stress.
Also keep in mind to ease into working out and to not expect miracles, if this is your first foray into fitness in your life or since the Berlin Wall came down.
The Workout Schedule
| Body Part | Exercise | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Chest / Triceps | 3 sets of push-ups, as many as you can do, with 60 seconds rest between sets | The exercise is explained in this video, which also contains pointers on what to do when you can’t do a full push-up yet. |
| Back / Biceps | 3 sets of pull-ups, as many as you can do, with 60 seconds rest between sets | If you don’t have a pull-up bar, this article has very many suggestions for possible substitutes. If you can’t do a full pull-up yet, this video will guide you from negative chin-ups to your first full pull-up and beyond. |
| Legs | Three sets of lunges, as many as you can do, with 60 seconds rest between sets. | An explanation of the exercise is right here. Start with no weight to learn the movement and then gradually add resistance, while making sure you keep good form. When you need additional resistance, you can use dumbbells or, if you don’t have any, milk gallons filled with water. |
| Legs (optional) | Three sets of hamstring curls, 6 – 12 repetitions, with 60 seconds rest between sets | If you feel your hamstrings don’t get enough work from doing lunges, you may add hamstring curls.They are explained in this video. |
| Abs | Three sets of crunches, 6-12 repetitions, with 60 seconds rest between sets | The exercise is explained right here. Note that the hands do not pull on the head; fixate a spot right above you when you do the movement. |
Every exercise is done slowly and with controlled form. For push-ups this means you go 2 seconds up and 2 seconds down. For pull-ups it means no swinging or kicking. There are no extra arm exercises because when you do push-ups and pull-ups you do exercise your arms.
Weekly Workout Schedule
Your weekly workout schedule differs depending on your goals: If you want to lose weight, more emphasis needs to be put on cardio, as it burns more calories than resistance training. If you are happy with your weight and mainly want to build muscle, the emphasis should be put on resistance training:
| Day | For Weight Loss | For Building Muscle |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Beginner Workout | Beginner Workout |
| Tuesday | Cardio, 30 – 60 Minutes | Cardio, 30 – 60 Minutes |
| Wednesday | Cardio, 30 – 60 Minutes | Beginner Workout |
| Thursday | Beginner Workout | Cardio, 30 – 60 Minutes |
| Friday | Cardio, 30 – 60 Minutes | Beginner Workout |
| Saturday | Rest | Rest |
| Sunday | Rest | Rest |
A Word About Cardio
A good cardio activity is anything – running, biking, dancing etc. – that gets your pulse to 50 – 75 percent of your maximum heart rate, which can roughly be calculated as 220 – your age. If, for example, you are 40 years old, then your maximum is 180 and your pulse during endurance activities should be between 90 – 135 bpm.
Do not neglect cardio, even if your goal isn’t losing weight. Cardio’s importance for a fit body is as big as that of resistance training.
If you already have a weekly activity that can be classified as cardio (tennis, squash, soccer etc.), build the above plan around it, otherwise decide on one which fulfills the above criteria and which you’ll enjoy and keep doing. Some tips on how you should start cardio are in this article.
Logging Workout Progress
To track how you are progressing in your workouts, it helps a lot to keep a workout log, where you write down when you did your sessions and how you peformed on each of the exercises. To make this task easy for you, I prepared a PDF that you can download, print out and get right started:
Workout Log – Beginner Workout (right click and choose “Save link as…”)
Beyond Beginner Workouts
Stay with this workout routine until you are able to do 30 consecutive push-ups and 7 consecutive pull-ups, which is my personal rule for dividing between beginning and intermediate trainees.
Reaching these two milestones should take about six months. After that you are able to switch to more evolved home workouts, that target different muscle groups separately. Here is a suitable intermediate home workout plan.
Picture courtesy of Elvert Barnes.
198 Comments
ok thanks and can jogging on the spot and star jumps etc. be used for the cardio workout and the warm up?
With jogging on the spot many people are prone to cheat themselves, so I’d say go for the star jumps.
I have a cross trainer. would that count for the 30-60minute cardio ?
Certainly.
I live in an upstairs apartment. most in home cardio is too jumping/stomping intensive for my neighbors. what could I do for cadrio that isn’t noisy?
If outdoors is completely out of the question, the cheapest solution is one of these “cyclers”:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000PEM63K/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000PEM63K&linkCode=as2&tag=evisgo-20
Keep in mind that these things can’t give you very high intensities, so later, when you are more experienced, it may not cut it anymore.
Wouldn’t it be better to spread the resting days throughout the week and not keep them on weekends only?
If that is what you prefer, you can certainly do that.
Personally I like to have two straight days off, as it gives my body a longer recuperation time frame. It also makes me look forward to getting back to working out again
also is swimming a better option for cardio than running? When running i sometimes get pains in my ankle.
The best cardio is the one you can do and keep doing. If that is swimming for you, go swimming
Hi. I’m sorry if my question is kind of silly, but English isn’t my main language, so I’m having some difficulty understanding something. When you say “Three sets of crunches, 6-12 repetitions”, what does it mean? Does it mean to do 3 sets of crunches, 6 to 12 times?
Thank you. Nice workout plan!
Heah Francis, your English is perfectly fine and you got it exactly right!
im doing the beginners workout, do i do the entire workout in one day, or do i do different muscles on different days? for example, abs and legs one day, and chest and back another day?
Nope, the beginner workout you do all in one go. It’s only later that you should split things up.
ok, thank you…just wondering.. when do i start splitting things up?
Stay with this workout routine until you are able to do 30 push-ups and 7 pull-ups in one go. Then you can switch to my intermediate routine.
I’ve been following this for 2-3 weeks its a nice programme. Although i’m chubby i can feel my Abs really strong and i can do pull ups chin ups etc. but even though i gained a lot of strength i don’t seem to lose any fat so my work cannot be seen (I don’t eat a lot). Any ideas on how to lose some % of my fat?
Heah George, it’s a question of lowering your body fat. Keep doing what you are doing and have a look at how much you eat:
http://evilcyber.com/fitness/gain-muscle-and-lose-fat/
ok thanks!
amazing results
from 1 pull up to 4 and from 4 push ups to 15 in 3 weeks 
Hello Evilcyber. I’ve just started your workout plan and I had a wee question:
- I feel more comfortable doing squats (without weights for now) than lunges. Is it ok?
P.S.: Thank you because your plan is really well written and it motivates me more to keep on training.
That is absolutely fine! Just make sure you use good form!
hi evilcyber! i just come to realise how unfit i am therefore i am trying to find a workout routine to help me build some muscle. being a beginner, what if i am like only able to do 5 pull up the first try and in the next set i can only do like 1 or even none? is this routine still possible for me to do?
Heah Bryan, first of all, congrats to already being able to do five pull-ups! I started out with a big, fat zero
And yes, you should still do this. If you manage five on the first set, but none on the others, then do the other sets negative.
Alternatively, don’t go for the maximum on the first set and leave one or two in the tank for the others.
hey Evil. Is it bad if i have 1 resting day in the week? I currently have 3 cardio days 3 workout days and 1 resting day
Heah Kostas, it is only bad if it gets you into overtraining. Check the progress you make and if you get the signs of overtraining (injuries, lack of progress, sleep problems, demotivation etc.) step it down a bit.
hmm im able to do 3 sets of 15 normal push ups (not wide) i could do only 5 at the past. The one part i dont see any progress are pull ups. i can still do only 2. i’ve been wondering should i start with chin ups first? which are best
Congrats on the push-ups!
Do the pull-ups as I explained them in the video: as many as you can, and the rest as negatives.
ok thnx evil
Hey evil! sorry to bother you again. I’ve read in a website that doing chin-ups/pull-ups/push-ups to failure is bad and will make you have a lack of progress. is that true? I’ve also heard about the pyramid chin-up exercise, they say it gives good results but i haven’t seen it fully written so i cant understand it :S can you help?
I could never complain about a lack of progress, but I would have to see the article to understand their reasoning.
Wolf explained pyramids in this article:
http://evilcyber.com/fitness/straight-sets-reverse-pyramids/
Their point is that by doing any exercise to failure you put much more strain on the muscles that you actually have no progress.Anyway I’m about to workout now i’m going to try the pyramid
this is just what i was looking for thank you!
This is a great workout plan, thanks for sharing! It’s a nice mix of cardio and weights.
Hey evil would it be good to add some weights? I am 14 year old and found out i have 3kg ones. Since the weight is low can you give me a workout to add in this plan with many reps?
Heah Ted, you only really need the weights when you can do 30 good push-ups and 7 good pull-ups. Get the most out of using body weight before you get the bucks out
ok thnx for the tip. About the pushup how should i do it ? i can do about 10-15 wide and 10 diamond like which is better? I mostly need chest.
The rule of thumb is this: the closer the grip, the more triceps is involved. So for now keep with the wide ones.
Thanks for posting this!
Will definitely try this and i hope i can remember to post some results later.
Hello there i just found your website and i would like to know whats Cardio 30-60 min Means ? Can u Give me a good carier what shall i do each day to build muscle .
To build muscle, you should do this plan.
Cardio is explained here:
http://evilcyber.com/fitness/what-is-cardio/
hi ,body. i have a huge problem , my entire life i have wanted te get fatter . i have gain some fet i m 190 cm tall and 75 kilos but i want to get more kilos what should i exatly do ?
Heah Rodi, if you simply want to gain more weight, you basically have to do the opposite of this:
http://evilcyber.com/losing-weight/secret-to-weight-loss/
If you want the weight to be muscle, you have to work out.
Hi evilcyber, I have some questions. Is it okay to replace pull-ups with resistance band exercises for bicep/back? There isn’t any pull-up bars but I have a resistance band only.
Also,what do you mean by “3 sets of push ups as many as you can do”? Because in the push up instruction video for beginner, you said that you do 3 sets of push ups until 15 reps. Which one is right? Anyway, I’m really satisfied with this beginner workout plan. Thanks.
Heah Jim, that won’t be ideal, because pull-ups are very different. For some places where you can do pull-ups when you don’t have a bar, check this:
http://evilcyber.com/fitness/pullups-without-bar/
And sorry about being imprecise with the push-ups; go for the as many as you can do variation.
Hey Evil ! During my workout today i had an idea to mix cardio with the workout so i did my exercises and during the 1 min Brakes i runned on the spot to keep my pulses up and sweat more. Is that effective?
No, not really. The breaks are to let your body rest. If you can do good cardio between your workout sets, you aren’t doing the workout with enough intensity.
Is this workout suitable for women as well to lose weight? Or is this mainly to get abs?
It helps to lose weight because it burns calories, but you have to check your nutrition:
http://evilcyber.com/losing-weight/exercise-weight-loss/
going to start to use your workout gudie let you know how its going month to month
Excellent!
Hi, I’m 22 years old, but weigh only 52 kgs. Is it necessary to have any supplements for increasing my weight or should i let it grow normally? Also please suggest a few home workout tips to help develop a V-shaped body.
If you simply want to increase your body weight, you practically have to do the opposite of what you have to do to lose weight:
http://evilcyber.com/losing-weight/secret-to-weight-loss/
If you want to the increased body mass to be muscle, you have to keep working out and follow these nutrition guidelines:
http://evilcyber.com/nutrition/bodybuilding-nutrition/
For a v-shape, you need to make your back, chest and shoulders larger. Essentially, you should do this workout and once you left the beginner stage, move on to the intermediate. It then comes by itself.
Thanks so much for the workout! I have a question. How many push-ups, pull-ups and lunges do most people do in a set. I do 15 push-ups and maybe like 1 chin-up and then 5 negative chin-ups per set. And lunges, about 50 per set.
Thanks so much for the workout! I have a question. How many push-ups, pull-ups and lunges do most people do in a set. I do 15 push-ups and maybe like 1 chin-up and then 5 negative chin-ups per set. And lunges, about 50 per set…
Sorry about the duplicate comment, I thought the first one didn’t go through
It’s the cache plugin I use, which sometimes acts up. No worries
I’d say you already are doing pretty good and it will get even better!
When I started, I couldn’t do a single pull-up or chin-up!
The lunges you should make a bit more difficult.
Okay I’ll add some weights for the lunges, but the push ups, how many should I be doing per set on average?
When you can do 3×15 with ease, you should add a bit weight.
Hello!
First of all thanks for all these great tips!:) not often that free stuff is this good.
I’ve started training from a few days ago, have to ask a question; for cardio, would drumming count? I am a metal drummer and it’s pretty intense stuff ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQnzP0HaQEY for example, not me but that is the stuff I play).
Thanks man! keep up the good work:)
Haha, I have to say, that’s probably the first time I was ever asked that
I think it can actually count. But you also may also want to try a bit more “traditional” cardio as well and note any differences.