IN THIS POST
This at home strength training guide is perfect for you as a beginner.
Youâll come away knowing exactly what you need to do to hit the ground running and be on the path to making progress ASAP.
Make sure you pin this and tell a friend to tell a friend. đȘđŸ
Intro: Strength training at home for beginners
You, a pair of dumbbells, and a little bit of floorspaceâ
Thatâs the only âgymâ you need to get started with strength training at home as a beginner.
I can speak to this personally.
As of April 4th, 2024, Iâve been to the gym maybe three times in the past two years.Â
I know, I know.Â
Iâve basically been lighting money on fire paying for a gym membership this whole time.
But being able to workout from home has been clutch AF from a time perspective.
I simply wake up, roll out of bed, get a quick workout, then go on about my day.
Letâs get into how you can do the same.Â
By the way, make sure you stick around until the end because I have a totally free 12-week dumbbell workout plan for you to download.
What is strength training?
Simply put, strength training = lifting weights.Â
It does not include things like things like:
- HIIT workouts
- Orange Theory
- Fitness boot camp classes
- Pilates or yoga
- Glute kickbacks on the StairMaster with a band wrapped around your legs (This is what you need to do if you want your glutes to grow)
You have to be on an actual program (things wonât work without a plan!).
You do the same batch of workouts for 4-8, maybe even as much as 12 weeks at a time.
Some people hire a coach to get all the guesswork taken out of their workouts (I might just know someone đ).
No matter whether you decide to hire a coach or go it alone, you should be aware of the #1 strength training rule.
The workout bus starts and stops right here.Â
If you donât apply what Iâm about to share with you, birds will swim in the ocean before you see results.
Aka gradually increasing the amount of weight you lift over time.
This is the stimulus your body needs to make progress.
Letâs say you start off at 50 pounds on squat.
To keep seeing results, youâd have to make your way up to 52.5 pounds, then 55 pounds, 60 pounds, and so on.
Why lift weights, anyway?
It improves body composition
Letâs be real, one of the reasons a lot of people (including myself đđŸââïž) lift weights is to look and feel good naked.Â
We all want that âIâm sexy and I know itâ feeling when we step out of the shower and look in the mirror.Â
We want to think to ourselves âDamn, Iâd hit on me if I were someone else.â
I want you to imagine this:
Your current physique places you at point A.
Point B is the physique youâve been craaaaving to achieve. đ©
Itâs the one thatâs toned, more defined, and has a fitter look to it.
Just how are you going to get from point A to point B though?
Strength training.
(Along with a solid nutrition game plan).
No, lifting weights wonât make you all big and bulky (Ladies, Iâm talking mainly to you here!).Â
You need weight lifting to build and retain muscle.
Muscle = more fat loss.Â
Related: To the lovely ladies out there, that toned look you’re after? It requires lifting HEAVY weights.
It boosts confidence and resilienceÂ
Strength training does a whole lot more than boost your confidence in how you look.Â
It boosts your mental confidence too.Â
When you push through tough workouts.
When you challenge yourself to get stronger by lifting heavy weights.
When you dig deep, grit your teeth, and get things done, regardless of the fact you donât feel motivated some days to do soâ
You build an unbreakable discipline and confidence in yourself.Â
You develop an indestructible resilience.Â
You come to realize, âYeah, things might be hard sometimes but I know I have what it takes to push through and get done what I know needs to be done.â
And guess what?Â
That âI can do anything I put my mind toâ attitude doesnât just start and end with your workouts.
It carries over into every other area of your life.
It makes for stronger bones
Your bones become weaker as you get older, which increases your risk of fractures.Â
As luck would have it, strength training improves bone density.
Ladies, this is the second time Iâm calling you out in this article. đ
But itâs for good reason.
From a bone density standpoint, lifting weights is EXTREMELY important for you.Â
You have a muuuuch higher risk of developing osteoporosis than men.
Muscle and strength are functional
So many activities in your daily life (that you probably take for granted) involve functional movementsâÂ
Lifting a box over your head. Squatting down to pick something up. Twisting and turning. Carrying your kids and their diaper bags, bringing in groceries, etc.
WelllllâŠ
Your ability to perform functional movements like these only decreases as your hair starts turning gray.Â
You get older, which means losing strength and a little bit of muscle (roughly 3-5% every decade after age 30).Â
However, lifting weights can help offset strength and muscle loss, allowing you to maintain your independence as you age.
Youâll also be able to stay active later on in life and keep the weight you lose off.
Why dumbbells are the best piece of equipment for home workoutsÂ
Earlier I said all you need are floorspace and some dumbbells.
Why dumbbells, you ask?
You work more muscles
With dumbbells, your stabilizer muscles (that donât get nearly the shine they deserve) work to help you balance the weight due to it being unequally distributed.Â
You donât have to worry about this with barbells. You simply press the weight up and bring it down.
They can help correct muscle imbalances
When lifting with a barbell, both sides of your body work in unison to get the weight up, so your stronger side can compensate for your weaker side.Â
Conversely, since each arm works separately as they do with dumbbells, both arms have to do the same amount of work.Â
By the way, if you want more help correcting muscle imbalances, try this:Â
Letâs say youâre performing 8 reps of dumbbell bench press.
After you get done with 8 reps using both arms, rest for 15-20 seconds.Â
Then crank out 2-3 more reps with just your weaker arm.
Theyâre super versatile
When it comes to workout equipment, at home especially, there isnât one better.Â
You can get a solid workout virtually anywhere as long as you have some dumbbells.Â
They offer a greater range of motion
Take an exercise like incline bench press.Â
When using a barbell or machine, you have a shorter range of motion.Â
You can only go as far down as your chest.Â
Dumbbells, on the other hand, allow for a greater stretch at the bottom of the movement, which can help you target your muscles more effectively.Â
How to start strength training at home
Here are 8 tips to help get you started with strength training at home as a beginner. đȘđŸ
1. Familiarize yourself with âworkout-speakâ
You know that Charlie Brown teacher?Â
The one who always sounded likeâ
Wah wah wah wah wah wahhhhh.
I donât want the same for you when it comes to strength training so letâs talk basic workout language.
Here are some common terms you want to be familiar with:
Rep (or repetition): Performing an exercise one time.Â
For example, one rep on bench press would be:
- Lowering the weight down to your chest then pressing the weight back up.Â
2 reps would look like this:
- Lower the weight down to your chest and press up
- Lower the weight down to your chest and press up
3 reps would look like this:
- Lower the weight down to your chest and press up
- Lower the weight down to your chest and press up
- Lower the weight down to your chest and press up
And so onâŠ
Set: A cluster of reps.Â
For example, lowering the weight down to your chest & pressing the weight back up 6 times would be one set.Â
Once you get done with your set, you would then take a rest.
Letâs put these two terms (sets and reps) together now.
Hereâs what 3 sets of 6 reps looks like:
- Perform 6 reps, take a rest
- Perform 6 reps, take a rest
- Perform 6 reps, take a rest
Superset: You perform a set of one exercise and then without any rest jump right into a set of a second exercise.
Once you are done with a set of each exercise, thatâs when you rest.
For example, letâs say you see this in the workout plan:
- 1A.) Romanian deadlift: 3 sets x 8-10 reps
- 1B.) Single leg glute bridge (each leg): 3 sets x 6-8 reps
You would perform a set of Romanian deadlift first (the âAâ exercise) and without rest do a set of single-leg glute bridges (the âBâ exercise).Â
Then you rest.
2. Pick a workout schedule you can stick to
Donât bite off more than you can chew.
Results come from being consistent and the only way to do that is by choosing a workout schedule you can actually maintain.
Iâd recommend either a 3 or 4-day-a-week workout routine.
If you decide to go with 3 days, you can break out your workouts like this:
- Monday: Lower body
- Wednesday: Upper body
- Friday: Total body
If you want to workout 4 days a week, Iâd go with an upper/lower split, which could look like this:
- Monday: Lower body
- Tuesday: Upper body
- Thursday: Lower body
- Friday: Upper body
You donât have to choose the same exact days I did.Â
There are a few things I want to point out with your workout schedule:
A.) Donât workout 3 days in a row, no matter what plan you go with. Your body needs time to rest and recover (thatâs actually when you make progress) and you wonât give it the necessary time it needs by doing that.
B.) If you decide on 3 days a week, always have a rest day before doing a total body workout.
For example, if you did an upper body workout on Wednesday youâd wait until at least Friday at the earliest for your full body workout.
C.) A workout schedule is more than just the number of days a week youâll workout.Â
Weâll cover some more questions you probably have about strength training as we move along but Iâll touch on one here now.
How long should your workouts last?
30 minutes-an hour workout is ideal, maaaaybe 90 minutes if you have the time for it and thatâs how youâre able to lift the most weight possible.
Just donât think longer or more = better.
Better = lifting as much weight as you can given the exercise and keeping workout intensity high.Â
Doing 2 hour+ workouts and having 10 different exercises is just way too much.
You wonât be able to attack each set with the intensity you need to see progress.
3. Prioritize form > everything
Youâre not a fish out of water!
You shouldnât be flailing all over the place and using a bunch of momentum just to get the weight up.Â
Pick a challenging weight that allows you to still perform all reps with proper form.
You wonât lift the same amount of weight for every single exercise (I.e. youâll be able to lift more weight squatting than you would performing biceps curls).
I donât care if you start with a 2.5 pound dumbbell.
Itâs not about where you start, itâs about where you finish.
So you pick up that 2.5 pound dumbbell and lift with everything you have.
Youâll build from there and get stronger than you ever thought possible if you just stick with it, I promise.Â
Itâs better to choose a weight you can lift with proper form than lift with your ego and potentially get injured.Â
Thatâs what youâre setting yourself up for when you try to lift too heavy.Â
By the way, if youâre unsure of the correct form for a given exercise, Google is your strength training BFF.
4. Take time to rest between setsÂ
Thereâs a time for cardio and itâs not when youâre strength training.
If you want to get the most out of your workouts, do more of this:
Rest.
Rest.
Rest.
I know you probably feel like having a good workout means taking as little rest as possible and sweating so much it looks like you just took a run out in the rain.
But thatâs just not what defines a good strength training workout.Â
A good strength training workout is defined by lifting as much weight as you possibly can for a particular exercise.
Not taking rest between sets holds you back from doing that.
As a general rule, rest somewhere between 2-3 minutes between each set.Â
Thatâs just a guideline though.
You should rest long enough so that you can hit your next set full-throttle, with everything youâve got, and lift as heavy as you can.
So if you need more than 2-3 minutes to fully recover, take it.
5. Challenge yourself during your workouts
Lack of effort = lack of results.
You have to be willing to put yourself in uncomfortable situations if you want to see progress.Â
By uncomfortable situations, I mean pushing yourself during your sets 1-2 reps shy of failure.Â
This isnât meant to be easy.
If it were, everyone and their mom would be in line ready to sign up for the results strength training provides. Â
6. Ditch the combo moves
Combo moves are when you combine two strength training exercises into one (I.e. lunges into bicep curls and squat into shoulder press).Â
Some people say theyâre a real time-saver and will give you the best of both worlds in your workouts.Â
They give you two worlds alright.
But one of your worlds has to suffer.Â
Letâs look at lunges into bicep curls.Â
You can lunge more weight than you can curl so your legs wonât get what they need out of the exercise.
Or take squats into shoulder press.
You have to choose a weight you can shoulder press but that takes away from your squat.
Rather than try to do a ton of moves and exercises at once, just do them separately.Â
Youâll be able to properly load the muscle group you want to work and see better results because of it.Â
7. Donât have an all-or-nothing mentality with your workouts
If you donât have time for a complete workout, hereâs what NOT to doâÂ
Throw your hands in the air, say screw it, and do nothing.
Thatâs all-or-nothing thinking and it should be left out in the freezing cold.Â
Related:Â 10 mindset shifts for weight loss.
Any positive number is greater than zero, right?
Thatâs how you should be thinking about your workouts.
If youâre crunched for time, say to yourself:
âIt doesnât matter if I only have 10 minutes today, something is ALWAYS better than nothing.âÂ
.
8. Get on an actual programÂ
I mentioned this in the very beginning but itâs so important itâs worth repeating.
Choosing a random set of exercises or doing random workouts wonât deliver the outcome you want.
This is what will: Being on a legit strength training program.
If you donât want to leave your workouts up to chance, give my free 12-week dumbbell workout plan a try.
The program has both 3 and 4-day-a-week options so you can choose the workout routine that best fits your schedule.Â
As a preview, hereâs a sample workout from the program that will deep fry your body like an order of onion rings:
Wrap-up
Youâre up to speed on strength training at home as a beginner.Â
You know:
- What strength training is
- The benefits of lifting weights
- Why dumbbells are a great piece of workout equipment
- Tips to start strength training at home
You even have a free 12-week workout program to get started with your workouts immediately.Â
Have any questions?
Let me know in the comments below. đȘđŸ
What's up?
I’m Chad, I’m happy you’re here! Iâm a certified personal trainer and my goal is to help you form practical, sustainable habits that lead to lifelong fitness results. If you want to lose fat, build muscle, and live a healthier, happier life then youâre right where you need to be. đȘđŸ
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