Workout at home: 9 Complete exercises

Following a sports routine in times of confinement is not only necessary to maintain physical shape, but it is also good for the mind. Playing sports generates endorphins, the hormones of happiness, and reduces the levels of stress and anxiety that we can suffer these days of confinement at home.

Obviously, being active is essential, but how can we do specific CrossFit workouts to work, for example, strength or endurance?

In this week's article, we will give you some guidelines so that you know how to work strongly at home when you do not have weights or equipment.

There are a wide variety of exercises that can be done with your own body weight, without using any material and there are many others that we can adapt with what we have at home to have that extra weight that allows us to strengthen the muscles.

Contents index 

1 Work strength at home without weights or equipment, only with bodyweight

• 1.1 Plates

• 1.2 Sit-ups

• 1.3 Burpees

• 1.4 Push-ups or push-ups

2 Work strength at home with everyday tools

• 2.1 Squats with 5-liter jugs of water

• 2.2 Striding backward holding 5-liter water jugs

• 2.3 Bicep curl with detergent bottles or similar

• 2.4 Triceps exercises

• 2.5 Chins with a table

1. Work strength at home without weights or equipment, only with bodyweight

If you have planned to work the strength of your muscles at home without using any material, we recommend these four exercises:

1.1 Pilates

To strengthen arms, shoulders, and core, nothing better than planks.

You can make the front or side. To do the first one you must place yourself completely on your stomach and support your forearms (or hands with your arms fully stretched) and feet.

To perform the lateral you will have to stand on your side with support on the floor with a single forearm or foot.

Both in one and the other, you should never sink the lower back. To work your muscles well, you must hold out for as long as possible. Challenge yourself and hold out for longer each day.

1.2 Sit-ups

This exercise is perfect for working on abdominal strength and endurance.

To do this, you must lie on your back on a mat, bend your knees and bring the soles of your feet together.

With your head resting on the ground, you have to raise your torso by flexing your abdominal area until your head is raised to the level of your knees. Then you have to descend to the starting position little by little and continue doing repetitions.

1.3 Burpees

Burpees are a very complete movement that works on strength, endurance, and coordination. It engages hamstrings, calves, glutes, chest, abs, shoulder, and triceps.

It's an explosive combination of jump, squat, and push-up.

To do it you have to place your hands-on the floor at shoulder width with your feet in between.

To start the movement, push your feet back, jumping up to the plank position, do a push-up, return to the initial squat position and finish with a good jump extending your arms up.

1.4 Push-ups or push-ups

They are perfect for strengthening the arms and shoulders. You can do the traditional ones or cheer up with the Handstand push-up, that is, those that are done while maintaining the handstand position.

2. Work strength at home with everyday tools

Carafes of water, a bottle of detergent, a table to do pull-ups ... any item or part of the furniture in our the house can help us work on strength at home.

Let's go with some examples!

2.1 Squats or squats with 5-liter jugs of water

To exercise the legs, nothing better than a good series of squats. To add extra weight, you can incorporate a 5-liter jug of water that you will have to hold with each arm in front of the chest while you flex your legs until you do the squat.

With this exercise, you will strengthen various muscles such as the quadriceps, the glutes, and also, although to a lesser extent, the hamstrings and abductors.

2.2 Striding backward holding 5-liter water jugs

Another exercise that you can carry out while holding the weight of a few carafes of water is that of the backward stride. You will be able to work the muscles of the legs and, specifically, muscles such as the quadriceps, hamstrings, abductors, and buttocks.

To do this, you have to stand with your feet hip-width apart and step backward by bending the knee. It is important to keep your back straight.

As you do this, you will notice tension in the muscles of the leg in front and in the gluteal area of the leg that is behind.

2.3 Bicep curl with bottles of detergent or similar

To strengthen the muscles of the biceps, you can take a couple of bottles of detergent or similar.

Hold the bottles with each hand (palms facing outward) maintaining an upright position with your abdomen contracted.

Then, without moving your upper arms, bend your elbows bringing the bottles as close to your shoulders as possible. Do this exercise in a series of at least 20 repetitions.

2.4 Triceps exercises

To make these triceps dips you will need a couple of chairs or a low table that you will have to place in parallel.

In one of the chairs, support your hands, throwing your arms back to be able to work your triceps well. In the other chair support your legs fully stretched and raise and lower your body keeping your back straight, bending your elbows back to work the triceps area.

2.5 Dominated with a table

If you don't have a pull-up bar at home… Don't worry! In the exercise that we recommend to work on strength, you can use a sturdy table, such as a dining table.

To perform this exercise correctly, lie on your back under the table and hold onto the edge with both hands shoulder-width apart. Start working your way up and down by doing a good set of reps.

You can also buy some material online

If you still would like to continue with your training with some material, if you want, you can also get some basic items to work on strength training at home.

You can buy, for example, a bar to do pull-ups that will not take up much space or a kettlebell that is also heavy like this one from Amazon with which you can perform different exercises using the same material.