How to build muscles at home: effective exercises to create an athletic body


Professional bodybuilders disdain training at home; they believe that in order to pump up the body, you need to visit the fitness room and take sports supplements. There is a deal of truth in it. However, beginners do not need huge biceps and triceps; they want to get their body in order, make it more athletic and strong. Home workouts with your own weight are quite enough for this.

But in order to achieve the goal, it is necessary to properly organize classes and follow a special diet. To lose weight and develop beautiful muscle definition, you need to combine strength and cardio exercises. Effective bodyweight exercises will be an excellent basis for further development. But so that progress does not stop, you need to use sports equipment during training.

Three components of success in upgrading your home


To create a beautiful, sculpted body without using exercise equipment, you need to be patient and create a competent program. But a novice athlete needs to learn that training alone will not help achieve results. It is important to combine training with proper nutrition, because muscle growth is 80% dependent on diet. The athlete must give up junk food and supplement the menu with proteins and complex carbohydrates. Such food stimulates muscle growth and saturates the body with energy before training.

To stress your muscles and stimulate their growth, you need to do strength exercises. And cardio exercises will help reduce the percentage of fatty tissue in the body. You need to combine these 2 types of training to strengthen your muscles, lose weight, contour your body, and increase strength and endurance.

To achieve results faster, you need to devote 3-4 days to strength training, and cardio (running, cycling, jumping rope, etc.) - about 5 times a week. You should take days off between strength training sessions to give your muscles time to recover. On non-training days, you can do aerobics.

Eat properly

Even effective exercise will not give results if a person is overweight and his diet is of poor quality. No matter how hard you try to exercise, you will not be able to lose weight without a balanced diet. Therefore, if you want to make your body athletic, change yourself and your life for the better, you need to adjust your diet and food intake.

To lose weight faster, follow these dietary rules:

  1. Enrich your menu with meat, eggs, fish, cottage cheese and other protein-rich foods. The optimal daily protein intake is 1.5 g/1 kg.
  2. Avoid simple carbohydrates: sweets, wheat bread, pastries, etc.
  3. Eat complex carbohydrates: whole grains, cereals, grade A pasta.
  4. It is also worth consuming more fresh vegetables and fruits, which contain fiber.
  5. Move higher-calorie foods to the first half of the day, and leave some protein with vegetables or fruits for dinner.
  6. Eat 5 to 7 times a day, but in portions not exceeding 250-300 g. This style of eating will speed up metabolic processes, improve the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, and prevent you from feeling hungry.
  7. Consume small amounts of vegetable fats.

Important! The athlete must give up fast food, processed foods, canned food, confectionery, animal fats, and fried foods. It is recommended to boil, bake, stew or steam products. In addition, it is necessary to comply with the drinking regime.

Do aerobic exercise


Effective cardio exercise will help speed up fat burning. To lose weight quickly, you can run, jump rope, ride a bike, or just walk at a brisk pace. To speed up progress, give up transport, elevators, walk more, climb stairs. The main thing is to practice at an intense pace.

At first, cardio training should last half an hour, gradually the time of training can be increased to 50-60 minutes. It is recommended to perform aerobic exercise 3 to 5 times a week. They can be used to warm up the muscles before performing the main complex.

Cardio exercises are very useful, they strengthen the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, accelerate metabolic processes, fat burning, strengthen muscles, and increase endurance.

Train with your own weight

Strength training with your own mass is the basis of a program for pumping up the body at home. It is enough to choose 5-6 exercises for different muscle groups and perform them regularly. An athlete can exercise 3-4 times a week.

For strength training to bring results, you need to follow these recommendations:

  • execution technique. First of all, focus on technique, try to perform the exercise correctly, tense the target muscles. If the technique is violated, you will not achieve results and risk injury;
  • control your breathing. Exhale during effort, and inhale when relaxing;
  • do not hurry. All movements must be smooth so that the athlete constantly feels muscle tension;
  • load your muscles as much as possible. Perform the exercise to failure, then rest a little and proceed to the next one;

This is interesting! There is a circuit training option, during which the athlete performs each exercise one set for a certain number of repetitions without a break. Then there is a pause - no more than 2 minutes, and the complex is repeated again. This method also helps pump up muscles.

  • increase the load. Change the complex periodically, supplement it with new elements. To ensure your progress doesn’t stop, use weights, these can be sports equipment, weights, regular water bottles, a backpack with sand, etc.

By following these rules, the athlete will be able to achieve excellent results.

Be sure to check out:

Exercises with dumbbells at home for women Shaping programs for losing excess weight at home Exercises for an ideal figure at home: a beautiful athletic figure at home Workouts at home, or How a girl can effectively pump up her body without the gym

Frequently asked questions and answers

Do I need to do push-ups every day if I want to build muscle?

It is better to distribute your workouts so as not to repeat the same thing every day. If you do the same exercises every day, your muscles do not have time to recover and grow. Try doing legs one day and upper body another.

How can I burn fat faster?

Interval training, also known as high-intensity interval training (HIIT), is the best way to burn calories through exercise. Take a look at this article that tells you how to do it: How to Do Intense Workouts. In addition to this, the most important factor in weight control is diet, so eat wisely.

What type of exercise should a teenager do to build upper body muscles?

Push-ups or pull-ups on a horizontal bar are a good option, but you can also use barbells and dumbbells, but be sure to use the correct technique.

I weigh 90 kg, how long will it take me to get pumped up?

The same as everyone else. The question is how quickly you can lose fat so that the muscles are visible. This depends on many factors, ranging from height and physical shape to what you eat and what you are generally willing to do for it.

Should you train on an empty stomach if your goal is to lose weight and if you want to gain weight, or is it better to eat something before training?

Sufficient time should pass from the moment you eat (from 30 minutes to 1 hour), but you do not need to exercise on an empty stomach, even if you want to burn subcutaneous fat. Everything will depend on the total caloric intake per day. If there is a calorie deficit, you will lose weight; if there is a surplus, you will gain weight. Also, be sure to drink fluids before you begin exercising.

What should be included in a diet for a thin person?

Lots of fruits, green vegetables and whole grains. Eat protein-rich foods such as eggs, chicken, farm cheese, fish, etc. Eat healthy fats, including a variety of nuts and egg yolks. Reduce your sugar intake. Work harder.

I'm a skinny teenager. Can I do the exercises described above?

Yes, these exercises are suitable for thin people. Accompany these activities with a good diet, and you can easily gain several kilograms of muscle.

How long will it take before the muscles become noticeable?

It depends on genetics. For some it is easier to gain muscle, for others it is more difficult. In general, it will take at least three months before you notice any growth. However, you can feel the difference much earlier.

Do I need to take any nutritional supplements to promote muscle growth?

The main thing is what you eat: you need to maintain a ratio of 50% carbohydrates, 35% protein, the rest is healthy fats. Some people add quality protein to their shakes or oatmeal to increase their protein intake. Read more in the article about which supplements are best for gaining muscle mass.

How long will it take to get results?

The first results can be seen in 1-2 months.

I'm pretty fat (but not fat), what diet should I choose and what should I eat if I train at home?

You'd better focus on protein foods and sources of complex carbohydrates, as well as vegetables and fruits. Eliminate sweets, flour and fast food to avoid gaining excess weight in the form of fat. If you are satisfied with the volume of the available mass, then you should try to dry it. Read what drying is and how to do it correctly, or try cardio as your main workout.

How can I build muscle during rehab?

It is better to engage in recovery and only then move on to gaining weight, so as not to harm your health.

Is it possible to achieve results quickly?


If your goal is to pump up all the muscles of the body, make it more athletic, sculpted and massive, then you should not hope for quick results. To build muscle, you need to exercise regularly and follow a diet. To speed up progress, you need to train at least 4 times a week. Then, provided that all conditions are met (nutrition, strength and cardio training), you will be able to change your body for the better within 1.5-2 months.

If an athlete wants to build huge muscles like a bodybuilder, then bodyweight exercises will not help him. In this case, you cannot do without sports equipment, the weight of which must be periodically increased. To make your muscles massive, you need to work hard on yourself for at least 1 year.

Sports equipment is not a guarantee of success

When trying to build muscle, most beginners:

  • use a set of weights;
  • exercise on exercise machines;
  • regularly visit the fitness center.

All these activities are not the primary goal when achieving a sculpted body.

You can build up your muscles without exercise equipment. You just need to learn the technique of how to swing properly at home.

What exercises should you do at home to build muscle?

If you don't know how to build muscles at home, pay attention to basic exercises. With push-ups you can strengthen your chest, deltoids, triceps, and rhomboid muscles. During pull-ups, all muscle groups of the torso, abdominal and leg muscles are involved. Crunches, hanging raises or leg raises are great for developing your abdominal muscles. The plank is a universal exercise that subjects almost all muscle groups to intense static load. To pump up your buttocks and legs, you can perform different variations of squats, lunges, etc.

There are a lot of modifications to bodyweight exercises, so any athlete can choose what suits him.

For men


Guys can use the following exercises when training with their own weight:

  1. Grab the bar so that your hands are at shoulder level. Arch your back and bend your knees and cross them to avoid loosening. Raise your body to the base, trying to touch it with your chest, then smoothly lower yourself. Then you can pull yourself up with a reverse grip (your fingers are turned towards your face).
  2. Take a lying position, the distance between your hands is slightly wider than shoulder level. Lower your body down, trying to touch the surface with your chest, and then sharply push your body up, slam your hands, land on half-bent arms and repeat all over again.
  3. Stand up, spread your legs wider than shoulder level, begin to squat, keeping your back straight and looking forward. When your thighs are parallel to the floor, slowly rise up. Shift the weight to your heels, tighten your abdominal muscles, and extend your arms forward to maintain your balance.
  4. Turn your back to the chair, place the toe of one foot on it, and move the other forward. Gently squat down, using the heel of your front foot to touch your back knee to the floor, then rise up. Repeat for the other limb.
  5. Lie down, stretch your arms forward, begin to smoothly lift your head and upper body from the floor, stretch your arms in front of you, but not down, then lower yourself. Make sure your back is rounded.
  6. Stand with your back to chairs or a sofa, rest your hands on it, place your heels on a hill. Start lowering your body as far as possible, and then lift it up.
  7. Stand in a handstand with your back to a support (wall), with your fingers facing it. Smoothly lower your body down on your hands and then lift it up.

The last element is quite difficult, so it is better to do it with an assistant at first. Otherwise, the risk of injury increases.

For women


To tighten their body, girls can use the following effective exercises:

  1. Women can perform different variations of push-ups. If the muscles are weak, then first the element is performed on the knees, then in the usual way, and later it can be done on an elevated platform (chairs) to increase the range of movements. You can also try doing reverse push-ups.
  2. Girls can squat, the main thing is to move their buttocks back, keep their back straight, stretch their chest forward and make sure that their knees do not go beyond their toes. You can squat with your legs wide and your toes turned outward, or you can perform the exercise on one leg.
  3. Press your back against the wall, fold your arms in front of you, then begin to smoothly lower yourself, bending your knees. When your thighs are parallel to the floor, hold for a few seconds and then rise up.
  4. Girls can perform different variations of the plank at home: regular, on the side, on the back, with arms and legs raised.
  5. Lie face down, arms extended forward and legs back. Simultaneously lift the upper (up to the chest) and lower (including the knees) part of the body from the floor, fixate, and then lower.

There are a large number of exercises that women can include in their bodyweight training program: sit-ups, leg raises, crunches, burpees, bicycles, glute bridges, etc.

ADDITIONAL, but not required equipment

3. The next piece of equipment I wanted to talk to you about is an ADJUSTABLE BENCH.

Please note, ADJUSTABLE! It is very important. If you make or buy a regular bench (that is not adjustable) then you will not have the ability to adjust it. For example, to train the chest muscles, ideally you need to set the bench to 30 degrees. To train the deltoids (in the exercise seated dumbbell press), you need to set the bench completely vertical (so that you can lean your back on it). Without adjustment, you won't succeed.

In general, if you are going to buy a bench (bench)) then buy only an adjustable one. It is universal and will be of more use. I assure you, only adjustable.

PARTS/PURCHARGE BAR (for those who plan to train seriously)

CONCLUSION: having collapsible dumbbells, a barbell and weights and a rack for it, as well as an adjustable bench and a horizontal bar + parallel bars = you don’t need a gym (in my opinion), but this is for those who really work out very seriously. And for those, to be honest, I see no reason not to go to the gym and take a steam bath.

  • MINIMUM (collapsible dumbbells from 0 to 24 kg), then if necessary (when needed) buy additional pancakes.
  • Having collapsible dumbbells from 0 to 24 kg + a barbell (and weight plates for it, at least 20 kg on each side, and separate weight plates of 2.5 kg on each side) = you can train even better (this is ideal). Then, as your fitness level increases (as needed), you will buy more pancakes.

Moreover, please note, you don’t have to buy those same dumbbells and barbells, you can make them yourself (Google them, people will help, tell you, teach you). Well, if you do, don’t buy a new one (it’s too expensive). Used is the best (at least that’s what I would do, but see for yourself).

In fact, this will be enough for the vast majority of people. For advanced ones, you will also need additional equipment (i.e., adjustable bench, horizontal bar + parallel bars).

Training program for pumping up all muscle groups for a guy for a week

This complex is designed for 4 days a week with a break of 1-2 days between workouts. The program helps to pump up all the main muscle groups without sports equipment:


Day 1:

  1. Perform classic push-ups - 10x3.
  2. Pull up on the horizontal bar – 10x3.
  3. Do push-ups upside down – 10x3.
  4. Do push-ups with a narrow hand position - 10x3.
  5. Perform horizontal pull-ups (reverse grip) – 10x3.

Day 2:

  1. Rise up onto your toes on one leg – 10x3.
  2. Jump squats – 10x3.
  3. Walk with lunges - 10x3.
  4. Raise your legs while hanging on the horizontal bar - 10x3.
  5. Cardio – 1 minute three times.

Day 3 – rest.

Day 4:

  1. Do push-ups with your legs on a hill - 10x3.
  2. Perform horizontal pull-ups with wide arms – 10x3.
  3. Do push-ups on parallel bars – 10x3.
  4. Pull up (reverse grip) – 10x3.
  5. Stand in a plank position – 1 minute three times.

Day 5:

  1. Jump to a hill - 10x3.
  2. Squat on one leg - 10x3 for each leg.
  3. Do backward lunges - 10x3.
  4. Step onto the bench – 10x3.
  5. Cardio – 1 minute three times.

Then follow 2 days of rest.

It is recommended to train in a circuit mode, that is, perform all exercises in 1 set without a break. Then rest for no more than 2 minutes and repeat the complex again.
Before each session, stretch and finish your workout with cardio exercises.

Exercises without machines for beginners

The truth is that it is better for a beginner not to buy equipment for home at all. It is not yet known whether he will like to study, whether he will devote enough time to physical development, or whether he will abandon the whole thing halfway and return to the sofa.

With body weight you can do:

  • “air” squats and lunges;
  • Bulgarian split squats with one leg resting on the sofa;
  • pistol squats;
  • push-ups with different hand widths;
  • pull-ups with different arm widths;
  • planks, supermen, crunches

A complex for pumping up muscles for a girl’s whole body


Women can train using a split system, devoting a separate day to large muscle groups. Training is carried out 3 times a week for a month, then you need to change the program.

Complex for the development of all muscle groups for girls

Day 1 (upper body):

  1. Do pull-ups or push-ups to failure three times.
  2. Perform horizontal pull-ups - 10 to 12 times three times.
  3. Do push-ups with a narrow hand position until failure three times.
  4. Perform push-ups with your feet on a hill - 15x3.

Day 2 (lower body):

  1. Jump squats – 30 seconds three times.
  2. Walk with lunges - 20 times for each leg three times.
  3. Raise your toes on the platform to failure three times.

Day 3 (muscle corset):

  1. Perform a sit-up (lifting your body up while sitting) – 15x3.
  2. Lift your legs while lying down - 15x3.
  3. Perform diagonal twists - 20x3.
  4. Bicycle – 30 seconds three times.
  5. Stand in the plank for 1 minute three times.

You can study for 3 days in a row or take a break for 1-2 days. As in the previous complex, all exercises are performed without a break; the pause between sets should not exceed 1 minute.

How to properly pump up muscles for a teenager

A powerful, athletic figure is a symbol of excellent health. The dream of having an athletic figure is common to many, regardless of age.

A 16-year-old boy is often no different in appearance from a young man of twenty, but this does not mean that he can withstand similar loads.

To know how to pump up a teenager at home, you must remember the specific features.

Main conclusions

It is quite possible to pump up your entire body at home without sports equipment; to do this you need to follow these recommendations:

  1. Eat right.
  2. Create a strength training program.
  3. Do cardio exercises.
  4. Hone your technique, watch your breathing, gradually increase the number of repetitions and approaches.
  5. Warm up before training, and do stretching or cardio after it.
  6. Give your muscles time to rest so they have time to recover.

Home workouts with your own weight are an excellent basis for further progress. In order for the muscles to continue to grow, you need to use sports equipment (weights, dumbbells, barbells).

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