The Best 10 to 30-Minute At-Home Workouts

If you are planning to go on a fitness journey, you will have to choose between joining a gym and working out at home. Gyms are packed with the latest exercise equipment and cardio machines, but membership comes with a monthly fee attached. You won’t have to travel to and from a gym if you work out at home, but filling a spare room with exercise equipment could cost more than joining a gym. It would be great to get stronger and fitter at home without spending money on weights, benches and cardio equipment, but is that really possible? The answer to that question is yes, and it is actually quite easy. The top at-home workouts can improve stamina and build muscle without weights or expensive machines, and this article will tell you all about them.

How Long Does It Take to Get Into Shape?

Most of the people who start exercise programs quit after just a few months. Gyms are packed with people who have made New Year’s resolutions in January and February, but most of them are deserted again by the end of March. People often lose heart because they have unrealistic expectations. They are bombarded with advertising from companies that promise amazing results in weeks or even days, so they believe that just putting in some effort will yield almost immediate results. When that does not happen, their enthusiasm begins to flag.

If you want to avoid this pitfall, you will need to start your journey with realistic goals in mind. So, how long does it really take to get into shape? A fitness journey is a marathon, not a sprint, and you will be two or three months into it before you start to look or feel different. 

In 2004, researchers from the University of Wisconsin asked 25 sedentary men to perform cardiovascular and strength training exercises for six weeks. After completing the programs, the men looked much the same, had the same amount of body fat, and their oxygen efficiency had not improved.

You should start to feel the benefits of exercise after about two weeks, but body transformations always take months and sometimes take years. Cardiovascular fitness starts to improve after about six weeks of exercise, and strength begins to increase rapidly after about two months of training.

Picking a Schedule You Can Stick To

One of the biggest mistakes people make when they start to work out is setting an exercise schedule that will be hard to stick to. You may be determined to reach your goals, but vowing to work out every day will doom you to failure. People who do this get sick of the grind pretty quickly, and then they start to make excuses. 

You will have to make exercise fun if you want to avoid this trap, and that means taking things easy at first. When you increase intensity slowly as your level of fitness improves, your workouts become harder because you want them to. The strain of exercise becomes something you relish rather than dread, and you will push yourself harder because you are confident and eager to achieve more.

Warming Up

It is always a good idea to warm up before exercising. Warming up gets the heart pumping and improves the flow of blood to the muscles you will soon be working, and a little light stretching reduces stiffness and prevents tendon injuries. About 30 seconds of running on the spot followed by some knee bends, knee lifts and shoulder rolls should be enough to get you warmed up and ready to exercise.

Exercise Circuits

Performing an exercise once is called a repetition, and performing a certain number of repetitions before resting is called a set. Many workout routines are based on sets, but this can get pretty boring. To make exercise more fun, you should complete circuits instead of sets. To complete a circuit, you perform one set of each exercise and then take a short break. Your workouts will be shorter because you won’t be taking as many breaks, and the time will fly by because you are having fun.

DOMS

When we expose our muscles to stress that they are not used to, they respond by producing metabolites. The buildup of these metabolites causes post-workout pain called delayed-onset muscle soreness, and it can be quite severe at first. DOMS diminishes over time, and that lets you know when it’s time to make your workouts a little more intense. When you feel no DOMS at all the day after you exercise, it’s time to up the ante.

Best Exercises for Working Out at Home

A workout routine should improve strength, endurance, flexibility and balance, and the exercises it includes should work all of the body’s major muscle groups. There are dozens of exercises that can be performed at home without specialized equipment, and some of them are better than others. The top ten at-home workout exercises strengthen multiple muscles and are easy to perform, and you can speed up your cadence or change your technique to make them more difficult. This means you will be able to make your workouts more intense as your fitness improves for faster gains and better results.

Push-Ups

The push-up is called the king of upper body exercises because it works the chest, shoulders, arms, back and abs. A strict push-up is difficult to perform, but the movement is a lot easier if you push against a table, chair or stair instead of the floor. Find something high enough to allow you to perform a strict rep using good form without straining too much, and then work your way down to the floor in stages.

Bodyweight Squats

The bodyweight squat does for the lower body what the push-up does for the upper body. Bodyweight squats work the quads, hamstrings, calves and glutes, but you may need to place a hand on a table or chair to keep your balance until you get the hang of them. When your leg muscles get stronger, you can make bodyweight squats harder by holding jugs of water in your hands or wearing a backpack.

Planks

Performing planks is a great way to strengthen your core, legs and back. You can perform them on your hands or forearms and with your arms bent or straight, and you can make the exercise more difficult by holding the plank position for longer.

Lunges

Performing lunges is an easy and safe way to build and strengthen the quads, hamstrings, calves, glutes and core. Lunges improve balance and hip flexibility, and you don’t need any special equipment to perform them. Alternate between forward, reverse and side lunges to keep things interesting and avoid boredom.

Jumping Jacks

Jumping jacks do little to improve strength, but they are great for the heart and lungs. Performing jumping jacks is an easy and low-intensity way to get the blood flowing and start a workout.

 

Dumbbell Rows

The dumbbell row works shoulder, neck and back muscles, and you don’t actually need dumbbells to perform them. Cans, jars and water jugs can all be used to provide resistance, and you can move from lighter to heavier items as you get stronger.

Inverted Rows

Pullups are the best exercise for strengthening the back, but they are really difficult. Australian or reverse pull-ups are much easier because they greatly reduce the amount of weight that has to be lifted. You can make them even easier by pulling up your body from the waist instead of the ankles.

Hip Thrusts

Most of the top 10 at-home workouts for women include hip thrusts because these exercises are great for toning the glutes and stabilizing the core. They are easy to perform, and you can make them more challenging by holding the position for longer.

Sit-Ups

Sit-ups are great for working the abs, but they should be performed with the legs bent rather than straight. Beginners tend to keep their feet on the floor when they perform sit-ups to make the exercise easier, but intermediate or advanced trainers usually place their feet on chairs to make the movement more challenging.

Donkey Kicks

Donkey kicks are another great exercise for toning and strengthening the glutes. They are fairly straightforward exercises, but they are harder than they look. Perform donkey kicks with a bent leg at first as this makes reps easier to complete, and push your foot up as far as you can.

Top 10-15-Minute At-Home Workouts

If you want to complete your exercise routine in 10 or 15 minutes, you should perform three circuits of exercises that work major muscle groups that each last four or five minutes. You will perform your circuits faster as you gain strength and your cardiovascular fitness improves, which is why the intermediate and advanced circuits have more exercises. Try to only rest for about 30 seconds between exercises and about a minute between circuits. The beginner circuit is a great 10-minute workout for those just starting out on a fitness journey, but the intermediate and advanced 15-minute workout at home circuits are a little more challenging.

10-15-Minute Beginner Workout Circuit

• Jumping jacks: 25 reps
• Push-ups: 10 reps
• Bodyweight squats: 10 reps
• Sit-ups: 15 reps
• Lunges: 15 reps

10-15-Minute Intermediate Workout Circuit

• Jumping jacks: 35 reps
• Push-ups: 12 reps
• Bodyweight squats: 12 reps
• Sit-ups: 20 reps
• Lunges: 20 reps
• Hip thrusts: 20 reps

10-15-Minute Advanced Workout Circuit

• Jumping jacks: 45 reps
• Push-ups: 15 reps
• Bodyweight squats: 15 reps
• Sit-ups: 25 reps
• Lunges: 25 reps
• Hip thrusts: 25 reps
• Planks: 5 reps

Top 20-Minute At-Home Workouts

If you can devote 20 minutes to your exercise routine, you will be able to perform more exercises or more circuits. You could take the 10-minute workout at-home routine and perform four circuits instead of three, but you might find that a bit boring. Sticking to three circuits and adding exercises makes things more interesting and keeps tedium at bay during a 20-minute workout at home.

20-Minute Beginner Workout Circuit

• Jumping jacks: 25 reps
• Push-ups: 10 reps
• Bodyweight squats: 10 reps
• Sit-ups: 15 reps
• Lunges: 15 reps
• Hip thrusts: 15 reps

20-Minute Intermediate Workout Circuit

• Jumping jacks: 35 reps
• Push-ups: 12 reps
• Bodyweight squats: 12 reps
• Sit-ups: 20 reps
• Lunges: 20 reps
• Hip thrusts: 20 reps
• Planks: 5 reps

20-Minute Advanced Workout Circuit

• Jumping jacks: 45 reps
• Push-ups: 15 reps
• Bodyweight squats: 15 reps
• Sit-ups: 25 reps
• Lunges: 25 reps
• Hip thrusts: 25 reps
• Planks: 10 reps
• Dumbbell rows: 15 reps

Top 30-Minute At-Home Workouts

Completing a 30-minute at-home workout three times per week will get you fit and strong in no time. A 30-minute workout at home routine has longer circuits, but you can rest between exercises and circuits to catch your breath and regain your strength. The advanced 30-minute workout routine at home has 10 exercises, but you only have to complete three circuits.

30-Minute Beginner Workout Circuit

• Jumping jacks: 25 reps
• Push-ups: 10 reps
• Bodyweight squats: 10 reps
• Sit-ups: 15 reps
• Lunges: 15 reps
• Hip thrusts: 15 reps
• Planks: 5 reps

30-Minute Intermediate Workout Circuit

• Jumping jacks: 35 reps
• Push-ups: 12 reps
• Bodyweight squats: 12 reps
• Sit-ups: 20 reps
• Lunges: 20 reps
• Hip thrusts: 20 reps
• Planks: 10 reps
• Dumbbell rows: 15 reps
• Inverted pullups: 10 reps

30-Minute Advanced Workout Circuit

• Jumping jacks: 45 reps
• Push-ups: 15 reps
• Bodyweight squats: 15 reps
• Sit-ups: 25 reps
• Lunges: 25 reps
• Hip thrusts: 25 reps
• Planks: 10 reps
• Dumbbell rows: 20 reps
• Inverted pullups: 15 reps
• Donkey kicks: 25 reps

Top Ab Workouts at Home

Great abs are created in the kitchen, not the gym, but you will still have to perform exercises like sit-ups if a six-pack is what you are looking for. The abdominal muscles respond well to exercise, so you won’t have to perform hundreds of repetitions to strengthen and tone your midsection. The top ab workouts at home focus on sit-ups, leg lifts and planks, but they also include bodyweight exercises that work the core. If you want your 30-minute ab workout at home to really produce results, it should include the following exercises:

• Sit-ups: A standard sit-up performed with the legs bent and the feet flat on the floor works all of the abdominal muscles, but you will get better results if you place your feet on a chair and hold the contracted position for a second or two.
• Planks: Planks strengthen the obliques and the muscles of the lower back as well as the abs. These exercises can be difficult at first, but they are worth the effort.
• Bodyweight squats: Squats give your lower body and abs a great workout, and they also burn a lot of calories. Maintain tension on your abs as you lower and raise your body, and place one of your hands on a table or chair to keep your balance.
• Push-ups: Push-ups work the core and improve posture. The tension that you place on your abs when you perform push-ups will stop your stomach from sticking out, and the muscle mass these exercises add to your chest, shoulders and back will reshape your body.
• Leg lifts: Lying flat on your back with your legs straight and then lifting your feet a few inches off the floor is a great way to work lower abdominal muscles. If you find the exercise too taxing, you can make completing repetitions easier by raising your feet a little higher. This spreads the tension and takes the pressure off your lower abs.

Top Cardio Workouts at Home

Top cardio workouts at home improve endurance and overall fitness when they raise the heart rate by at least 50%. This may sound like a lot, but it really isn’t. Jumping jacks, running on the spot or just walking briskly will produce the desired effect, but you will only get the results you are looking for if you keep rest breaks to a minimum. The top CrossFit workouts at home are effective because they limit rest and keep the heart pumping, and people enjoy them because the exercises are not too challenging.

A 30-minute cardio workout at home can do much more than improve your physical fitness. When researchers asked 49 men and women between the ages of 19 and 68 to perform cardiovascular exercises for four weeks, they noticed that:

• Their stress levels went down
• They felt less emotionally exhausted
• They enjoyed a greater sense of well-being
• They coped with less psychological distress

The key to cardio training is duration rather than intensity, which is why exercises that are not too taxing are preferred. Jumping jacks, lunges, hip thrusts, sit-ups and donkey kicks are all great cardio exercises.

Top HIIT Workouts

High-intensity interval training combines aerobic and strength exercises to provide a complete workout. High-intensity exercises that raise the heart rate to 80% of the maximum are followed by lower-intensity movements to delay the onset of fatigue, which can produce great results in as little as 10 minutes. Strenuous exercises like push-ups, reverse pull-ups and bodyweight squats will provide the intensity needed to increase your heart rate during a 10, 20 or 30-minute HIIT workout at home, and less taxing movements like jumping jacks or lunges will allow you to recover without taking a break.

A HIIT workout routine should start gently, become more difficult and then alternate between high-intensity and low-intensity exercises. Here is a good HIIT circuit for beginners:

• Lunges
• Bodyweight squats
• Push-ups
• Jumping jacks
• Dumbbell rows
• Donkey kicks
• Sit-ups

Each exercise should be performed for 30 seconds. You should walk backwards and forwards for about 15 seconds between exercises as this will prevent your heart rate from slowing too much while you catch your breath. Perform three circuits, and rest for 60 seconds between circuits.

Comfort and Technology

Heart rate monitors and fitness apps can make an exercise program more enjoyable, and so can compression socks featuring infrared technology first developed by NASA. TRUENERGY® has compression socks for men and women in ankle, crew and knee-high styles, and they have all been engineered to improve blood flow, reduce post-workout soreness and prevent injuries. If you would like to know more about the ways TRUENERGY® can help you reach your fitness goals, you can use our online form to ask us a question. You can also use the form to join our community and receive a 15% discount on your first order.