So that’s day one of the best fitness exercise workout at home for the intermediate weight lifter. Again you should research your body part exercises and mix up the exact exercises to keep things fresh. After this, take one day off then perform the following ‘pull’ day:

Day 2 (Pull):

Skipping: 15 minutes (cardiovascular fitness/warm up)

Bicep Curls: 3 x 15 x 20kg (biceps) – See Part One

Hammer Curls: 3 x 15 x 20kg (biceps) – See Part One

Reverse Grip Curls: 3 x 15 x 20kg (biceps) – Using dumbbells, this is the same as the bicep curls except for the grip which is now facing outwards.

Chin Ups: 3 x 15 (biceps, lats) – Using bodyweight. The same as pull ups, except you have your palms facing inwards to target your biceps more.

Pull Ups: 3 x 15 (lats, biceps)

Upward Rows: 3 x 15 x 20kg (lats, shoulders) – Using dumbbells, stand with your feet shoulder width apart and the weights dangling in front of you (over hand grip). Now raise the dumbbells up in front of you).

Sit Ups: 3 x 50 (abs) – See Part One

Crunches: 3 x 25 (abs) – Using bodyweight. Like the sit ups except you ‘roll’ your stomach in until it’s tight rather than sitting directly up. You should feel the abs squeeze and to the outside observer this will appear more like a ‘half sit up’.

Twisting Sit Ups: 3 x 25 (abs, obliques) – Using bodyweight. Like the ordinary sit ups except with an additional ‘twist’ at the top of the movement in alternate directions. This engages the oblique muscles down the side of the abs.

Hanging Leg Raises: 3 x 10 (abs) – Using bodyweight. From the pull up bar hang and then raise your feet directly upwards in front of you (if this is too hard just raise your knees to your chest for a ‘frog kick’).

Those two sessions between them make up the best fitness exercise workout at home you can do at an intermittent level. This programme will help you to gain the exact amount of muscle you would if you were in a gym, but doesn’t require an expensive membership or time-consuming travel. You are simply replacing machines and exercise stations such as the lat pull down and bench press with alternatives you can do with less equipment such as the pull up and dumbbell presses respectively. Now between these two days ensure you get lots of rest and protein which will allow the body to repair the microtears you’ve caused your muscles and build them back up bigger and stronger – the process by which your muscles grow.

So those are the best fitness exercise workouts at home for the beginner and intermediate weightlifter, but surely in order to move on to become an advanced bodybuilder you will need to eventually sign up to a gym? Well actually no – you can achieve everything that the most impressive bodybuilders can from the comfort of your home. And while you may eventually want to invest in a larger set of dumbbells (up to 40kg perhaps) and maybe even a barbell, multi gym or bench – all of these will still add up to less than a full gym membership and petrol.

Furthermore, even without all that equipment you can still achieve an impressively ripped physique with 17’’ arms – it’s just a matter of finding variations for your bodyweight and dumbbells.

When you’re devising the best fitness exercise workout at home for the advanced muscle gainer you need to ensure that you’re doing even more exercises per individual body part. In turn you also need more rest which is why you’ll now be devoting entire days to each body part. The best fitness exercise workout at home for the expert then will be as follow:

Day 1 – Biceps

Skipping: 15 minutes (cardiovascular fitness/warm up)

Bicep Curls: 3 x 15 x 25kg

Hammer Curls: 3 x 15 x 25kg

Reverse Grip Curls: 3 x 15 x 25kg

Isolation Curls: 3 x 10 x 20kg – Using dumbbells, bend over so that one hand is on your knee and your other arm dangles between your legs holding the dumbbell. This prevents your body from swinging and means that when you curl that dumbbell you’re using entirely your bicep.

Chin Ups: 3 x 20

Day 2 – Pecs

Skipping: 15 minutes (cardiovascular fitness/warm up)

Press Ups: 3 x 75

Clapping Press Ups: 3 x 20

Pec Flies: 3 x 20 x 25kg

Standing Pec Flies: 3 x 20 x 20kg

Incline Press Ups: 3 x 50 – Using bodyweight. Press ups with your legs up on something high behind you.

Day 3 – Shoulders and Back

Skipping: 15 minutes (cardiovascular fitness/warm up)

Chin Ups: 3 x 20

Bent Over Rows: 3 x 15 x 25kg

Upward Rows: 3 x 15 x 20kg

Dumbbell Raises: 3 x 10 x 15kg – Using dumbbells, keeping your arms straight raise them directly upwards in front of you.

Lateral Raises: 3 x 10 x 15kg – Using dumbbells, do the same as the dumbbell raises but outwards into a crucifix shape. This targets a different part of the shoulders.

Shoulder Presses: 3 x 15 x 25kg

Day 4 – Rest

Sleep and eat plenty of protein!

Day 5 – Abs

Skipping: 30 minutes (cardiovascular fitness/warm up)

Sit Ups: 3 x 75

Crunches: 3 x 50

Twisting Crunches: 3 x 20

Frog Kicks: 3 x 30

Hanging Leg Raises: 3 x 15

Cont. The best fitness exercise workout at home for experts…

Day 6 – Triceps

Skipping: 15 minutes (cardiovascular fitness/warm up)

Tricep Kick Backs: 3 x 15 x 15kg

Dumbbell Runners: 3 x 15 x 20kg

Tricep Dips: 3 x 50

One-Armed Tricep Dips: 1 x 20 – Spread your legs further apart and put one hand in the middle. Do ten dips on either hand just to finish off the triceps after the other dips.

Day 7 – Legs

Skipping: 30 minutes (cardiovascular fitness/warm up)

Squats: 3 x 12 x 25kg

Sissy Squats: 3 x 12 – Using bodyweight, here you do squats but on your tip toes with your knees forwards and leaning your upper body backwards. Now lower and raise yourself as you would with normal squats, your back nearly parallel with the floor (you may need to put one hand on a wall for balance).

Calve Raises: 3 x 10 x 20kg – Using dumbbells by holding them by your side while performing normal calve raises. Alternatively you can sit down and balance a dumbbell on one knee and raise the weight by going on tip toes on that side.

Lunges: 3 x 15 x 25kg

So there it is – the best fitness exercise workout at home for all stages of your training. Using these different workouts at different stages of your training you can achieve any desired physique without ever needing to join a gym. For the expert programme ensure however that you use some kind of supplementation – certainly a protein shake to help your muscles recover and grow and probably an energy supplement such as creatine to help get your through the full workout. You will also need to have a good diet and remember again to try different exercises and research around the topic to keep your body guessing (predictability is one of the biggest road blocks in bodybuilding). Just because you’re training at home that doesn’t mean you should take it any less seriously than if you were going to a gym – it’s still a big lifestyle change.

While only one day of rest is quite intense you will likely find it’s far easier to stick to if you train at home. You can squeeze sessions in around your daily schedule this way – late at night after work or in the morning before you set off. You can also motivate yourself with motivational music or even a good film (Commando, Rocky or Pumping Iron). Furthermore you won’t have to face going out in the rain on a tired day. This is why I personally am a very strong advocate of training at home and why this is the workout I use – the best fitness exercise workout at home!

Mack LeMouse

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