How To Start Strength Training At Home

There are so many reasons to include strength training in your fitness routine — and you can get started at home without equipment using just your bodyweight, or create a small home gym with minimal equipment! 

Ready to start strength training at home? Here’s everything you need to know about how to begin - and what you’ll get out of it.

Strength training: Home vs gym

One of the benefits of strength training in the gym includes having access to a wide range of equipment and machines — but working out in the gym isn’t always possible, affordable, or something you even enjoy. 

Rest assured, not going to a gym doesn’t mean you have to miss out on strength training and its benefits!

Training at home might fit into your day more easily (especially if you’ve got a busy schedule), plus, you'll save on the commute and the membership fees, giving yourself more time and money for your other priorities. 

Using high-intensity exercises and a thoughtfully designed workout program can help you train and build your strength using no equipment at all, or you can invest in some basic home gym equipment.

High Intensity Zero Equipment with Kayla Itsines, PWR Zero Equipment with Kelsey Wells and FIERCE Zero Equipment with Chontel Duncan are all great bodyweight options in the Sweat app. 

If you want to increase the difficulty without buying any expensive or large equipment, free weights (such as a set of dumbbells) or resistance bands are great options, and there are plenty of workout options for small spaces.

Can you get results with strength training at home?

Yes! Don’t underestimate bodyweight exercises, calisthenics and home gym equipment - they can definitely help maintain and build your stamina and strength. 

The key to progressing is to follow a workout program consistently. Rome wasn’t built in a day! Once exercise becomes a habit and you feel more confident and experienced, you can learn how to select the appropriate rate of perceived exertion to keep challenging yourself and boost your training benefits. 

As with gym-based training, proper nutrition and recovery will help to maximise your training and the improvements you see in your strength and fitness. 

There is a range of strength-focused at-home programs in the Sweat app you can try, including PWR at Home, LIFTING at Home, FIERCE at Home and High Intensity Strength at Home with Cass.

Benefits of strength training at home

Strength training at home has many benefits for your training and overall lifestyle. For fitness beginners, training at home can give you the space and time you need to focus on mastering your form and building your confidence. 

As you progress, you may find you want to try training in a gym for access to more equipment, or that you love the flexibility at-home workouts provide! 

For more experienced gym-goers, training at home can be a great way to fit in a quick workout on days you are time-poor, or a way to change up your environment if you’re experiencing workout boredom or a workout plateau.

Physical benefits

Strength training can improve your body composition and muscle mass, as well as improving your muscular strength and endurance. It can even help you increase and maintain bone density. 

With more muscular strength and power, you may also find that other forms of exercise like power walking or jogging become easier, as well as other movements in your daily routine!

Training benefits

For many people, training at home is a recipe for a great workout and the key to a more consistent routine - you can take things at your own pace, with fewer distractions, in the environment you feel most comfortable in. 

Plus, you’ll never have to wait for someone to finish using the equipment you need, or feel pressure from someone else who is waiting for you!

Lifestyle benefits

Strength training from home can be much more convenient — which means that you’re more likely to be consistent with your workouts! Because there’s no commute, they are much easier to squeeze into a busy day.

How to start strength training at home

No matter what your fitness or experience level is, you can start strength training at home at any time. All you’ll need to get started with bodyweight exercises is some space to move! Look around and decide what area would work best - perhaps your lounge room, garage or a spare bedroom. 

Once you’ve warmed up, the key to effective strength training is to ensure you target each area of the body, challenge your muscles, and allow enough rest between workouts to allow for muscle recovery. In the Sweat app, you can follow a program or select individual workouts from the On Demand section. 

Two or three workouts each week is a good place to start, and focus on mastering the basics, such as squats, lunges and push-ups! Getting your form right is essential before trying harder variations of exercises or adding resistance.

If you want to see your strength improve, it’s best to follow a training program that is designed to progressively get more difficult. 

There are several at-home workout programs available in the Sweat app if you are looking for guidance!

Do you need equipment for strength training at home?

Nope! There are many effective no-equipment exercises — you might be surprised how challenging a bodyweight workout can be! Exercise variations can also keep things interesting. You might start with push-ups on your knees, then move to your toes, then try spider push-ups or plyo push-ups!

If you commit to training at home, you might later decide to get a few pieces of home gym equipment such as dumbbells, resistance bands, kettlebells or a bench. 

Don’t worry too much about having a lot of equipment in the beginning — you can always substitute household items such as water bottles or a heavy backpack.

Sstart strength training at home today 

Ready to give it a go? Try this free full-body workout from PWR at Home!

Each exercise has step-by-step instructions and guided workout demonstrations from Sweat Trainer Kelsey Wells to ensure you complete each exercise with the correct form. 

What are you waiting for? The best time to start is now.