Training at home is totally and completely doable. Whether you have a full-blown garage gym, only a few pieces of equipment, or absolutely nothing but your motivated self, there are plenty of ways to make gains without leaving the house. You just need to get creative, and we’re here to help. Here’s some advice on how to train at home.

Training Without Equipment

If you currently have no equipment, you’re going to get familiar with bodyweight movements pretty quickly. Some good bodyweight movements to incorporate into your at-home workouts are push-ups (check out these variations!), sit-ups, air squats, burpees, lunges, planks, hollow rocks/holds, and supermans.

Remember: since your weight is limited to your body, to make things more challenging, you’re going to increase the reps, or do the reps faster (or both!). Bodyweight should not equal easy.

There are countless ways you can program your training for home so you never get bored with the limited amount of movements at hand. EMOMS, AMRAPs, and for-time workouts are always great options. For example, if you are limited on time, you could do a short (yet spicy) 10-minute AMRAP of:

  • 5 push-ups
  • 10 sit-ups
  • 15 burpees

The more burpees the better, right?

Push to stay at around 90-100% effort through the whole 10 minutes. Never stop moving.

For a longer workout session, you could start with a low effort 10-minute EMOM of:

  • 8 push-ups
  • A 20-second handstand hold every minute to work on upper body strength

Followed by 5 rounds for time of:

  • 400-meter run in your neighborhood
  • 20 air squats
  • 20 sit-ups

These are just a couple of examples of how you can structure your training at home, even when you don’t have much equipment to work with. The takeaway is this: if you get creative, aim to keep it constantly varied (the CF way of life), and give sincere effort, you can indeed get an awesome workout in right at home.

Incorporating Equipment Into Your Home Gym

While you can surely train without equipment, we highly recommend you invest in at least a few pieces to seriously up your programming, offer more variety, and help you push yourself harder. If you’re looking to start developing a home gym and want to know what essentials you’ll need, there are some very versatile pieces of equipment that are great to have handy. Here are some of our top suggestions.

ArmorTech Kettlebells

These Armortech kettlebells are competition grade, colour-coded, and have a comfortable handle. Best yet, there are so many different ways to use them. From traditional kettlebell swings to challenging yet effective Turkish get-ups, the opportunities are endless.

armortech kettlebells

Some other kettlebell moves you can incorporate into your workout are goblet squats, kettlebell snatches, kettlebell clean and jerks, overhead presses, farmer carries (single arm or double arm), and kettlebell sumo deadlift high-pulls. If you already have a kettlebell at home or feel inspired to get one after reading this post, give this workout a go.

4 rounds for time

  • 30 goblet squats
  • 15 burpees
  • 30 kettlebell swings
  • 15 burpees

Dumbbells

Armortech dumbbells are another must-have. Whether you’re doing traditional bodybuilding movements or using them in a WOD, you can’t go wrong with dumbbells. There are endless exercises and variations, from strict presses to push presses, from stationary lunges to Russian twists. You could easily do an entire workout with dumbbells alone.

Barbell and Bumper Plates

bar and plates

If you’re really ready to commit, you need a bar and plates. This will take your training to a new level. Think of all the WODs you can do and the variety you’ll add to your home programming. The sky is the limit.

At some point, this specific equipment will be much needed. You’re going to keep getting stronger, and one day, dumbbells and kettlebells won’t cut it. A barbell allows you to lift so much more.

One important note: if you’re looking into getting new equipment for your home gym and plan to have pieces like rings and barbells, make sure you do your homework first. Learn the proper way to set up rings, rigs, pull-up bars, and other equipment that requires installation, so you can stay safe and work hard.

Also remember you’re at home and not at the box, so you may want to stay away from dropping heavy barbells, dumbbells, and kettlebells on the floor. You should avoid ever having this equipment on a bare floor, period. It can damage the floor, and it can also damage the equipment — both pricey to repair. Take good care of these items, and they will last for many, many years.

There are plenty of ways to get fit in the comfort of your own home. Just follow the tips above, and soon you will be making up your own killer at-home workouts. Let us know what you come up with in the comments!

Main image: Mat Fraser/Instagram

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