Working out at home is both convenient and effective, as long as you know the right exercises to do and are willing to put in the full amount of effort needed to get the same results as you would from a gym workout.
There are a number of challenges to home workouts such as a lack of motivation, less exercises to do with limited equipment, a lack of gym partners, and a less exciting atmosphere than that which a gym could provide.
The biggest obstacle among these challenges to most fitness partakers is less exercises to do given that there is less disposable equipment to work with.
This obstacle can be overcome be expanding your knowledge of different exercises and how to use your own bodyweight and the walls or towels in your home to still build and maintain muscle mass just as you would from workouts anywhere else.
Workouts that last 1 hour are usually the standard when working out 6 days a week since it allows you to hit every muscle in your body twice if you follow a push-pull-leg routine.
1 hour long workouts can be done quickly during a small break in the day and are usually fairly easy to fit into your schedule.
The following workout routines cover individual exercises as well as full 1 hour workouts that can be done at home without needing any equipment.
At Home Push Workout Routine
Push workouts are one of the most essential routines needed to build and keep an aesthetic and strong physique.
A good push workout routine should stimulate and stress your chest muscles, shoulders, and triceps.
The 5 main exercises in this push workout routine are push-ups, decline push-ups, diamond push-ups, handstands against a wall, and planks.
Push-ups
The first exercise in the push routine is the push-up.
Push-ups are a great, staple push exercise and work the chest, shoulders, and triceps.
This is the first exercise in this push routine because it will activate and warmup all the muscles that are going to be used for the remainder of the workout while also burning your chest and shoulders.
Decline Push-ups
The next exercise in the 1 hour push routine is decline push-ups.
Decline push-ups are done by elevating your feet on a raised surface and completing push-ups while at a declined angle.
Decline push-ups concentrate on the upper chest and help to bring out more definition in the middle chest section as well.
Diamond Push-ups
Another variation of the push-up is diamond push-ups.
Diamond push-ups are much harder than standard push-ups and require strength in your triceps and shoulders, as well as chest.
Diamond push-ups are great for developing the inner chest and give a good burn which will elevate your heart rate and ensure you tear apart muscle fibers, leading to chest gains after the workout is done.
Handstands Against a Wall
After diamond push-ups, the next exercise is handstands against a wall.
Handstands against a wall target the shoulders mainly but also require you to engage your triceps and core.
To do handstands against a wall, you should find a sturdy wall or pillar to lean against and stand on your hands.
After 1 minute of doing a handstand against a wall, your shoulders will be on fire and you should have gotten a good pump.
Planks
Finally, planks are the last exercise in this routine.
This push workout ends with planks because planks are a good exercise to engage the shoulders without needing access to weight or gym equipment.
After doing handstands against a wall, your shoulders will be strained and planks will finish them off well while also requiring you to use your chest and triceps.
Full Push Workout Routine
This is the full push workout routine with recommended sets, reps, and total time given for each exercise.
If you can not complete all the reps and sets per exercise, reduce the number of reps per set so that you can complete workout. If you are able to do more, then you can increase the reps per sets so that you still are signaling your muscles to grow.
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Time |
| Push-ups | 4 sets | 30-40 reps | 6-10 minutes |
| Decline Push-ups | 4 sets | 10-30 reps | 8-12 minutes |
| Diamond Push-ups | 4 sets | 15-20 reps | 10-15 minutes |
| Handstands Against a Wall | 5 sets | Hold for 30 seconds-1 minute each set | 5-10 minutes |
| Planks | 3 sets | Hold for 2-4 minutes each set | 8-12 minutes |
At Home Pull Workout Routine
Now, if you are looking for a workout routine that focuses more on your back and biceps, then this pull workout routine will be good for you.
Pull workouts involve pulling movements such as the pull-up, row, and bicep curl and target all the muscles in the back, along with the traps, and biceps.
There are 5 exercises in the pull workout routine designed to hit all the muscles effectively and efficiently in 1 hour.
The 5 exercises are reachers, supermans, scapula wall holds, towel rows, and hyperextensions.
Reachers
Reachers are one of the best pull exercises you can do without using equipment.
To do reachers, lay on your stomach on a flat surface and extend your arms out in front of you with your elbows bent and your chest raised off the ground.
Next, pull your elbows down and further off the ground while flexing your upper and lower back muscles.
Supermans
Following reachers, supermans are another good exercise for hitting the back muscles.
Supermans primarily activate the lower back but will work the upper back and traps as well.
To do a superman, lie on the floor on your stomach with your arms in front of you then raise both your arms and your legs at the same time and hold it.
You should squeeze your lower and upper back muscles at the top and try to keep the time you rest in between each rep to a minimum.
Scapula Wall Holds
The next exercise is scapula wall holds.
Scapula wall holds are great for hitting your upper back.
Scapula wall holds are done by leaning against a wall or pillar with your arms bent and elbows touching the wall, then using your elbows to push yourself away from the wall while flexing your back.
You should hold the top of the concentric portion of this exercise for 2-3 seconds each rep before relaxing your muscles and leaning back against the wall.
Towel Rows
After scapula wall holds, is towel rows.
Towel rows can be done using any door frame, pole, or pillar you have access to.
You could also use a tree, as long you can wrap a towel around it, it will work.
To do towel rows, either jam or wrap your towel around an object and hold both ends. You should then lean back and keep your back straight while bending at the hips.
While keeping your weight on your heels, use your bodyweight as resistance and row yourself up.
Hold at the top, squeezing your back muscles then slowly let yourself back down.
Hyperextensions
The last exercise is hyperextensions.
Hyperextensions are done similar to supermans, however instead of raising your arms and legs off the ground, you only lift up your arms.
By only raising your arms, this allows you to raise your upper body higher up and work your upper back muscles more.
This exercise is a good finishing movement for a pull workout because it will hit all the muscles in the back while making sure that the upper back muscles have been completely worked by the full routine.
Full Pull Workout Routine
This is the full pull workout routine.
All the advised sets and reps per exercise are given along with an estimate of how much time will be needed to complete the round for that pull exercise.
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Time |
| Reachers | 5 sets | 20-40 reps | 10-15 minutes |
| Supermans | 4 sets | 10-15 reps | 5-10 minutes |
| Scapula Wall Holds | 3 sets | Hold for 1 minute each set | 3-5 minutes |
| Towel Rows | 5 sets | 20-25 reps | 10-15 minutes |
| Hyperextensions | 4 sets | 15-20 reps | 5-15 minutes |
At Home Leg Workout Routine
While legs are frequently neglected, they are just important as your chest and back for a proportional physique.
This is an at home leg workout routine that will help to build your quadriceps, glutes, hamstrings, calves, and shins.
The 5 leg exercises in this home leg workout routine are bodyweight squats, bodyweight hamstring curls, pistol box squats, wall sits, and calf raises.
Bodyweight Squats
The first exercise in this workout are bodyweight squats.
Bodyweight squats are the simplest and most common bodyweight exercise to do for legs.
Bodyweight squats can be done just like squats with a barbell.
To make up for the lack of weighted resistance, you should increase your reps and try to execute the squats quickly.
You should also implement good squatting form when doing bodyweight squats and make sure to keep your chest up and not have a rounded back.
Bodyweight Hamstring Curls
Bodyweight hamstring curls are the second exercise in this routine and are highly effective at activating the hamstrings.
The hamstrings are the muscles that run up the back of your thighs and are used for bringing your heel up to your butt.
To do bodyweight hamstring curls, you will need to find either a wall or ledge to brace your feet against so that you can curl your bodyweight without losing your footing.
Benches work well for this exercise, as do bed frames, stairs, and sturdy tables.
Bodyweight hamstring curls are done by letting yourself down slowly to the ground, using your hamstrings to control your descent, then pushing yourself off the ground and back up into a straight position with the help of a small push-up and your hamstrings.
Pistol Box Squats
Following bodyweight hamstring curls, pistol box squats are a difficult but powerful exercise to do to stimulate leg growth.
To do pistol box squats you will need a chair, bench, box, table or bed to sit down on at the bottom portion of the exercise.
Using this chair or box, keep one leg in front of you and complete a squat, sitting at the bottom of the movement each rep.
In order to do this exercise correctly, you should keep one leg elevated at all times.
Wall Sits
Now that your legs are completely warmed up and your muscles fibers have been recruited, wall sits are a good way to add more volume to the workout and continue breaking down the muscle.
Wall sits are easy to do and only require a wall of some sort to sit against.
You can do a wall sit by bending your legs at your knees until your thighs are parallel to the ground and sitting against a wall.
You should hold this for as long as you can and complete it for multiple sets to get maximal hypertrophy during this routine.
Calf Raises
Lastly, calf raises are the final exercise in this leg routine.
Calves may not be as exciting of a muscle group to work out as the biceps or shoulders, but they are still important to specifically target.
Calf raises can be done anywhere and are very simple to do.
To do a calf raise, raise your heels off the ground and flex your calves, then slowly bring your heels back to the ground.
To make this exercise harder, you can do one calf at a time and keep the other leg off the ground while holding onto an object for balance.
Full Leg Workout Routine
This table lays out all the exercises in the leg workout routine with the reps and sets included.
You should be able to complete the full routine in 1 hour but may find that you either need to increase or decrease the amount of reps and sets in order to better match your own abilities.
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Time |
| Bodyweight Squats | 4 sets | 20-50 reps | 10-20 minutes |
| Bodyweight Hamstring Curls | 3 sets | 10-20 reps | 5-10 minutes |
| Pistol Box Squats | 4 sets | 5-10 reps per leg | 10-15 minutes |
| Wall Sits | 2 sets | Hold for 1-2 minutes each set | 5-10 minutes |
| Calf Raises | 5 sets | 10-20 reps | 5-10 minutes |
Summary
Summarizing, push, pull, and leg workouts can be done at home without equipment in 1 hour while still making gains and correctly implementing progressive overload.
For the push workout, the 5 exercises are push-ups, decline push-ups, diamond push-ups, handstands against a wall, and planks.
For the pull workout, the 5 exercises are reachers, supermans, scapula wall holds, towel rows, and hypextensions.
For the leg workout, the 5 exercises are bodyweight squats, bodyweight hamstring curls, pistol box squats, wall sits, and calf raises.
For more on training, workout routines, and bodyweight exercise that can be done with no equipment, such as what the benefits are of working out twice a day and the 5 best types of cardio for weightlifters, click here.
