The Massive Plug-and-Play Home Workout Guide

Everyone is stuck performing home workouts right now because of the COVID Pandemic. I have had to redesign countless workout programs for my clients and my athletes who can no longer train in a gym and may not be able to for an extended period of time.

Initially, I was getting frustrated trying to balance out who could do what with their specific equipment until I realized I need to create my own template that would help sort and organize everything for me. In creating this for myself I thought others might find it useful.

One of the biggest challenges in setting up a home workout is figuring out exactly what equipment the individual has. Some have bands but no weights, others just have dumbbells and no bands, and some might only have their bodyweight. To that end I have divided up these workouts into 5 different categories based on what equipment is available:

Bodyweight
Bands
Dumbbells
Stability Ball
Rings

If someone has a bar and a squat rack then they can pretty much perform any free weight exercise they could do in the gym and this article isn’t for them. I am also going to include some common kettlebell, cardio and stone exercises in case you have access to those implements.

Secondly, a significant challenge is making the exercise the right intensity, some at-home exercises are pretty wimpy and others can be extremely challenging even for fit individuals. Often your bodyweight is a factor, and that means a higher bodyweight might make one exercise hard for one person and easy for another.

EXERCISE OPTIONS

As a result of these factors, I am dividing the exercises into 5 levels of difficultly using the following scale:

A – About as easy as the exercise can be made, good if you are a beginner

B – A little bit easier than “normal” or standard form

C – Normal difficulty, use if you are an intermediate or strong for your weight

D – A challenging exercise

E – About as hard as we can make the exercise be, good if you are advanced with good body

awareness and high relative strength

The exercise list is divided by the primary muscle group working in the exercise. A simple template will be provided at the end so you can plug-and-play to set up your own style of workouts.

Chest Exercises

Chest – Bodyweight only

Exercise	A	B	C	D	E
	Couch Push-ups	Push-ups to block	Push-ups to Floor	Feet Elevated Push-ups	1 arm push-ups
	Negative Hands Elevated Push-ups	Neg Modified Push-ups	Hand Release Push-ups	Uneven Push-ups	Power Push-ups

Chest – Bands

Exercise	A	B	C	D	E
	1 arm chest press	1 arm chest fly	1 arm crossover	Banded 2 arm chest press	Banded Push-ups
	1 arm chest press walk out	1 arm chest fly walk out	2 arm fly	1 arm plank fly

Chest – Dumbbell

Exercise	A	B	C	D	E
	Floor DB Press	DB Press	DB Incline Press	Alt DB Press	Alt DB Incline Press
	Floor DB Fly	DB Fly	DB Incline Fly	Alt DB Fly	Alt DB Incline Fly

Chest – Ball

Exercise	A	B	C	D	E
	Push-ups Ball at waist	Push-ups Ball at knees	Push-ups Ball at Feet	Push-ups Hands on Ball	Push-ups Toes on Ball

Chest – Rings

Exercise	A	B	C	D	E
	Hands High Elevation Ring Push-ups	Hands Med Elevation Ring Push-ups	Ring Push-ups	Uneven Ring Push-ups	1 arm ring push-ups
	Hands High Elevation Ring Fly	Hands Med Elevation Ring Fly	Ring Flys	Feet Elevated Ring Fly	1 arm ring fly

Back Exercises

Back – Bodyweight and assuming a Pull-up bar

Exercise	A	B	C	D	E
	Leg Assisted Chin-ups	Flexed Arm Hang – Chin	Partial Chin-ups	Negative Chin-ups	Chin-ups
	Leg Assisted Pull-ups	Flexed Arm Hang – Pull	Partial Pull-ups	Negative Pull-ups	Pull-ups

Back – Dumbbell

Exercise	A	B	C	D	E
	DB Row	Chest Supported DB Row	DB Wide Row	DB Pullover	Weighted Chin-ups

Back – Band

Exercise	A	B	C	D	E
	Band Row	Band Wide Row	Band Lat Pulldown	Pull-ups with Band	Pull-ups against Band
	Alt Band Row	Alt Wide Row	Alt Band Lat Pulldown	Band Straight Arm Lat Pulldown	Band Pullover

Back – Rings

Exercise	A	B	C	D	E
	Bodyweight High Row	Bodyweight Medium Row	Bodyweight Low Row	Feet Elevated Bodyweight Row	1-arm Bodyweight Row
	Ring Flexed Arm Hang	Ring Pullovers	Ring Pull-ups	1 arm pull-up	Iron Cross

Shoulder Exercises

Shoulders – Bodyweight (these exercises will also hit the core)

Exercise	A	B	C	D	E
	Elbow Side Plank on knees	Elbow Side Plank on ankles	T-Push-up	Handstand Hold	Handstand Push-ups

Shoulders – Dumbbell

Exercise	A	B	C	D	E
	DB Front Raise	DB Lateral Raise	DB Rear Delt Raise	DB Military Press	Alt DB Military Press
	Alt Front Raises	Learning Lateral Raises	Power Rear Delts	Neutral Grip Military Press	Alt Neutral Grip Military Press
	Front Raise Hold	Lateral Hold	Rear Delt Holds	DB Push Press	1 arm DB Clean and Press

Shoulders – Ball & DB’s

Exercise	A	B	C	D	E
	Chest on Ball Front Raise	Sit on ball Lateral Raise	Hips on Ball Rear Delt Raise	Sit on ball DB Military Press	Ball T-Push-up Hold

Leg Exercises

Legs – Bodyweight

Exercise	A	B	C	D	E
	Half BW Squat	Full BW Squat	Reverse Lunge	Reverse Lunge with Hip Flexion	Jumping Squat
	Wall Sit	Squat to a chair	Forward Lunge	Walking Lunge with Hip Flexion	Box Jump
	Glute Bridge	Legs Straight Glute Bridge	Hip Thrust	Step-up	Single Leg Hip Thrust

Legs – Bands

Exercise	A	B	C	D	E
	Band Assisted Squat	Band Leg Extension	Band Leg Curl	Band Squat	Band Leg Press on back
	X-band Walk	X-band Lateral Walk	X-band walk backwards	Fire Hydrant with bands	Squat w/bands around knees
	Band Glute Bridge	Band Hip Thrust	Band Quadruped Hip Extension	Band Donkey Kick	Band Single Leg Hip Thrust

Legs – Dumbbell

Exercise	A	B	C	D	E
	Straight Arm Goblet Squat	Goblet Squat	Goblet Reverse Lunge	Goblet Walking Lunge	Goblet Jumping Squats
	1 DB Deadlift	DB Stiff Legged Deadlift	DB Good Morning	DB Leg Curl	DB Single leg Stiff Legged

Legs – Ball

Exercise	A	B	C	D	E
	Ball Squat	Bent Knee Bridge Feet on ball	Straight leg Bridge Heels on ball	Ball Leg Curl	Single leg Ball Leg Curl

Legs – Rings

Exercise	A	B	C	D	E
	Ring Assisted Squat	Ring Assisted Pistol Squat	Feet in Rings Bridge	Feet in Rings Leg Curl	Alt Feet in Rings Leg Curl

Core Exercises

Core – Bodyweight

Exercise	A	B	C	D	E
	Incline Crunch	Crunch	Sit-up	Sit-up holding weight	Sit-up feet not anchored
	Reverse Crunch	Leg Raise	Toe Touch Crunch	Dead bug	Deadbug with weight
	Couch Plank forearms	Couch Plank hands	Forearm plank	Hand plank	Side Plank
	Standing Rotations	Side Crunch	Bicycles	Russian Twists	Floor Wipers

Core – Bands

Exercise	A	B	C	D	E
	Incline Crunch w/bands	Crunch w/bands	Sit-up w/bands	Kneeling Crunch with bands	V-sit iso hold w/bands
	Reverse Crunch w/bands	Leg Raise w/bands	Toe Touch Crunch w/bands	Dead bug w/bands	Banded Mountain Climbers
	Band Rotations one side	Band Rotations double	Band Side Bends	Alternating Dead Bug w/bands	1 arm plank with band lat pulldown

Core – Dumbbell

Exercise	A	B	C	D	E
	Sit-up w/DB on chest	Sit-up w/DB arms straight	V-sit Iso Hold w/DB	Unilateral Sit-up w/DB	Sit-up w/DB behind head
	Reverse Crunch w/DB	Leg Raise w/DB	DB Side Bend	Russian Twist w/DB	T Push-up w/DB

Core – Ball

Exercise	A	B	C	D	E
	Crunch on a ball	Sit-up on a ball	Side Rotations on a ball	Dead Bug w/ball	Ball in Hand inchworm
	Leg Raise off ball	Forearms on ball plank	Hands-on ball plank	Toes on ball plank	Floor wipers w/ball

Core – Rings

Exercise	A	B	C	D	E
	Rollout on rings High	Rollout on rings Med	Rollout on rings Low	Dead Bug w/ball	1 arm ring rollout
	Hands in rings plank	Feet in rings plank	Feet in rings inchworm	Feet in rings mountain climber	Foot in ring side plank

Stone Exercises

Exercise	A	B	C	D	E
	Stone Pick-up	Stone Row	Stone to Shoulder	Stone Shoulder Squat	Stone overhead
	Stone Carry	Stone Bench Press	Shoulder Carry	Stone Throw	Stone Overhead Carry

Kettlebell Exercises

Exercise	A	B	C	D	E
	KB Deadlift	KB Swing	KB Clean	KB Snatch	KB TGU
	KB Row	KB Squat	KB Chest Press	KB Shoulder Press	KB Side Swing

Cardio Options

Exercise	A	B	C	D	E
	March in Place	Jumping Jacks	Mountain Climbers	Jump Rope	Hill Sprints
	Brisk Walk	Climb Stairs	Jump on Trampoline	Burpees	Shuttle Run

The first thing to do is to figure out your primary goal that these workouts are trying to accomplish. Keep it simple and select one of the four options below.

CHOOSE YOUR GOAL

Strength – one of the toughest goals to achieve with minimal equipment. Choose challenging exercises for 1-10 reps (if you can do more than a dozen figure out a way to make it harder). Rest 1-3 minutes between sets. Look to do 3-10 sets of each exercise.

Power – choose some of the harder, most explosive total body exercises available. Look to do 1-8 reps, rest 1-3 minutes between sets, aim for 4-8 sets. Power is generally expressed against either a heavy resistance (power clean, shot put) or a light resistance (pitching a baseball, throwing a punch). It is noticeably easier to train for power against a light resistance at home.

Muscle Endurance – this is the most common goal and is easy to build with in-home workouts. Choose moderately difficult exercises: if you can’t perform 5 reps it is too hard; if you can do it easily do 50 make it tougher. Generally, complete 10-30 reps but feel free to step outside that range. Rest 0-2 min between sets and perform 1-5 sets. Watch for overuse and tendinitis over time in the shoulders, elbows, and knees particularly and scale back/modify if that develops.

Cardiovascular Endurance – perform exercises in a circuit fashion, generally with 10-20 reps each set. Rest minimally after each set and 0-1 min after each circuit. Look to include the cardio options interspersed with the strength training options. Of course, you can also use the classics of running, riding a bike, rollerblading, etc. to accomplish this goal but that is not the scope of this article.

CREATING THE PROGRAM

The final step before plugging your exercises in is to select the type of program you want. Generally, this is set up as total body, split, or cardio options. For each of those I will give two options, typically a shorter option (30 min or less) and a longer option (~1 hr).

Total Body Short	Total Body Long
1 chest exercise 1 back exercise 1 leg exercise 1 core exercise Optional shoulder exercise Optional repeat exercise Optional Cardio exercise	2 chest exercises 2 back exercises 1-2 shoulder exercises 2 leg exercises 2 core exercises Optional Cardio or Bonus exercise

Split Set Up Short	Split Set Up Long
Pick one of the following: A. 1 primary muscle group B. 2 primary muscle groups C. 1 primary muscle group + other	Pick one of the following: A. 2 primary muscle groups B. 3 primary muscle groups C. 2 primary muscle groups + other
A. Pick 2-4 exercises for the primary muscle group B. Pick 2-3 exercises for each of the primary muscle groups C. Pick 2-3 exercises for the primary group + 1-3 other exercises	A. Pick 3-5 exercises for each of the primary muscle groups B. Pick 2-4 exercises for each of the primary muscle groups C. Pick 2-4 exercises for each of the primary muscle groups + 1-4 other exercises

Cardio Workout Focus	Cardio + Resistance Training Focus
Pick 1-5 cardio exercises and perform them each for 1-10 minutes	Perform 2-4 RT Exercises Perform 1 cardio exercise for 1-5 minutes Repeat that 2-5 times, it is okay to swap out exercises on the repeated rounds if desired

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

To summarize, to use this template you will do the following

Pick your Goal
Pick your Type of Program
Pick your Workout Length (long or short)

That will create a skeleton template of what your workout program should look like in general. After that you will select the exercises you have access to which you like and believe are effective and then apply the number of reps, sets, and rest that match your goals and ability. Be sure to record these workouts just like you would in the gym – you might need even more detailed notes about band set up and body placement, etc. When you repeat these workouts look to add in overload by doing more reps, using better form, going faster, resting less, using more resistance, or choosing more challenging exercises.

The weeks will go by and soon it will be time to return the gym. Do you want to be one of the fit ones returning or one of the people that gained the “quarantine 15”? When you are back at the gym, or if you have noticeably more home equipment than just a pair of dumbbells or a band, you might find my book All About Program Design to be quite useful in setting up programs when more equipment is available.

Stay fit, healthy, and safe during this time and look to be kind when you can.