Working out at a gym or fitness studio is great. However, such facilities may not be easily accessible to everyone. For them, workout for at home plans are a complete savior. While it is crucial to incorporate gym workout at home in your fitness journey, it also wise to start in incremental steps. Hence, a beginner workout is a great stepping stone.

Here, we have a 20-minute routine workout for beginners that they can perform at home or anywhere. The following bodyweight exercises will work on all your muscles and keep you in great shape.

Cardio Warm-Up: 2 Minutes

Warming up through cardio exercises helps you get your heart rate up and loosens your muscles. The following exercises can help you warm-up. Perform 2 reps of these for 20 seconds with a 10-second break:

Jumping Jacks

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Muscles Involved: Calves, core (abdomen), glutes (buttocks), arms, and shoulders.

Squats

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Muscles Involved: Quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, abs, and calves.

Warm-Up Tips

• A warm-up is a prelude to the strenuous activities that follow in the circuit. It helps in increasing flexibility and lowering the injury risk. Hence, do not skip it.
• Increase your warm-up duration during cold weather.
• Avoid remaining stationary during warm-up as it will allow your body to cool down.

Circuit: 16 Minutes

Once your heart is pumping oxygen into the system, it is time to transition to the next phase of the beginner’s home workout - the circuit. The circuit contains bodyweight exercises that let you burn calories. Furthermore, after you complete the circuit, your body spends energy in rebuilding your body (known as the afterburn), which helps burn more calories.

Perform each of the following beginner’s home workout exercises for 45 seconds, followed by a 15-second break. Do the entire circuit four times:

Lunges

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Muscles Involved: Quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, and calves.

1. Stand up tall.
2. Take one step forward until it reaches a 90-degree angle. The front knee should not go beyond the toes, and the rear knee should be parallel to the ground.
3. Thrust the front leg to return to starting position.
4. Repeat on one leg for 10 to 12 reps (about 20 seconds) and switch.

Mountain Climbers

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Muscles Involved: Glutes, quadriceps, abs, hamstrings, triceps, and shoulder muscles.

1. Get into a plank position (knees and feet hip-width apart, hands shoulder-width apart, and palms firmly planted on the floor).
2. Contract your abdominal muscles and bring your right thigh to your chest while driving the knee towards the elbow.
3. Drive the leg back and follow up by the above action on the opposite leg.

Plank Up-Down

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Muscles Involved: Abs, core, lower back, triceps, glutes, and quads.

1. Place your palms flat on the floor, with shoulders stacked right above the hands. Position your feet hip-width apart and engage your core. This position is a high plank.
2. Lower your right arm and position the forearm flat against the floor. Do the same with your left arm. You will now be in a forearm plank.
3. Extend your right arm and then your left arm to get back in the high plank position.

Burpees

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Muscles Involved: Muscles around the spine, glutes, hamstrings, calf, and hips.

1. Stand straight, knees slightly bent and arms by your side.
2. Bend down, position your palms near your feet and push your legs outwards in a pushup position.
3. Bring your feet back in the initial position (that is, near your shoulders) and jump up in the air.

Circuit Tips

• If the above bodyweight exercises try out the tougher variations with weights to push your limits.
• Try to stick to a maximum 15-second break as longer downtime may reduce the efficacy of the circuit. Consider investing in infrared sports clothing to keep your energy at its peak levels.
• Move around the room when you transition from one exercise to another to stay active.

Cool Down: 2 Minutes

Congratulations on completing the gym workout at home! It is now time to cool down. Cooling down helps your body recover and relaxes your body. Perform this set twice by dedicating at least 30 seconds to each exercise.

Standing Quad Stretch

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Muscles Involved: Quads and calf.

Shoulder Circle

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Muscles Involved: shoulders, biceps, and triceps.

Cool Down Tips

• While a cooldown of at least 2 minutes is a must in your routine workout for beginners, you can stretch it for as long as you like.
• Concentrate on your breathing as you cool down. Your heart rate should be less than 120bpm.
• Stretch your muscles until you feel a slight pull, but not to the point where they hurt.