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Exercises

Full body exercises at home, with or without equipment

Published October 19, 2026

The best full body exercises at home are the bodyweight squat, Bulgarian split squat, single-leg hip thrust, push-up, pike push-up and dead bug, which need no equipment, plus pull-ups if you have a doorway bar and goblet squats, Romanian deadlifts and rows if you own dumbbells. A home session needs one squat or lunge, one hip move, one push, one pull and one core exercise. Do 2 to 4 sets of each, two to three times a week, and stop every set with 1 to 3 reps left.

  1. Bodyweight Squat Quads
  2. Bulgarian Split Squat Quads, Glutes
  3. Single-Leg Hip Thrust Glutes
  4. Push-Up Chest
  5. Pike Push-Up Shoulders
  6. Pull-Up Lats
  7. One-Arm Dumbbell Row Lats, Upper Back
  8. Dead Bug Abs

Squats and split squats

Start with the bodyweight squat, and move to the Bulgarian split squat once you can do 20 squats with 2 reps left. If you own a dumbbell or kettlebell, the goblet squat adds load to the two-leg version.

Quads and glutes, no equipment

Bodyweight Squat

Quads

The bodyweight squat is the first leg exercise for anyone training at home: it needs nothing, teaches the squat pattern and can be made harder with slow reps and pauses before you ever need weight.

How to do it

  1. Stand with your feet a little wider than your hips, toes turned out slightly.
  2. Reach your arms forward and sit your hips down and back.
  3. Go as low as you can while your heels stay down and your back stays flat.
  4. Stand back up by pushing the floor away.

Cues

  • Heels heavy
  • Knees follow the toes
  • Chest stays up

Common mistakes

  • Stopping halfway down. Use the full depth your hips allow, even if you hold a doorframe at first.
  • Rushing the reps once they are easy. Slow down to 3 seconds on the way down instead.

Swap for: Goblet Squat, Bulgarian Split Squat, Wall Sit

Build a session with Bodyweight Squat

Quads and glutes, rear foot on a couch

Bulgarian Split Squat

Quads, Glutes

Putting your back foot on a couch or chair moves almost all of your bodyweight onto one leg, so it stays hard long after bodyweight squats get easy. Hold dumbbells once you can do 15 good reps.

How to do it

  1. Stand a stride in front of a couch or sturdy chair and place one instep on the seat behind you.
  2. Keep most of your weight on the front foot, hands on hips or holding weights.
  3. Lower your back knee toward the floor until the front thigh is nearly level.
  4. Push through the front heel to rise.

Cues

  • Front foot carries the load
  • Drop straight down
  • Slight forward lean is fine

Common mistakes

  • Standing so close to the couch that the front heel lifts.
  • Bouncing out of the bottom when the set gets hard; pause instead.

Swap for: Dumbbell Split Squat, Skater Squat, Step-Up

Build a session with Bulgarian Split Squat

Quads and glutes, one weight at your chest

Goblet Squat

Quads, Glutes

If you own one dumbbell or kettlebell, holding it at your chest turns the squat into a loaded leg exercise and helps you sit upright and deep.

How to do it

  1. Hold one dumbbell upright at your sternum, both palms cupping the top end.
  2. Set your feet a little wider than your hips.
  3. Squat down until your elbows meet the inside of your knees.
  4. Stand up with the weight close to your chest.

Cues

  • Weight on the sternum
  • Elbows inside the knees
  • Brace before each rep

Common mistakes

  • Letting the weight drift away from your chest, which pulls you forward.
  • Heels lifting at the bottom; widen your stance a little.

Swap for: Bodyweight Squat, Heels-Elevated Goblet Squat, Dumbbell Front Squat

Build a session with Goblet Squat

Glutes, hamstrings and lower back

Home workouts are usually short on hamstring and glute work. The single-leg hip thrust needs only a couch, the superman needs only floor, and the Romanian deadlift is the pick once you own dumbbells.

Glutes, one leg from a couch

Single-Leg Hip Thrust

Glutes

With your back on a couch and one foot on the floor, each glute lifts your whole hip on its own. It is the glute builder that needs no weight to be hard; rest a dumbbell on your hip when it gets easy.

How to do it

  1. Sit down with your shoulder blades against the front edge of a couch.
  2. Plant one foot with the shin vertical at the top and lift the other foot off the floor.
  3. Push through the planted heel to raise your hips until your torso and thigh form a line.
  4. Lower your hips toward the floor and repeat, then switch legs.

Cues

  • Hips stay level
  • Chin tucked
  • Squeeze at the top for a second

Common mistakes

  • Arching the lower back at the top instead of finishing with the glutes.
  • Letting the hip on the free-leg side drop.

Swap for: Single-Leg Glute Bridge, Dumbbell Glute Bridge, Dumbbell Hip Thrust

Build a session with Single-Leg Hip Thrust

Lower back and glutes, face down

Superman

Lower Back

Without equipment, the superman is the simplest way to work the muscles along your spine and your glutes, the back side that push-ups and squats miss.

How to do it

  1. Lie face down with arms stretched overhead and legs long.
  2. Lift your chest, arms and legs a few inches off the floor at the same time.
  3. Hold for two seconds keeping your neck long.
  4. Lower back to the floor and repeat.

Cues

  • Long, not high
  • Eyes on the floor
  • Squeeze the glutes

Common mistakes

  • Cranking the head up to look forward, which strains the neck.
  • Jerking up and dropping down with no hold at the top.

Swap for: Exercise Ball Back Extension, Single-Leg Hip Thrust, Dead Bug

Build a session with Superman

Hamstrings and glutes, hinge with weights

Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift

Hamstrings, Glutes

When you have dumbbells at home, the Romanian deadlift loads the hamstrings through a long stretch and is the hinge to build your back side around.

How to do it

  1. Stand holding the dumbbells in front of your thighs.
  2. Unlock your knees and push your hips back, sliding the weights along your legs.
  3. Lower until you feel a strong hamstring stretch, often around mid-shin.
  4. Drive your hips forward to stand.

Cues

  • Hips back, knees soft
  • Dumbbells brush the legs
  • Long, flat back

Common mistakes

  • Bending the knees into a squat as you go down.
  • Rounding the back to reach lower than your hamstrings allow.

Swap for: Single-Leg RDL, Dumbbell Good Morning, Kettlebell Deadlift

Build a session with Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift

Push: chest, shoulders, triceps

Push-ups cover the chest and triceps, pike push-ups the shoulders. Raise your hands on a counter to make push-ups easier, or your feet on a couch to make them harder. With dumbbells, the floor press lets you load the chest beyond your bodyweight.

Chest, shoulders and triceps

Push-Up

Chest

The push-up is the main upper-body exercise at home. It works the chest, shoulders and triceps while your core holds a plank, and it scales from a kitchen counter to a raised-feet version.

How to do it

  1. Place your palms a bit outside shoulder width and step back into a straight plank.
  2. Lower your chest toward the floor with elbows at about 45 degrees from your body.
  3. Stop when your chest is a fist's height from the floor.
  4. Push the floor away until your arms are straight.

Cues

  • Body moves as one plank
  • Elbows angled back
  • Full lockout every rep

Common mistakes

  • Letting the hips sag or pike up as you tire.
  • Doing half reps; elevate your hands on a counter or couch until full reps are possible.

Swap for: Incline Push-Up, Decline Push-Up, Kneeling Push-Up

Build a session with Push-Up

Shoulders and triceps, vertical press

Pike Push-Up

Shoulders

Raising your hips into an inverted V turns the push-up into an overhead press, so you can train the shoulders at home without any weights.

How to do it

  1. Start in a push-up position and walk your feet in until your hips are high.
  2. Set your hands shoulder-width apart so your head hangs between your arms.
  3. Bend your elbows to lower the top of your head toward the floor in front of your hands.
  4. Press back up to straight arms.

Cues

  • Hips high
  • Head goes forward of the hands
  • Elbows point back, not out

Common mistakes

  • Letting the hips drop, which turns it back into a regular push-up.
  • Flaring the elbows straight out to the sides.

Swap for: Dumbbell Shoulder Press, Handstand Push-Up, Push-Up

Build a session with Pike Push-Up

Chest and triceps, press with dumbbells

Dumbbell Floor Press

Chest, Triceps

With a pair of dumbbells and a mat, the floor press gives you a loaded chest press without a bench, and you can go heavier than push-ups allow.

How to do it

  1. Lie on your back with knees bent and the dumbbells held up over your chest.
  2. Lower them until your upper arms rest on the floor.
  3. Pause for a moment.
  4. Press them back up to lockout.

Cues

  • Pause on the floor
  • Elbows at 45 degrees
  • Wrists stacked

Common mistakes

  • Bouncing the elbows off the floor.
  • Letting the dumbbells drift toward your face.

Swap for: Push-Up, Flat Dumbbell Press, Single-Arm Dumbbell Floor Press

Build a session with Dumbbell Floor Press

Pull: back and biceps

Pulling is the hardest pattern to train at home with nothing, so it is worth buying one thing for it: a doorway pull-up bar, a suspension trainer, or a single dumbbell. Each of the three moves here needs one of them.

Lats and upper back, bodyweight pull

Pull-Up

Lats

A doorway pull-up bar is the best value piece of home gear for your back. Pull-ups work the lats, upper back and biceps harder than any band or light dumbbell row.

How to do it

  1. Hang from the bar with hands a little wider than your shoulders, palms facing away.
  2. Pull your shoulders down and back, then pull your chest toward the bar.
  3. Get your chin over the bar.
  4. Lower all the way to a straight-arm hang.

Cues

  • Shoulders down first
  • Lead with the chest
  • Full hang at the bottom

Common mistakes

  • Kicking the legs to get the chin over.
  • Stopping each rep with bent arms instead of a full hang.

Swap for: Band-Assisted Pull-Up, Chin-Up, TRX Row

Build a session with Pull-Up

Back and biceps, suspension row

TRX Row

Upper Back, Lats

A suspension trainer hooked over a door lets you row with your bodyweight and change the difficulty by walking your feet in or out. It is the home pull for anyone who cannot do a pull-up yet.

How to do it

  1. Anchor the straps over a closed door and hold the handles with your palms facing in.
  2. Lean back with straight arms and your body rigid like a plank.
  3. Pull your chest up to the handles, elbows close to your sides.
  4. Lower slowly until your arms are straight.

Cues

  • Body stays rigid
  • Pull the handles to the ribs
  • Slow on the way back

Common mistakes

  • Letting the hips sag on each rep.
  • Standing so upright the row is too easy to count. Walk your feet forward.

Swap for: Pull-Up, One-Arm Dumbbell Row, Band Bent-Over Row

Build a session with TRX Row

Lats and mid back, braced on a chair

One-Arm Dumbbell Row

Lats, Upper Back

With one dumbbell and a chair or couch to lean on, the one-arm row is the heaviest pull you can do at home without a bar.

How to do it

  1. Put one hand and knee on a sturdy chair or couch, other foot on the floor.
  2. Let the dumbbell hang below your shoulder.
  3. Pull it back toward your hip until your elbow passes your torso.
  4. Lower until your arm is long.

Cues

  • Elbow toward the hip
  • Shoulders level
  • Full stretch at the bottom

Common mistakes

  • Twisting open to lift a weight that is too heavy.
  • Shrugging the dumbbell up toward the ear.

Swap for: Dumbbell Bent-Over Row, Kettlebell Row, TRX Row

Build a session with One-Arm Dumbbell Row

Core

One core exercise at the end of a session is enough when you already squat, hinge and push. The dead bug trains the front of the trunk, the side plank the sides.

Deep core, anti-extension

Dead Bug

Abs

The dead bug trains your abs to keep your lower back flat while your arms and legs move, which carries over to every squat and push-up. It needs only floor space.

How to do it

  1. Lie on your back with arms pointing at the ceiling and knees bent at 90 degrees over your hips.
  2. Press your lower back into the floor.
  3. Slowly reach one arm overhead and the opposite leg out long, just above the floor.
  4. Return and switch sides.

Cues

  • Low back stays flat
  • Breathe out as you reach
  • Slow and controlled

Common mistakes

  • Letting the lower back lift off the floor as the leg goes out.
  • Moving fast; each rep should take a few seconds.

Swap for: Plank, Reverse Crunch, Side Plank

Build a session with Dead Bug

Obliques and hips, side hold

Side Plank

Abs

The side plank trains the obliques and the outer hip that keep you stable on one leg, and it rounds out a home session in a minute or two.

How to do it

  1. Lie on your side with your elbow under your shoulder and legs stacked.
  2. Raise your hips so ankles, hips and shoulders line up.
  3. Stay there for the set time.
  4. Lower and switch sides.

Cues

  • Elbow under shoulder
  • Hips high and forward
  • Breathe normally

Common mistakes

  • Letting the hips sag toward the floor.
  • Rolling the top shoulder forward.

Swap for: Dumbbell Side Plank, Copenhagen Plank, Plank

Build a session with Side Plank

Put them together: example sessions

Each session below picks from the exercises above for one situation, with the sets, reps, rest and RIR filled in. Open one in the session builder to change a pick, price it from a recent set, and add it to RIRLift.

Session 1

No equipment at all

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts3× a week
  • Working sets54 a week
  • Per workout~40 min
  • EquipmentDumbbells

You have floor space, a couch or sturdy chair, and nothing else.

With only bodyweight, the legs need single-leg work to stay hard, so the session moves from squats to split squats and single-leg hip thrusts, while push-ups and pike push-ups cover the upper body. The superman stands in for a row; it is the one gap a bar would fill. Every set goes to 1 rep in reserve because bodyweight reps are easy to stop early.

No-Equipment Full Body
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Bodyweight Squat3 s down once 25 is easy 2 × 15–25 1 1 min
Bulgarian Split SquatReps per leg. Back foot on the couch 3 × 8–15 1 90 s
Push-UpHands on a counter if needed 3 × 8–20 1 90 s
Single-Leg Hip ThrustReps per leg 3 × 10–15 1 1 min
Pike Push-Up 3 × 6–12 1 90 s
Superman2 s hold each rep 2 × 10–15 1 1 min
Dead BugReps per side 2 × 8–12 1 1 min
How to run it
Train three non-consecutive days a week. Go through the list in order; rest 60 to 90 seconds between sets.
How to progress
When you reach the top of a rep range, make the move harder rather than doing more reps: slow the lowering to 3 seconds, add a pause at the bottom, raise your feet for push-ups, or switch to the next harder version.
Open in the session builder

Session 2

A doorway pull-up bar or suspension trainer

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts3× a week
  • Working sets44 a week
  • Per workout~35 min
  • EquipmentPull-Up Bar, Dumbbells, Suspension Trainer

You have bought one piece of kit for pulling, a bar or straps over a door, and otherwise train with bodyweight.

The bar fills the pulling gap, so this plan swaps the superman for pull-ups or rows and gives them as many sets as push-ups. Two routines alternate the main legs and push moves so each gets two days a week. Pull-ups stop at 2 reps in reserve to keep form clean; everything else goes to 1.

Bar Day A
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Pull-UpUse the TRX row if under 3 reps 4 × 4–10 2 2 min
Bulgarian Split SquatReps per leg 3 × 8–15 1 90 s
Push-Up 3 × 10–20 1 90 s
Single-Leg Hip ThrustReps per leg 3 × 10–15 1 1 min
Side PlankSeconds per side 2 × 20–40 1 1 min

Open Bar Day A in the session builder

Bar Day B
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
TRX RowFeet further forward to make it harder 4 × 8–15 1 90 s
Bodyweight Squat3 s down 3 × 15–25 1 1 min
Pike Push-Up 3 × 6–12 1 90 s
Superman 2 × 10–15 1 1 min
Dead BugReps per side 2 × 8–12 1 1 min

Open Bar Day B in the session builder

How to run it
Alternate A and B over three or four non-consecutive days. If you cannot do 3 pull-ups, use the suspension row in their place until you can.
How to progress
Add one rep per set to pull-ups each week if you can. When you reach the top of the range for all sets, slow the lowering to 3 seconds before adding weight or harder variations.
Open in the session builder

Session 3

A pair of dumbbells and a chair

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts3× a week
  • Working sets48 a week
  • Per workout~40 min
  • EquipmentDumbbells

You have one pair of dumbbells, a sturdy chair or couch and floor space.

Dumbbells let you load the patterns bodyweight cannot: the goblet squat and Romanian deadlift load the legs and hips, the floor press loads the chest, and the one-arm row braced on a chair gives you a heavy pull. Push-ups stay as a finisher. Weighted lifts sit at 2 reps in reserve so you can add weight in small steps; bodyweight moves go to 1.

Dumbbell Home Session
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Goblet Squat1 warm-up set first 3 × 10–15 2 90 s
Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift 3 × 10–15 2 90 s
Dumbbell Floor Press 3 × 10–15 2 90 s
One-Arm Dumbbell RowReps per arm. Braced on a chair 3 × 10–15 2 90 s
Push-UpTo 1 rep in reserve 2 × 8–20 1 1 min
Side PlankSeconds per side 2 × 20–40 1 1 min
How to run it
Train three non-consecutive days a week. Use one dumbbell for the goblet squat and the row, and the pair for the Romanian deadlift and floor press.
How to progress
Work each lift up to the top of its range, then slow the lowering. When your dumbbells get light for the legs, swap goblet squats for Bulgarian split squats holding both weights.
Open in the session builder

Make it fit you

Questions

What exercises are needed for a full body workout at home?

One squat or lunge, one hip move for the glutes and hamstrings, one push, one pull and one core exercise. At home with nothing, that can be split squats, single-leg hip thrusts, push-ups, supermans and dead bugs; add pull-ups or rows when you get a bar or dumbbells.

Can you build muscle with full body exercises at home?

Yes, as long as each set ends close to failure and the exercises get harder over time. Bodyweight progresses through harder variations and slower reps; dumbbells and a pull-up bar make that easier, especially for legs and back.

How often should a beginner do a full body workout at home?

Two or three times a week, with at least a day off between sessions. That gives each muscle frequent practice and time to recover.

Should beginners use machines or free weights?

Either builds muscle. At home you will mostly use bodyweight and free weights, which work fine: start with the easier versions, learn each movement, and add load or difficulty once you can do the top of the rep range with 1 to 2 reps left.

How long should a full body workout at home take?

20 to 45 minutes. Five to seven exercises of 2 to 3 sets with 60 to 90 seconds of rest takes about 30 minutes; pairing exercises back to back cuts that further.

How do I train my back at home without equipment?

Supermans train the lower back. For the lats and upper back you need something to pull against: a doorway pull-up bar, suspension straps, or a dumbbell for rows. Without any of those, back training stays limited.

How many reps should I do of each exercise?

Anywhere from about 6 to 25 reps builds muscle if the set ends 1 to 3 reps short of failure. If you can do more than 25, switch to a harder variation.