Building muscle at home — routine ideas?

[bamagirl26]

Class-based gym sessions were my thing for years — Step, Body pump, Zumba, Core, the whole catalogue — but that was a long time back and there's no membership on my card these days.

What passes for training now is bike and treadmill cardio, and it isn't delivering. On top of that, a sports injury this year cracked my tibial plateau — schatzker type 2 — and surgery was never done.

Loading that leg fully is still awkward, yet I'd like to begin following along with videos at home to build strength and hold onto, or add, muscle while I'm on a Tirz.

So: anyone got home video routines they've actually stuck with, the motivating kind that don't demand a garage of gear? I've got therapy bands and a few dumbbells, and I'll spend a bit if it earns its place, though I'd rather not go big.

Appreciate it!

 

[bamagirl26]

SkiDude is onto me, he saw the whole thing..hahaha

 

[Sid the SeaGull]

What I do is bodyweight only, every day or nearly so, with a couple of apps keeping me honest.

For core: sit ups. Began at 10-20 a set, built all the way to 100. It's paying off.

Push ups follow the same idea, roughly two sets of 25, and up to 100 on days with spare time.

Pull ups under the table, same pattern as the push ups.

The apps are plain free phone ones for logging; I tried several and settled on a few that suit me.

A few days a week I ride to work, and WPI in water a few times daily keeps my protein high. Six months in, all of it is adding up. My job eats my hours, so the gym rarely fits, whereas home sessions slot in — and I reckon the time impost is about the same as commuting to one.

Curious what everyone else does at home too — good question.

 

[spanky2026]

Wish I could recall which doctor it was on that podcast, because her advice to GLP patients stuck: 10 minutes of hard strength work, 3 times weekly. My own volume is higher, but I hold onto that number for the days when 'nah, skip it' is winning — 10 minutes is doable, always.

Kettlebells are my newer obsession and I LOVE them — so many uses, and oddly more enjoyable at home than a rack of standard weights. Video routines for them are everywhere; the movements are simple enough that after a few you can assemble your own session.

 

[N Sharp]

Zumba, Step, Body Pump, Core — that's my kind of list!

Cardio is already covered, so the next piece worth adding is resistance work plus calisthenics — best bet for general health and for keeping or growing muscle.

Given the recovery you're in, Move With Nicole on YouTube is my top pick, pilates and yoga. Difficulty sits mostly beginner-to-intermediate, bands and light weights show up often, and it reads like a good fit for you.

One tip: use a thick mat while that knee is still healing.

 

[skaylife]

Here's a passive core movement that beats sit-ups by a wide margin, in my experience. It's part of my daily routine and it's staying there.

First thing after waking, visit the bathroom and clear your bowels as fully as you can. Then lie on your back in bed, both hands tucked behind your neck, no cushion. Breathe all the air out while bracing every core muscle. Seal it off — no inhaling, no exhaling — for as long as you can hold. Keep the core braced throughout. Early on it might only last 20, 25 seconds. Doesn't matter. Gains come quickly. Right now I manage somewhere between 70-80 seconds, and occasionally 90. Do a minimum of 3 rounds, resting between them for as long as the holds take. I've since tacked on a few leg movements. As it stands my midsection is like a block of wood. Give it a few days and you'll feel it working. A stronger core also means you eat less, since the stomach can't stretch as far.

 

[BigJDog]

Planning advice I can't give, but one tip: scan facebook marketplace weekly, or daily, for second-hand gym gear. Beginner bench presses with leg curl attachments and simple squat racks come up constantly, and every so often old-school weight plates go cheap, provided the newer ‘Olympic’ style isn't a hard requirement.

 

[bamagirl26]

N Sharp said:

Zumba, Step, Body Pump, Core — that's my kind of list!

Cardio is already covered, so the next piece worth adding is resistance work plus calisthenics — best bet for general health and for keeping or growing muscle.

Given the recovery you're in, Move With Nicole on YouTube is my top pick, pilates and yoga. Difficulty sits mostly beginner-to-intermediate, bands and light weights show up often, and it reads like a good fit for you.

One tip: use a thick mat while that knee is still healing.

Really appreciate it! There's a thick squishy foam pad sitting here already, waiting for me to start!

 

[BrightCandle]

Over on Youtube, Undersun Fitness / James Grage has an enormous library of resistance band movements that work nicely at home. There's an old standing full-body workout of his with no anchoring at all that blew up years ago (

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfSoC-IZMOI

) and a steady stream of new material after it. He's one of the people who put bands on the map.

For home use, bands with a door anchor are hard to beat: minimal space, weight, or cost, low injury risk, and you never have to line your body up against gravity, which removes any need for benches. Standing or kneeling by a door covers the whole body, mostly free form. A pair of gloves is worth having as well.

 

[bamagirl26]

BigJDog said:

Planning advice I can't give, but one tip: scan facebook marketplace weekly, or daily, for second-hand gym gear. Beginner bench presses with leg curl attachments and simple squat racks come up constantly, and every so often old-school weight plates go cheap, provided the newer ‘Olympic’ style isn't a hard requirement.

Turns out there's a bench and a pile of weights down in my basement — my son picked them up on FB marketplace.. maybe it's time I actually put them to use! hahaha

 

[bamagirl26]

BrightCandle said:

Over on Youtube, Undersun Fitness / James Grage has an enormous library of resistance band movements that work nicely at home. There's an old standing full-body workout of his with no anchoring at all that blew up years ago (

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfSoC-IZMOI

) and a steady stream of new material after it. He's one of the people who put bands on the map.

For home use, bands with a door anchor are hard to beat: minimal space, weight, or cost, low injury risk, and you never have to line your body up against gravity, which removes any need for benches. Standing or kneeling by a door covers the whole body, mostly free form. A pair of gloves is worth having as well.

Nice, appreciate it!! Definitely going to give that video a look

 

[Vash]

Boostcamp is worth a look. It carries a decent range of bodyweight programs. Picking a plan and logging sessions is what I use it for.

 

[ToeMittens]

At home I've got a treadmill, a handful of hand weights and some resistance bands, so I asked Claude to draft me a routine. Being largely sedentary and wanting to add muscle, that's what it produced. I've been on it for the past 4-5 weeks and the change is obvious. Weights and band tensions have had to creep up to stay challenging. Weirdly, I now find myself looking forward to the sessions (GASP!).

…who would have thought?

 

[TacoLifter420]

An adjustable set of dumbbells plus a bench that inclines covers an enormous amount of ground.

 

[bamagirl26]

ToeMittens said:

At home I've got a treadmill, a handful of hand weights and some resistance bands, so I asked Claude to draft me a routine. Being largely sedentary and wanting to add muscle, that's what it produced. I've been on it for the past 4-5 weeks and the change is obvious. Weights and band tensions have had to creep up to stay challenging. Weirdly, I now find myself looking forward to the sessions (GASP!).

…who would have thought?





View attachment 108

the cat.. haha, that's great. Went down and messed about on my son's bench for a bit, an unstructured lift with nothing planned, and now I'm annoyed I ignored it this long! It was actually fun!!!!

 

[bamagirl26]

TacoLifter420 said:

An adjustable set of dumbbells plus a bench that inclines covers an enormous amount of ground.

There are 10 lb dumbbells here, plus assorted other free weights, a straight bar with clips, and a bent bar. For once I'm genuinely keen to train!

 

[TacoLifter420]

bamagirl26 said:

TacoLifter420 said:

An adjustable set of dumbbells plus a bench that inclines covers an enormous amount of ground.

There are 10 lb dumbbells here, plus assorted other free weights, a straight bar with clips, and a bent bar. For once I'm genuinely keen to train!

Feed chat gpt the equipment you've got, how many days per week you can train, whole body versus splits, the time available per session, and your goal — out comes a workout plan.

 

[tryingzen]

bamagirl26 said:

Class-based gym sessions were my thing for years — Step, Body pump, Zumba, Core, the whole catalogue — but that was a long time back and there's no membership on my card these days.

What passes for training now is bike and treadmill cardio, and it isn't delivering. On top of that, a sports injury this year cracked my tibial plateau — schatzker type 2 — and surgery was never done.

Loading that leg fully is still awkward, yet I'd like to begin following along with videos at home to build strength and hold onto, or add, muscle while I'm on a Tirz.

So: anyone got home video routines they've actually stuck with, the motivating kind that don't demand a garage of gear? I've got therapy bands and a few dumbbells, and I'll spend a bit if it earns its place, though I'd rather not go big.

Appreciate it!

Classes were my thing once. These days YouTube is where I train, and Caroline Girvan is the one I keep coming back to — strength work at a quick tempo, no chatter, which I LOVE. Her format is interval based, 45 sec working then 15 sec rest, and the results have shown. My kit is 10 and 20 lb dumbells plus 25 and 35 lb kettlebells, which is plenty to get a proper session out of her Iron series.

This style suits me far better than straight barbell lifting. If standard weights are what you want though, my suggestion is to begin with 3 full body sessions weekly, or 2 lower/2 upper split across the week. Fine for beginners, and structured plans are easy to find online.

 

[bamagirl26]

TacoLifter420 said:

bamagirl26 said:

TacoLifter420 said:

An adjustable set of dumbbells plus a bench that inclines covers an enormous amount of ground.

There are 10 lb dumbbells here, plus assorted other free weights, a straight bar with clips, and a bent bar. For once I'm genuinely keen to train!

Feed chat gpt the equipment you've got, how many days per week you can train, whole body versus splits, the time available per session, and your goal — out comes a workout plan.

Def will. Roughly what I'll type: soft, weak lady holding x, x, and x. build me a plan that turns me into a beast.

 

[OCDguy]

bamagirl26 said:

Class-based gym sessions were my thing for years — Step, Body pump, Zumba, Core, the whole catalogue — but that was a long time back and there's no membership on my card these days.

What passes for training now is bike and treadmill cardio, and it isn't delivering. On top of that, a sports injury this year cracked my tibial plateau — schatzker type 2 — and surgery was never done.

Loading that leg fully is still awkward, yet I'd like to begin following along with videos at home to build strength and hold onto, or add, muscle while I'm on a Tirz.

So: anyone got home video routines they've actually stuck with, the motivating kind that don't demand a garage of gear? I've got therapy bands and a few dumbbells, and I'll spend a bit if it earns its place, though I'd rather not go big.

Appreciate it!

Dumbbells take you a long way. With a fitness app on hand, full body dumbbell training is what I'd go for. Liftosaur is the free one I actually use! They've got a stack of free splits plus a discord server when you need extra help. Slot in some zone two cardio on a rest day, at least once a week…and if that appeals, liftosaur carries a female split aimed at firming up those booty muscles. Best of luck — keep at it and get strong!