A Complete Guide For Strength-Training At Home + 4-Part Plan To Get Started

Strength training is the practice of using resistance to train your skeletal muscles to get stronger by enhancing their endurance, strength, or size (or all three). 

There are many ways to strength train and various types of strength goals. For example, one can train for muscular explosiveness with plyometrics movements, or muscular endurance with higher repetitions and lower weights. You can train for hypertrophy (muscle size increase) or ultimate strength (like a powerlifter). All are phenomenal ways to strengthen the body, and depending on your personal goals, you might decide to train more in one or two different ways. 

If you're just beginning your journey with weight training, know that sometimes you may feel a little confused or unsure—and that is part of the process. Consider it a lifelong practice of learning and improving. Even the top strength athletes have coaches throughout their professional careers.  

I also encourage you to be fearless, not reckless. Know that your form will probably be off when you're learning, but it won't destroy your body—even if you are a little sore in the "wrong" muscles the next day. It's all part of the learning curve. Do take note, however, if you feel pinching, grinding, or shooting pains (especially in the joints)—take those as signs to make an adjustment ASAP.

Common mistakes:

The most common mistake I see with training is not understanding the purpose of the exercise. While you may not need to know all the names of the muscles in your upper back, knowing that you're supposed to be engaging the muscles in your upper back, for example, helps build that neuromuscular connection and thus helps you find your strength faster. Knowing what the exercise is supposed to work also helps you gauge if you need to turn the challenge up a notch or dial it down. 

Another common mistake is sticking with a weight that doesn't serve you. If you have the ability to try out different loads, please do. I often see someone use the same load for arm and leg exercises. Why is that an issue? Generally most people's legs can handle more weight than their upper. So if you're squatting with the same weight as you’re bicep curling, chances are you won't be challenging your lower body.

Progressing your workout:

So how does one safely progress the level of difficulty of your home workouts? I like to use the rate of perceived exertion as the barometer. Notice if an exercise on Week 1 feels like an 8/10 challenge, but the next week feels like a 6. Congrats! That means you're getting stronger, and it's time to ante up.

Always remember that there are more ways to enhance the level of difficulty besides just adding more reps or using heavier dumbbells: Try including a pause at the top of the exercise, add a quarter repetition to each, use more range of motion when appropriate, shorten your rest intervals, etc.

Finding proper form:

While each exercise will have its own specific form, bracing or engaging your core will nine times out of 10 make the move clearer, by maintaining a level of support through your trunk. 

Ready to put this knowledge into practice? Below, I've outlined a four-part plan that's low impact, and perfectly suited to do from the safety and privacy of your living room.

If this is your very first time working with weights, feel free to progress through the workout plan at a slower pace. Consider each "week" a different "phase" or "stage": Take two weeks (or more) to continue to the next level. The most important thing is to listen to your body, and progress accordingly.

You'll notice I didn't specify certain days of the week. That's because I want this to work for you and your schedule. Slate these workouts any day you see fit—just try to stick to the indicated amount of rest days (for example, in Week 1, there are two days of rest in between the workouts).

Each Monday this month, I'll be releasing a new workout that fits perfectly into this workout plan (arms/chest, glutes, back, core, and legs).

In addition, here are some workouts that you can also slate in accordingly: