Best 5 Exercises for men beginners to try at home

Exercising at home is, hopefully, something you’ve been thinking about while sitting on the sofa, pawing at your doughy middle. You could get up 15 minutes earlier and squeeze in some exercise at home before work. Absolutely you could stock your new home gym with some muscle-building essentials. Below is our collection of the best beginner’s exercises at home, coupled with an explanation of what makes them more useful.

1. Push-ups

How to do it:

Get down into a press-up position with your hands placed shoulder-width apart and back flat, so a straight-line forms from your head to heels. Lower your body until your chest is an inch from the ground then explosively drive up by fully extending your arms. That’s on repeat.

Why:

This move uses multiple muscle groups for maximum growth and strengthens your shoulder joints. Easily done as an exercise at home, this prepares you for progression to the more demanding shoulder exercises you’ll face in a gym, like an incline bench press.

2. Dumbbell standing shoulder press

How to do it:

Stand holding two dumbbells at shoulder height with an overhand grip – palms facing forwards. Ensure your elbows are in front of the bar and don’t flare out to the sides. Press the weights up above your head until your arms are fully extended. Return slowly to the start position.

Why:

This is a safer shoulder sculptor than lifting from behind your neck. As a beginner, the aim should be to keep strain off your joints and protect against an injury called shoulder impingement syndrome. Missed sessions this early in your lifting career are especially costly.

3. Dumbbell squat

How to do it:

Holding a dumbbell in each hand, position your legs shoulder-width apart. Keeping your head up and back straight, sit back into the squat until the dumbbells are an inch from the floor. Focus on keeping your knees over your toes and chest out – don’t arch your back or lean forward as you drop down. Exhale, straighten your legs, and return to the starting position.

Why:

Squats are an excellent all-around exercise and one of the best moves for building overall strength. Dumbbells let you concentrate on technique and work on your range of movement at low weight. Only advance to barbell squats in the gym once you’ve got this nailed.

4. Farmer’s walk

How to do it:

Grab a heavy dumbbell in each hand – think half your body weight – and hold them at your sides. Stand up tall with your shoulders back and walk forward as quickly as you can using short steps.

Why:

Super simple with no need to worry about technique, this move hits your shoulder stabilizers, upper traps, and front deltoids. It also supercharges your grip strength, which will transfer strength to your other lifts too.

5. Lateral raise

How to do it:

Stand holding a light dumbbell in each hand. Slowly lift the dumbbell to the side until they reach shoulder height – no higher – and resist the urge to cheat by swinging the weight. Pause, then lower back to your sides, slowly – you’ll build more muscle fighting gravity than letting it do the work for you.

Why:

If you’re doing exercise at home, this is the best move for visible shoulder development. The lateral raise isolates your medial deltoid, the middle of three shoulder muscles, helping to develop your shoulder width and mass. Perfect for creating the V-shape that you covet.