Apartment Gym Workout: The Definitive Guide To Fitness

It is very easy to have a great workout even when there is limited equipment or space available to you at apartment, apartment complex, or small-space apartment living space.

It is all about being creative and making the most of the equipment that is available to you.

Most apartment gyms have at least a basic set of dumbbells, some cardio equipment, and most have a cable section.

In this guide we are going to list exercises that help you if your looking for the best in the apartment gym workout:

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Workout Plan for your Apartment Gym

It is important to begin every workout with cardio and a warm up..

..preferably a cardio machine for just 5 minutes.

This prepares the heart and the lungs by warming them up.

Doing a speed walk on a slight incline on the treadmill is one of our personal favorites.

Look:

The pace should not be difficult so adjust it accordingly. The goal here is to just warm up.

2 Popular No-Equipment Exercises:

High Knees Stand: Run in place by pulling right knee up toward chest, then left knee up toward chest. Continue to alternate as quickly as possible.
Burpees – Perform a squat thrust made from and ending in a standing position, an extremely effective exercise at increasing your cardio threshold.

Once your done warming up, move onto the exercises…

Exercises for the Apartment Gym Workout Routine

Since there is limited equipment available at an apartment gym compared to a regular gym, to get the best results whole body workouts are the best option to gain and build muscle.

When performing whole body workouts, you want to begin with the larger muscle groups (because they require the greatest energy and you are fresh at the start) and work your way onto the smaller ones.

You may be wondering to yourself on how to workout in an small home spaces or living complex…

…you can begin with legs by doing dumbbell lunges.

A dumbbell lounge is a great exercise for the working the quads, hamstrings, and glutes.

Tip for the Ladies: this exercise if probably in the top 3 all time for building the glutes. Perform 3-4 sets aiming for 12 reps on each leg.

Slowly transition to the upper body, you can do stiff leg deadlifts with dumbbells.

Performing the Stiff Leg Deadlift exercise and loosening up the hips in the movement targets the back muscles including the lats and the erector spinae muscles.

Include Supersets in your Workout at the Apartment’s Gym… to Keep Your Heart Elevated

At this point of the gym workout, you can introduce supersets.

What is a Superset?: Supersets involve performing two exercises back to back with no break, only taking a break after completing the second exercise.

A good workout for apartment gym includes supersets which are a great way to keep the heart rate elevated for an extended period, which increases the fat burning process. Supersetting back with chest is always a good idea because they are antagonistic (opposite) muscle groups.

So right after you finish your set of deadlifts, get down and do a set of push ups.

The basic push up is great for the upper chest; perform 3-4 supersets resting 60 seconds between each superset.

Moving on, most gyms have a cable pull down machine.

Why is this important?

This machine is great because it allows you to perform a variety of exercises from under hand pulldowns, wide grip pulldowns, and even some triceps exercises like cable extensions.

Your next superset involves back and shoulders.

Hook a solid (not rope) handle to an overhead pulley. Grab the handles and keeping your elbows tight to your body and locked into place, press the weight down. The benefit of the solid handles is that it allows for the use of heavier weights.

Perform 4 supersets of wide grip pulls and dumbbell lateral raise. Perform the exercise you feel like you need to prioritize first.

If you feel your shoulders need work do the lateral raise first, if you feel your back needs work do your back first. If they are even, do the bigger muscle group first.

But that’s not all:

At this point in your apartment’s gym workout routine, you have hit the larger body parts including legs, chest, back, and shoulders.

This is a good time in your to transition to the arms and hit the biceps and triceps. Supersetting biceps and triceps always makes for a good pump. You can use just dumbbells or you can involve cables.

If you want to take the dumbbell only approach you can superset overhead dumbbell extensions, with dumbbell curls.

Stand upright holding a dumbbell in each hand; starting with your palms facing your body, curl both weights forward and up in a wide arc.

If you choose to include cables you can replace the overhead dumbbell extension with tricep cable extensions. Be sure to perform triceps first as they are muscle larger muscle group so you want to do them when you have more energy.

Finish your Workout at the Gym in the Apartment with Core Exercises!

Now all that’s left in this guide for you is to complete after whole-body workout is some core training.

You can get a solid abdominal workout just on the floor!

Here’s the deal:

Some of the most effective abdominal exercises are done on the floor…

…all you need it just a mat or to find a carpeted area.

What works best for abs is selecting a series of exercises and performing them consecutively in a circuit from most difficult to least difficult with no breaks between exercises.

Once you have completed one full circuit you can take a break for 30-45 seconds. Aim to perform 15 reps of each exercise.

Here’s the best part:

Start by performing a lower abdominal exercise as they are usually the most difficult. Leg lifts are a great option to begin with. If they are too easy and you can get 15 easily, you can perform the exercise with a medicine ball in between your legs.

Lie flat on your back with your hands out to your side, palms down; keeping your legs straight, raise your feet off the floor; raise your legs up and over your body, contracting your lower abs and rolling your pelvis upward off the floor.

Next, move onto the upper abdominals and perform crunches. Now that the upper and lower abs are done, move onto the obliques…

Heel touches are a great exercise for the obliques and give a really good burn. Aim for 15 reps on each side here.

From these jump right into a plank until you reach failure. Aim for a minimum of 20 seconds.

Bottom line:

Once you have completed the planks you have completed one round of the circuit. Rest for 30-45 seconds between circuits.

Repeat for a total of 3 rounds.

How to Most Effectively Workout in an Apartment Complex Gym

Do intervals to maximize fat loss in your apartment gym workout.
Finish off the workout by doing some cardio – in a small space the floor can be used effectively.
Avoid doing steady state cardio, perform intervals, which involve bursts of high intensity training followed by low intensity training.

Think about it:

Performing high intensity interval training is best to loose weight.

Gain muscle with full body exercises, and loose weight with HITT

What is HITT?: High intensity interval training

This type of cardiovascular exercise has been shown to burn more body fat and have greater health benefits than steady state cardio:

Go on a treadmill and increase the incline to 30-40% of the max.
Warm up for 3 minutes.
Then go 1 minute easy at 3.2mph followed by 30 seconds at 6.0-8.0mph.
Repeat this pattern for a total of 6-8 rounds.
Finish with a 5-minute light walk.
If there is no treadmill available, you can perform the same pattern on an elliptical machine.

Perform this workout 3 to 5 times each week at your complex residence to see results.

But you must make yourself a promise to make each rep count.

Apartment Gym Workout Summary

5 minute incline walk cardio
Dumbbell lunges
Dumbbell deadlifts superset push-ups
Cable pull downs superset lateral raises
Tricep extensions superset with dumbbell curls
Leg lifts, crunches, oblique crunches, planks (circuit)
10-15 minute interval training

If you can do the above, then you will have success with the best workout tailored for your living space. Since you will generally have limited space and/or equipment at the gym compared to a regular gym, the above guide will generally grant you the best results.

Why this Post Represents the Best Apartment Workout Guide

Your focus should be on the whole body, and not necessarily individual parts per each separate workout day since you’ll be working with apartment sized exercise equipment or concentrated gym machines which will be limited during peak hours. If your looking to maximize your small workout space, considering working with a Online Personal Trainer who can help you transform your health and body. Following the routine of working the whole body, with a HITT workout will ensure your getting the most out of the space, available equipment and time.