Best At-Home Strength Training Program for Women: What to Look For

If you’re looking for a great at-home strength training program, you’ve likely already noticed that there is no shortage of options out there.

You can sift through thousands of free YouTube workouts, downloadable programs, fitness apps, social media posts, home workout subscriptions, and more. While it’s wonderful to have options, it can also feel overwhelming to choose the right program for you.

Contrary to popular belief, the best at-home strength program isn’t the one with the hardest workouts or the biggest library of options; it’s the one that provides you with the structure you need to be consistent.

For most women looking for at-home workouts, they want to train from home because their schedules are busy and driving to the gym just isn’t an option. The convenience of working out from home is hard to beat, and so long as you have a clear plan that includes progressive overload, proper recovery, and a clear way to get stronger over time, you’ll get amazing results without needing a gym membership or a ton of equipment.

I’ve been a personal trainer for over a decade, strength training exclusively from home; here's what I recommend looking for when choosing an at-home strength training program.

What Makes a Good At-Home Strength Training Program?

The first thing to understand is that not every workout program is truly a strength training program. Many programs will make you sweat, raise your heart rate, and leave you sore, but they lack the consistent training stimulus needed to build real strength and muscle.

A good strength training program should have several key components.

1. Structured Programming

The first thing to look for when choosing a program is the existence of a plan. While it may seem fun to wake up every morning and decide which body part you’d like to work that day, a structured program tells you exactly what to do on which days so that you’re making the most of your training.

The structure of the program will vary, but can look like a 3-day full body plan, a 4-day upper/lower split, or a 5-day split with two dedicated lower body days. The exact schedule matters a lot less than having a logical plan behind it.

2. Progressive Overload

Progressive overload is one of the biggest differences between general exercise and structured strength training. Progressive overload means gradually increasing the challenge placed on your muscles over time. This can be accomplished in a multitude of ways, from increasing the weight you're using, increasing the reps you’re performing, improving your range of motion, adding a pause or a pulse to an exercise, and more.

If you’re doing a different workout every single time you exercise and not repeating the same movements, it’s very difficult to know or measure if you’re actually getting stronger. A good strength training program will give you opportunities to repeat movements, track your performance, and challenge yourself over time.

3. Enough Repetition to Actually Improve

There’s a common misconception floating around in the fitness world that your body needs a new workout every time you exercise in order to “keep your muscles guessing”; however, that’s not true at all. In fact, constantly changing the exercises you’re doing can make it significantly harder to improve because you’re never practicing the same movements long enough to become proficient with them.

Repeating workouts is crucial for progress because it allows you to learn the movements, improve upon your form, become more comfortable with the exercise, and eventually increase the load you’re applying. But don’t worry, you aren’t destined to repeat the exact same workouts forever; your workouts can change over time without them being completely random.

4. Appropriate Recovery

More isn’t inherently better when it comes to strength training. In fact, recovery is part of the process and must be prioritized if you want to get the most out of your workouts. Your muscles need time to recover and adapt to training. A good strength program will account for this by balancing your training volume with rest and recovery.

For most women, three to four strength workouts per week is their sweet spot, with up to five days being appropriate so long as the remaining two days of the week are dedicated to rest and recovery.

The best schedule is the one that fits your lifestyle and allows you to train consistently without constantly feeling sore and run down.

5. Workouts That Fit Into Real Life

If you start following a workout program that requires 90 minutes and a fully equipped home gym, it might not be the right fit for you if you’re busy and only have 30 minutes to squeeze in between work, kids, dinner, activities, and everything else going on.

One of the biggest advantages of training at home is the convenience of it, and a good at-home program will take advantage of that. There’s no reason why you can’t get great results from home without making fitness your full-time job. For most women, 30-45 minutes per session is more than enough time to get results so long as the program they’re following is efficient.

What Equipment Do You Need to Strength Train at Home?

The good news is that you can get results from home using minimal equipment. A couple of pairs of dumbbells, some bands, and a bench or chair can take you surprisingly far.

Having access to several different dumbbell weights is helpful, as you can choose the resistance that’s most appropriate for each exercise. For example, most women can lift much heavier weight for lower body exercises, as those are larger muscle groups than upper body exercises. With multiple pairs of dumbbells or a set of adjustable weights, you can lift appropriate weights for different muscle groups.

A simple home setup might include:

• A few pairs of dumbbells
• Long-loop resistance bands
• A mini loop band
• A sturdy bench or chair
• A mat

That's it! You don’t need machines, a squat rack, or dozens of fancy pieces of equipment to get an effective workout in from home.

What Should an At-Home Strength Training Program Include?

A well-rounded program should train all of the major movement patterns and muscle groups over the course of the week, ensuring that you hit all your muscles while also getting ample rest.

This should include movements such as:

Squatting: Squats, split squats, step-ups

Hinging: Romanian deadlifts, hip thrusts, glute bridges

Pushing: Chest presses, shoulder presses, push-ups

Pulling: Rows, rear-delt exercises

Core training: Planks, dead bugs, carries, anti-rotation exercises

You don't need to perform every movement in every workout. The strength program you follow should distribute these movements throughout the week so you're getting balanced training and enough recovery.

Why I Created Simply Strong

I created the Simply Strong App so women didn’t have to guess what to do every day or try to piece together a program from the random workouts they saved on Instagram or YouTube. I wanted to give women a simple blueprint for getting stronger and more visibly toned from home while keeping it as simple, effective, and time-efficient as possible.

Inside the Simply Strong App, you get structured workouts that include 3,4, or 5-day per week options and daily 30- or 45-minute workouts to choose from. All workouts are designed to be done from home with minimal equipment (dumbbells, bands, and a bench or chair).

And the biggest benefit of following the at-home strength program in the Simply Strong App is that the workouts are programmed to work together. You’re not just getting a collection of random workouts to sift through; it’s an actual training plan, and we build on our progress month after month.

How Simply Strong Uses Progressive Monthly Programming

Simply Strong uses a monthly programming model. Each month, I create a new training block that we follow consistently throughout the month, tracking our progress and focusing on progressive overload. Once the month is finished, you move into a new program, but it’s not just random exercises thrown together for variety- it’s designed to give you a fresh training stimulus while continuing to build on your previous work.

I believe this is one of the best and most effective ways to balance consistency and variety. You get enough repetition within your monthly training block to apply progressive overload and get stronger, but you aren’t stuck doing the same workouts indefinitely. And you don’t have to figure out what to do next - the program takes care of that for you.

So, What Is the Best At-Home Strength Training Program for Women?

There isn't one program that will be the best fit for every woman, but I do think that there are some things that are important to look out for.

First, the program should be structured, not random. If your goal is to get stronger, then it should include progressive overload. The exercises should focus on the tried and true basics and fundamentals that train all your major muscle groups. Recovery should be built in and a prioritized part of the program. If you’re looking for a true at-home program, then the exercises should be doable with minimal, common equipment. And most importantly, the program should be something that you can actually stick with over time; it has to be doable through all seasons of life.

This is exactly what I’ve built in the Simply Strong App and I’d love to welcome you to come train with intention with us from the comfort of your own home. Take my quick quiz to see if Simply Strong is a good fit for your goals!