Free exercise workout plan you can print at home

You can follow a free week from this page today, and you can print the same first sessions with no signup. The letter file is the US Letter starter. The A4 file is the A4 starter. They are the first three sessions of the four-week home plan, at full print size. No email, no account.

Check in with your doctor before you start this week, and stop any move that hurts. See the CDC guidelines for adults for the public activity target.

A free plan still has to fit the public floor. Adults need muscle-strengthening on 2 or more days a week, and at least 150 minutes of moderate activity, or 75 minutes of vigorous activity. The NHS sets the same two numbers for strengthening days and for moderate minutes. The three sessions below are a starting strength week; the guideline asks that strengthening work all the major muscle groups, so check your week against that as you go. The moderate minutes are a separate job: add brisk walks or other activity at a pace where you can talk, but not sing until the week reaches them. A gym week that assumes a treadmill and a barbell does not have to be the template.

Print the week, then the pages

Print the session you will do today. Tape it where you can see it from the mat. A pen lives next to it so you can tick the session when you finish. That is the whole system.

If you would rather read it here first, the week below is the same three sessions, written out. The PDF has the start picture and the finish picture for each move. This page has the order, the dose, and one cue. Use both if you can. Use this page alone if the printer is out of paper.

The honest limit: text is enough to start, and it is clumsier than the drawings for a move you have never seen. If a cue and the picture disagree in your mind, trust the picture on the PDF and skip the move until they match.

How many days to put on it

Three sessions, not seven. Put them on any days, and rest a day between them if you can. A Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday week is as valid as Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The order of the sessions matters more than the calendar name.

On the days between, walk or do other easy moderate movement toward the 150 minutes. Strength work and the walk are both in the week. They are not the same session.

A set of muscle-strengthening work is 8 to 12 repetitions that are hard to finish, for the major muscle groups. The starter sessions use rounds and written doses so you are not guessing. If a move is easy at the top of the dose, keep the form and finish the round. Going heavier is a later question, and Mayo Clinic's strength page is the place for the 12 to 15 repetition test once you own a pair. This free week is bodyweight, with dumbbells only as an optional harder version on a few moves.

The starter sessions, written out (illustrative)

The doses below are illustrative in this article. They are the doses printed on the free starter pages, copied so you can follow them here. Warm up the same way before each session: march in place for 60 seconds, arm circles for 40 seconds, cat-cow for 8 reps, a standing side reach for 5 reps each side, and a hip hinge for 10 reps. Do 2 rounds of the main moves. Rest about 20 seconds between moves and about 1 minute between rounds. Cool down by holding a standing quad stretch and a standing hamstring stretch for 30 seconds each side, child's pose for 45 seconds, and a chest opener for 30 seconds.

Count each side separately. If a move hurts, stop it. Try the easier option, or leave it out today.

Session 1, legs and core, about 20 minutes. No equipment. Optional dumbbells on the harder lines.

Move	Dose	How
Squat	12 reps	Sit back as if onto a chair; heels stay down. Easier: touch a chair seat, then stand.
Glute bridge	12 reps	Press through the heels and squeeze the seat at the top. Easier: lift the hips only halfway.
Reverse lunge	8 reps each side	Step back, lower straight down, push through the front heel. Easier: a shorter step, hold a chair.
Side-lying leg raise	8 reps each side	Lift with the heel leading. Stay on your side. Easier: a smaller lift.
Lying toe tap	8 reps each side	Lower one foot slowly. Keep the lower back down. Easier: lower the foot only halfway.

Session 2, upper body and back, about 20 minutes. No equipment.

Move	Dose	How
Incline push-up	12 reps	Body in one line from head to heels. Easier: hands on a wall.
Back extension	12 reps	Lift only a little, and look at the floor. Easier: hands by the hips, lift the chest a little.
Bird dog	8 reps each side	Reach long, and do not arch the back. Easier: reach only the leg, both hands stay down.
Clamshell	8 reps each side	Feet together, open the top knee like a book. Easier: open the knee only partway.
Forearm plank	Hold 20 seconds	Pull the belly in. Hips stay level with the shoulders. Easier: hold on your knees.
Calf raise	12 reps	Rise slowly, pause at the top, lower slowly. Easier: a small lift of the heels.

Session 3, whole body, about 20 minutes. No equipment. Optional dumbbells on the harder lines.

Move	Dose	How
Step jack	8 reps each side	Step one foot out and raise the arms, then step back in. No jumping. Easier: arms only to shoulder height.
Hip hinge	12 reps	Push the hips back. Keep the back flat. Easier: a smaller tip forward.
Split squat	8 reps each side	Drop straight down. Feet stay where they are. Easier: lower halfway and hold a chair.
Clamshell	8 reps each side	Same book-opening knee as session 2. Feet stay together.
Slow mountain climber	8 reps each side	Step one knee in at a time. Hips stay level. Easier: hands on a sturdy table.

A simple week around those sessions:

Day	What to do
1	Session 1. Tick it when you finish.
2	Walk, or rest.
3	Session 2.
4	Walk, or rest.
5	Session 3.
6	Walk, or rest.
7	Rest. Next week, repeat the three sessions or print them and keep the tick marks.

Missed a day? Do the next session on the list when you can. Nothing is lost. You do not owe the calendar a makeup class.

A missed day and the next one

The rule is short because people abandon plans over one blank box. The next session is the one on the list, not a harder one to "catch up". If the week falls apart, the first session is still the right restart.

Tape only today's page. A stack of seven workouts on the fridge is how a free plan becomes a poster you ignore. One page, one session, a pen.

If you want a version with no equipment named as the whole plan, the no-equipment week stays on bodyweight. A simple home routine is the shorter sibling. How to build the week yourself is in how to make a workout plan. Paper versus an app is a separate choice, in workout planner: paper or app.

The month after this free week

The other sessions of the first month are in the 4-Week Home Workout Plan. It is how you know exactly what to do at home for your first month: three sessions a week of about 20–30 minutes, every move pictured. Needs are a printer, paper, a pen and space for a mat. Dumbbells are optional. Bodyweight plan; dumbbells only as an optional harder option. No video, no coach and no app. The 4-Week Home Workout Plan is an instant digital download, nothing ships, at $8.99.

The free files are the start of that plan, not a second product. If you only ever do the three sessions on this page, you still have a week you can repeat. When the same three feel familiar, the paid month is the next nine sessions, already written, not a new puzzle.

A first month at home, written for a beginner, is also the subject of the beginner plan for women at home. If you already have a pair of dumbbells and want the weight rules, use the dumbbell plan.