Strength training at home: your first four weeks

You don't need much equipment to start strength training. What you do need is a simple structure, good technique and patience. This four-week outline is a starting point for healthy adults; if you have any medical condition or injury, check with a professional first.

The movement patterns

Almost every program is built from a handful of patterns. Learn these and you can build endless sessions:

• Squat — sit-to-stand, bodyweight squat.
• Hinge — hip hinge, glute bridge.
• Push — incline or knee push-up.
• Pull — band row or towel row.
• Carry / core — plank, dead bug, farmer's hold.

How often

Two or three full-body sessions a week, on non-consecutive days, is plenty. Each session: one exercise per pattern, two or three sets, stopping each set with a couple of repetitions “in reserve”.

Four weeks at a glance

1. Week 1 — learn the movements. Slow tempo, easy variations.
2. Week 2 — same exercises, add one set.
3. Week 3 — add a few repetitions or a slightly harder variation.
4. Week 4 — repeat week 3 and note how it feels compared with week 1.

Progress is simply doing a little more than last time — with the same good form.

Track it

Write down exercises, sets and reps. A log turns vague effort into visible progress and tells you when it's time to progress.

MySlim builds this kind of structure automatically from your answers and keeps the log for you.