Home Muscle-building Workouts

Home muscle-building workouts offer convenience, time saving and privacy. Building muscle with home workouts is attainable, provided that the workout plan is based on sound principles and that you have a strong resolve to stick with the program. Home muscle-building workouts require a set of free weights used three or four times per week. Rest a day between workouts to allow muscles to recover.

Body for Life

Bill Phillips, the creator of Body for Life, advocates intense muscle-building workouts of no more than an hour, three times a week. Each workout includes two exercises for each muscle group. The first week, train chest, back, arms and shoulders on Monday and Friday; train quadriceps, hamstrings, calves and abdomen on Wednesday. The second week, train the lower body on Monday and Friday and the upper body on Wednesday. Alternate each week. For each body part, Body for Life requires four sets of 12, 10, eight and six reps, respectively, each with progressively more weight. For the fifth set, drop the amount of weight and perform 12 reps of a different exercise for the same body part. Body for Life claims to produce a complete physical transformation in 12 weeks. Body for Life has been a popularly used workout for home muscle builders since 1999.

Muscle Burn Workout

Developed by body builder and strength training writer Steve Shaw, the Muscle Burn Workout is based on the principle that muscles respond differently to different rep ranges. For each workout, perform at least two "power sets" using sufficient weight to tire the muscles after three to five reps. Next, perform at least two "muscle sets" using enough weight to tire muscles in six to 12 reps. Finally, perform at least one "burn set" using enough weight to tire the muscles in 15 to 20 reps. Rest only long enough to regain strength, then continue performing reps in this set until you reach a total of 40 reps. Shaw recommends working chest and biceps on day one, quadriceps and hamstrings on day three, shoulders and triceps on day four and back, calves and abdomen on day six of each week, resting on days two, five and seven.

Lifting for Women

Lou Schuler, a certified strength and conditioning specialist and author of "New Rules of Lifting for Women," contends that women are often given inaccurate advice about strength training. Women will achieve best results by lifting to build muscle, just as men do, he says. Although women's hormones and anatomy will not allow them to develop bulk the way men do, building muscle will create a lean, sexy physique and increased strength. He recommends a seven-stage workout plan performed three times a week. The workout combines exercises for each major muscle group, with increasing intensity at each stage of the six-month program. Schuler's recommendations are based on a program designed by gym owner and fitness writer Alwyn Cosgrove, a member of the National Academy of Sports Medicine and the American College of Sports Medicine.