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I am 23, software engineer in profession. My height is 5'8" and I weigh around 57+.
I want to gain some more weight with a better shape. But unfortunately I don't have enough time to go to a gym. I am trying to some push ups (3 sets) and some free hand exercises at home.

I am not sure is it the appropriate way, because I want to have a healthy series of workout in home that will help me to gain weight & muscle. I have a small place in my room for workout and I have dumbbells. I am planning to buy a chest expander, push up bars and some more weights.

I am just seeking help in this issues, what specific workout can help me to have better shape? Can you guys specify what should be my strategy?

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    Consider also investing in a pull-up bar, if you've got an appropriate place to put it (but they have those models now that fit in a door and most door frames could support your weight). It was easily the best investment in myself I ever made, at least. – VPeric Jul 6 '11 at 13:56
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    First programmer ever to ask the question: How do I GAIN weight... +1! – Nathan Wheeler Sep 12 '11 at 15:43
  • See this question. – Dave Liepmann Oct 8 '13 at 10:43
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First of all, what is your diet like? Are you getting a well rounded diet with fruits, vegetables, and lots of protein rich lean meat? If not your body will never grow regardless of what exercises you do. If you are eating all those things, remember that you'll need to eat more if you want your body to use the calories for building muscle and not just surviving.

If you want to get big and don't want to go to the gym and don't own weights then you should go work on a farm. Bail hay, lift horse feed, and pull stumps out of the ground. I don't mean literally, of course, but you need to find exercises like those to perform. They all have a couple things in common:

  • They are all full body exercises
  • They vary a considerable amount from each other
  • They are probably not something your body is use to doing

Since not every body has access to a farm, some good substitute exercises would be:

  • Deadlift
  • Squat
  • Bench press
  • Some sort of row

While teaching you how to do each of those exercises is somewhat out of the scope of this answer, I encourage you to read up on each and learn to do them safely. Many exercises like them can be down with very little to no weight. You can also almost always substitute a real world item for the dumbbell/barbell.

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  • Very good answer. You don't need barbells for any of these exercises. They can all be performed with DBs...Also incorporate HIIT to drop some fat and raise your metabolic heart rate throughout the week. 20-30 minutes all you need. – Hituptony Oct 8 '13 at 12:57
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Assuming barbells are out of the question because you don't have space, your best bets for size-and-strength exercises are pseudo-gymnastic exercises for the upper body and heavy powerlifting-style exercises for the lower body. What does that mean?

For your arms, upper back, and shoulders: you'll want a pull-up bar and a place to do dips. (A dip station is best, but two chairs or other sturdy objects can be used in a pinch.) Three sets of each, for as many reps as you can do with good form, is fine. If you can't do five in a set, then do a couple more sets.

For everything else: with the heaviest dumbbells you can lift, do lunges, deep squats, farmer's walks, and deadlifts.

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Something that Sparafusile said but you will find a whole lot of related info if you search for "5x5 routine". Just take care and go easy with dead lifts though.

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    The asker is clearly looking for exercises and routines that can be done at home with dummbells or other minimal equipment. Do you think that 5x5 really fits with that goal? – Doc Faustus Jan 17 '13 at 20:31
  • Has absolutely nothing to do with anything...pretty random answer..? – Hituptony Oct 8 '13 at 12:58
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There are several bodyweight exercises that you can do in order to get some strength and stamina.

  1. Pushups (for chest) - you can vary where you position the hands in order to go for different areas of the chest
  2. Dips (for triceps)
  3. Bodyweight Squat (for legs) - you can have weights in hand
  4. Wall Sit (for legs)
  5. Sit Ups (for abs)
  6. Mountain Climbers (several muscle groups + stamina)
  7. Step Ups (for calves) - you can do these even with weight in hand
  8. Bodyweight Lunges (for legs) - you can have weights in hand

If you do these as a routine, then you should be set for very good results. You can find how to do these exercises properly on Youtube. Here are also some more Exercises that can be done. It's written from the perspective of kids, however these exercises are great at any age. Also what I find helps me when doing bodyweight exercises is yoga. Yoga has some great positions, which strengthen your body and make you healthier. Here are some yoga positions: Good Yoga Positions for you to try

If you have a bench and dumbells then you can also do other types of exercises.

For chest:

  1. DB Presses

For back:

  1. DB Row

For triceps:

  1. DB Kickback

For biceps:

  1. Concentration curls

For legs: squats, step ups, lunges...but all with dumbbells

So here you have exercises for all the major muscle groups. You can exercise for example 4 times a week with a day rest between exercises. You can alternative having one day doing bodyweight exercises and another day with dumbells. You can do fullbody routines or split routines (where you do different muscle groups on different days).

For cardio you can do jumping jacks, or some running outside.

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  • While your answer has some value it seems like its main purpose is to divert traffic to your own site. – Baarn Oct 10 '13 at 20:15
  • I am just giving example of exercises that I did myself. That has more value than just listing a bunch of exercises that have not been tried. – Peter Oct 10 '13 at 20:18
  • true, but linking to your own page is frowned upon. Under certain circumstances it can be OK though, eg: if you quote important parts from those articles. Simply telling people "for further reading check [link]", however, isn't. – Baarn Oct 10 '13 at 20:21
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    @Peter I agree with Baarn. If the information on your website is part of the correct answer, you should repeat it here, rather than require a click through to your website. – user4644 Oct 10 '13 at 23:39

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