Home workout

Back

Rows and holds that work your whole back at home.

Exercises

Total sets

Time

25–30 min

Equipment

Table + backpack

The workout

Warm up first: 3–5 minutes of marching in place, arm circles and a few easy bodyweight squats.

Table Inverted Row
4 sets6–12 repsRest 90 sec
Lie under a sturdy table, grab the edge and pull your chest up to it. Test that the table can hold you first. Bend your knees to make it easier.
Level up: Straighten your legs, or rest your feet on a chair.
Start
Finish
Bent-Over Row
3 sets10–15 repsRest 90 sec
Use dumbbells or a backpack loaded with books. Hinge forward with a flat back and row toward your hips.
Level up: Pause for a second at the top and lower slowly.
Start
Finish
Superman
3 sets10–12 repsRest 60 sec
Lie face down and lift your arms, chest and legs a few inches. Hold for 2 seconds each rep.
Level up: Hold the top for 5 seconds.
Start
Finish
Backpack Romanian Deadlift
3 sets10–12 repsRest 90 sec
Hold dumbbells or a loaded backpack. Push your hips back with a flat back until you feel your hamstrings stretch.
Level up: Do it on one leg, 8 per leg.
Start
Finish

The 45/30 rule

Lift for 45. Then 30 minutes of Zone 2.

45min

Resistance training

Builds and preserves lean muscle, so more of the weight you lose comes from fat, not muscle.

30min

Zone 2 cardio (LISS)

Low-intensity steady state at about 60–70% of your max heart rate: a brisk walk or incline treadmill. This is the intensity range where your body's fat burning peaks.

Why the order matters: resistance training draws down muscle glycogen and releases stored fat into your bloodstream. Research shows steady cardio started within about 20 minutes of lifting burns more fat than the same cardio done on its own. And because Zone 2 is low-stress, it burns extra fat and calories without the recovery cost of high-intensity cardio, so your muscles keep the energy they need to recover and grow.

Find your Zone 2: about 60–70% of your max heart rate. At age 40 that's roughly 108–126 bpm for men and 102–120 bpm for women. No watch? Use the talk test: you can speak in full sentences, but you couldn't sing. Calculate your Zone 2 →

Fat loss still comes down to your daily calories and protein, so get your numbers. Research: Goto et al., Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 2007.

Pick the right version

Choose a version you can do for the listed reps with 1–2 good reps left. Too easy? Use the Level up.

Progress each week

Add reps, slow down the lowering, or move to the Level up version when the top of the range feels easy.

Protect your muscle

Especially while dieting or on a GLP-1: train 2–4 days a week and hit your daily protein target.

Know your protein number?

Training builds the signal; protein supplies the material. Get your daily calories and protein target in about 2 minutes.

Find my numbers →

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