10 Simple Exercises to Gain Weight at Home [For Beginners]

Gaining weight is said to be more difficult than losing it. While losing weight is a common topic, many people cannot gain weight due to some medical condition or genetics.

Then comes the societal pressure of being ‘too thin’ or jibes like ‘do you not get enough to eat?’  

I understand how difficult it can be to gain weight. That is why here I have provided a list of 10 simple exercises for gaining weight in the comfort of your home.

This article includes the best exercises, how to do them, and the things to keep in mind with the diet that you should take to gain bodyweight too. These exercises also help you to improve your immunity.

I have tried these exercises and have successfully seen a transformation in the lives of over 1000 People.

Want to know how I did this? 

Read further and find out how exercises can help to gain weight.

So let’s get started!

Why You Can’t Gain Weight?

Let’s first discuss why you can’t gain weight.

Probably, gaining weight for some people is hard. Yes, very hard. Well, genetics plays an important role in the growth of your body. 

Now there are many reasons one might not gain weight, some of those reasons can be 

• Improper diet: Due to the busy lifestyle the people can’t develop a healthy diet plan and that causes them to lose bodyweight.
• No exercise: You need to develop the habit of doing regular exercise to gain weight.
• Inflammatory bowel disease: In this type of situation a person is suffering from an intestinal problem that causes improper digestion.

People having a Body Mass Index (BMI) lower than 18.5 are said to be underweight. Studies have found that around 1% of men and 2.4% of women 20 years or older are underweight in the US.

Remember, If you want to gain weight make sure you are gaining a healthy weight.

So if you are the one who wants to gain weight and build a muscular body but this whole pandemic won’t let you hit the gym? 

Or simply you want to gain bodyweight at home, at your own pace then you have to follow these exercises that will help in full body enhancement.

Here are the top 10 exercises for gaining weight in the comfort of your home.

1. Squats
2. Push-ups
3. Bench Dips
4. lunges
5. Crunches
6. Glute Kickback
7. Pull-Ups
8. Bench Press
9. Deadlift
10. Burpees

1. Squats

Squats are undoubtedly the best exercise for gaining weight. This exercise is considered important for increasing the strength and size of the lower body muscles. 

It also helps in developing your core strength. This exercise will help you build muscle around your leg and butt areas. Squats target your abdominals, hamstrings, glutes, calves, and quadriceps.

How to do squats:

• To begin with, stand with your legs shoulder-width apart.
• Push your hips back (Imagine you are sitting on an invisible chair)
• Try going down as far as you can and then reverse the motion with the initial position.
• Repeat the exercise.

Things to keep in mind

• Don’t bend your knees while you are getting into the squat position.
• Don’t slouch while doing a squat make sure you are keeping your back straight.

2. Push-Ups 

Push-ups are a perfect exercise to build both your upper body and core strength. It is a difficult yet effective exercise to gain bodyweight. 

Push-Ups target your abdominals, chest muscles, shoulders,  triceps, and wing muscles that are located under your armpit.

Fun Fact- Bijendder Singh from India holds the record for the most number of push-ups, 3877 in an hour.

How to do push-ups:

1. Get on the floor while positioning your hand a little wider than your shoulders.
2. Slowly push your body towards the floor till your arms are fully extended.
3. Bring your body closer to the floor until your chest nearly touches the ground.
4. Come back to the initial position.
5. Repeat the exercise.

Things to keep in mind:

• Don’t try pushups if you have any serious shoulder injuries.
• People tend to touch their noses to the ground instead of trying to touch their chest to the ground.
• Your core should be tight and your butt should be clenched while you are doing a pushup.

3. Bench Dips 

Bench Dips are simple yet useful exercises to gain body weight.  This exercise mainly targets the triceps but it also focuses on your chest and the front part of your shoulder.

For this exercise, you need an elevated surface.

How to do Bench dips:

1. For this exercise, you need a Bench.
2. Grip the ends of the bench with your palms.
3. The palms should be downwards with fingertips facing the ground.
4. Extend your legs forward, bent at your waist and perpendicular to your torso.
5. Lower your buttocks by bending your elbows 90 degrees and pushing yourself down.
6. Straighten your arms and lift your body back to the initial position.
7. Repeat the same process.

Things to keep in mind:

• Make sure you stabilize your body while doing dips, otherwise you can lose control of your body that can cause injuries.
• This entire exercise depends on the positioning of your elbows.

Pro-tip: you can add a weight on your laps or try variations like cross bench dips.

4. Lunges 

Just like squats, lunges also help in building the lower body. It helps in bulking up the thighs and hip muscles. 

This brilliant exercise targets your hamstrings, abdominals, gluteal muscles, quadriceps, calves, and back muscles thus helping to gain weight.

How to do lunges :

• Stand up straight.
• Step forward with one foot until that leg makes a 90-degree angle.
• Keep on Lowering your body until your thigh is parallel to the ground.
• Push back to lift yourself back to the initial position.
• Do the same process with another leg.
• Repeat the exercise alternatively with both legs.

Things to keep in mind:

• Make sure you balance your entire body, avoid leaning too much.
• Start without weights and keep on increasing weight on both sides once comfortable.

You can try the walking lunge or add weights while doing them

5. Crunches 

It is usually believed that crunches help in losing belly fat but crunches also help in increasing your core strength and gain weight.

Doing this exercise can give you a perfect midsection. Crunches target all the abdominal muscles but they primarily work the abdominal muscle and the obliques.

How to do Crunches:

1. Lie down on your back.
2. Bend your knees and place your arms across under your head.
3. Inhale and contract your abs.
4. Exhale and lift your upper body whilst keeping your head and neck relaxed.
5. Inhale and return to the original position.
6. Repeat the same exercise.

Things to keep in mind:

• Start slowly, don’t make fast jerking movements as it can cause injuries.
• Avoid pulling your head while pulling your body up.
• Discontinue if you feel any discomfort in your lower back.

6. Glute Kickback 

Glute kickbacks mainly benefit your gluteal muscles. It also targets your hamstrings and strengthens your buttocks. 

It’s a good exercise to gain body weight. 

The glute kickback, as specified by celebrity trainer Sarah Lewis is useful because they work three muscles at a time, that is your core, your butt, and your lower back.

How to do Glute Kickbacks:

1. Kneel on the ground with your hands in a press-up position. 
2. Slowly lift one of your legs upwards until your hamstrings are in line with your back.
3. Squeeze the glutes during the move and hold for a second once fully extended.
4. Return to the initial position and do the same with the other leg.

Things to keep in mind:

• Don’t try this exercise if you have any prior back pain.
• Don’t arch your back, keep it straight

7. Pull-Ups 

Pull-ups are one the most effective exercises for gaining weight. Pull-ups help in getting chiseled shoulders and ripped arms. Pull-ups focus on your biceps and latissimus dorsi primarily.

Pull-up is a high resistance exercise that builds more muscles. More muscles mean more bodyweight.

This exercise requires a pull-up bar.

How to do pull-ups:

1. With the help of your palms grip the pullup bar facing in whichever direction you prefer.
2. Pull your bodyweight up until your chin is barely above the bar.
3. Lower your body to the point where your arms are fully extended.
4. Repeat the exercise.

Things to keep in mind:

• Make sure you do a proper warm-up before doing pull-ups.
• Don’t focus on your speed, rather focus on building strength.
• Maintain a good position.

8. Bench Press 

Bench presses are great for bulking up. This exercise helps in building shoulders, chest muscles, and triceps.  Doing Bench press will help to gain weight.

For this exercise, you need a bench(optional) and a weighted bar.

How to do Bench-press:

1. Lie on your back on the bench or the floor.
2. Hold the bar.
3. Lower your arms slowly to bring the bar down to your chest.
4. Slowly straighten your arms.
5. Repeat the process.

Things to keep in mind:

• Make sure you don’t lock out your elbows suddenly.
• Don’t press your head on the bench while lifting.
• If you are doing this exercise on the floor make sure there is someone to assist you.

Pro tip- try to get the right grip and line your eyes under the bar for a proper position.

9. Deadlift 

The Deadlift is not only a wonderful exercise to gain body weight, but It is also great to increase the overall muscle mass in your body. 

This exercise tones and builds leg muscles too. Deadlifts help in developing strength in your upper back, low back, hamstrings, and glutes.

For doing this exercise you need a weighted bar.

How to do Deadlift:

1. Stand straight with legs slightly apart.
2. Bend over and with shoulder-width apart grip, grab the bar. 
3. Bend your knees until the front part of your leg ( from knee to foot) touches the bar.
4. Straighten your lower back by lifting the chest.
5. Inhale and stand up with the weight.
6. Try to hold the weight for a few seconds.
7. Put the weight down.
8. Repeat the exercise.

Things to keep in mind:

• Start with lightweight. 
• Do not bend your back outwards or inwards as it can lead to serious back injuries.

Pro tip- Find your strongest stance for doing a deadlift and try to keep the bar closer to your body.

10. Burpees 

Apart from being tough and challenging, burpees are great for a full-body workout.

Burpees target the whole body. While doing this exercise you’ll target the chest, arms, glutes, abs,  quads, and hamstrings.

How to do Burpees:

1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart.
2. Get into the squat position and your fingertips should be on the floor.
3. Place your hands on the floor. Shift your weight onto your hands.
4. Kick the legs out behind and then lower your chest to the floor.
5. Get back up into a squat replacing your hands with your feet.
6. Jump straight up landing your feet shoulder-width apart.
7. Repeat the whole process.

Fun Fact: if you do burpees quickly and with intensity, you will receive a calorie burn that will last the entire day. (Source: Ampfitness)

Things to keep in mind:

1. Burpees put a lot of pressure on your ankles, knees, and wrists, so you must do a proper warm-up before.
2. Keep your core tight.
3. Relax on your way down.
4. Don’t forget to breathe.

There is a possibility that even after doing all these exercises you might not gain weight. To gain weight, a proper diet is equally important. Some might even say it’s more important than exercise.

So here I am sharing the food items that you can try to gain weight.

Diet for gaining body weight

1.Milk  

Milk contains vitamins, minerals, and calcium. Milk is often called Complete food. Two glasses of milk a day would be ideal. 

You can even make different weight-gaining shakes by incorporating milk with different items like banana, nuts, protein powder, oats, peanut butter, etc.

2.Dried Fruits

Consuming dried fruits is very beneficial to gain weight. You can eat them raw or roasted. If consumed daily, dried fruits such as almonds, walnuts, and cashew are best for weight gain.

3.Eggs

Eggs are an ideal source to gain weight. They contain protein, calcium, and healthy fats. 

It is advised to eat whole eggs as the yolk is beneficial in gaining weight. You can simply eat boiled eggs or you can have them in salads or different dishes. 

4.Rice 

Rice is easy to make, a cheap source that will help you gain weight. 

It is a whole meal, you can have boiled rice, curry, and vegetables.

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5.Meat

If you are a non-vegetarian then you can add red meat to your diet. Meat is a great source of protein. 

To gain muscle the best source is red meat.  The fattier the meat will be the more calories you’ll get.

6.Oats

Oats can be added to your diet to help you gain weight. It works wonders when added with milk. Oats are made with whole milk packs with enough calories and fat. 

7.Potatoes

Potatoes are a great source of vitamin K, along with carbohydrates. It is a high-calorie food for weight gain. 

The starch present in potatoes enables the release of energy in the form of glucose.

Instead of going for a  sweet or fatty alternative, choose high-calorie foods that provide energy and build muscle mass without all unhealthy fats that can cause harm.

Conclusion

Building a habit to do regular exercise helps you to gain weight faster and also improves your immunity.

Make sure you do proper exercise and try increasing the number of reps after a few days. Don’t do the heavy lifting on the first day. 

For better guidance for workouts, yoga, or meditation, you can go with online workout tutorials like the AntimatterFit app.

Also, keep in mind to take proper nutrition. Taking a balanced diet is as important as doing exercise for gaining weight. 

When combined with proper nutrition, exercise can do wonders. 

Remember that GOOD THINGS TAKE TIME

So, be patient throughout this weight-gaining journey and you will see the changes. 

You are going to get the results once you start taking the action.

What is the #1 exercise you are going to try first? 

Let me know in the comments below!