6-Week Weight Loss Home Workout Plan for Women

Jessica Smith
Updated ·6 min read

This workout routine for women at home combines cardio and strength training to completely level up your physical fitness in just six weeks.

Zinkevych/Getty Images
Zinkevych/Getty Images

Take out your calendar and put a big circle around the date six weeks from now. That's when you're going to look back on today and be so glad you started this workout plan for women at home.

Hiring a trainer is expensive, going to the gym might not be your thing, and creating our own workout routine for weight loss can be daunting. That's where this program comes in: It has a balanced mix of high-intensity interval training, strength training, flexibility, and recovery time to help you burn calories and build muscle. If you want to lose weight (reminder: not a prerequisite for improving your fitness and health), this will help you do it at a healthy pace.

The best part about this workout routine for women? You can do it all at home with minimal equipment (or, if needed, you can swap in zero-equipment moves).

6-Week Workout Plan for Women At Home

How it works: Follow the schedule below, or feel free to adjust it to meet your personal needs (for example, rest on Wednesdays instead of Sundays or reduce the number of weekly workouts if you're a fitness newbie). The only guideline is to perform the workouts in the same order, if possible.

What you'll need:

Related:The 7 Best Dumbbells for Your Home Gym, Tested and Reviewed

The Workout Routine for Women At Home

This 6-week schedule incorporates one exercise routine each day and one rest day per week. Each exercise will only take 20 to 30 minutes to complete. The time of day you choose to workout or the day you take to rest is up to you.

Step-It-Up

This step-it-up plyometric workout involves a series of leg exercises, including squats, jumps, and lunges, This energetic bodyweight routine includes explosive moves that really work your legs and glutes to increase your power and strength. Do each move for 30 seconds, then rest for 30 seconds. The entire routine will take less than 30 minutes to complete.

Home Tabata Workout

This cardio plus strength Tabata workout will have you pushing your hardest for 20 seconds, followed by a 10-second rest. The entire fat-burning workout only takes 20 minutes, but don’t be deceived by the short amount of time — you’ll be working at maximum intensity for most of it. Make sure to warm up first, with a few squats, lunges, and arm circles.

No-Equipment Cardio

These fast-paced HIIT exercises can be done with body weight only, so they're ideal for working out at home. You only need to crush these 13 exercises for one minute each (followed by a minute of rest) to get the full effect of the workout. The entire routine takes less than 30 minutes, and you'll be doing pushups, squats, burpees, and more during this full-body workout.

Active Stretches

We added 7 dynamic stretches to this 6-week weight loss home workout plan. Unlike passive stretches (where you use gravity, a device, or another person to do the stretch), an active (or dynamic) stretch involves using one muscle group to stretch the other. Active stretches also warm the muscles to prepare them for exercise — or, in this case, to check in with the muscles to make sure you're not feeling any pain or discomfort.

HIIT Bodyweight Workout

This bodyweight HIIT workout will build major muscle from head to toe, with no equipment needed. After a brief warmup, you'll be exercising at a moderate level for 2 minutes, then pushing to your maximum capacity for one minute. Unlike the previous no-equipment cardio HIIT workout, you'll have just a few seconds of rest between each exercise. Repeat the entire circuit of exercises two to three times before a post-workout stretch and cool down.

Zero to 10 in 30 Running Interval Workout

Follow our simple guide to up your running game with interval training. For this running interval workout, start with a 3-minute warmup, increasing your speed until you reach a good pace of 6.5 miles per hour. Then, alternate between running and sprinting until you reach the maximum speed of 10 miles per hour. Make sure to incorporate the full 4-minute cool down after the run. Interval running is a quick and effective way to get the aerobic and anaerobic benefits of running.

Ultimate Weight-Loss Circuit

This 25-minute circuit workout will have you burning calories while increasing your metabolic rate. This technique is effective for everyone from beginners to intermediate/advanced. If you’re starting out, begin by doing the mini circuits recommended followed by 60 seconds of rest. You’ll get through all of the exercises in 25 minutes. More advanced participants will do all of the exercises in one circuit, followed by a 30-second rest between each move and a 90-second rest between each of the 3 circuits. Note that you’ll need a few pieces of equipment for this metabolic resistance circuit training workout.

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All-Terrain Interval Cycling Workout

Take yourself on an all-terrain cycling ride using intervals to burn calories and build lean muscle. You'll start the ride with a 5-minute warmup in the saddle, followed by a series of seated and standing climbs and descents. There are recovery periods built-in and a 4-minute cooldown at the finish. The quick (2 to 3-minute) intervals keep it fresh and make the 30 minutes to complete the workout pass quickly.

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20-Minute Metabolism Booster

This all-around metabolism booster includes a little bit of everything, resistance training, cardio, and HIIT, as well as healthy dietary recommendations to increase your metabolism. Be sure to incorporate these suggestions into your 6-week home weight-loss workout plan. Eat plenty of protein, drink lots of water, and fill your plate with fruits and vegetables. Add other metabolism-boosting ingredients, too, like green tea and spicy foods. Try to eat small meals throughout the day and make sure to refuel after your workout.

Daily Workout Schedule

Click on the chart for a larger, printable version.

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Read the original article on Shape.