I have a newborn and need advice on how to transition my gym routine to a home based one

Commentaires

• u/salamandectomy77·1·1 août 2026, 14:11

  A pull up bar costs $25

  • u/bothdifferentiationb·1·1 août 2026, 14:14

    that's pretty much the perfect setup honestly, a pullup bar changes everything i got one of those doorway ones when my nephew was born and i was stuck at my sister's place helping out, never looked back. the goblet squats with a kettlebell or even just holding a heavy bag of dog food when you're desperate will smoke your legs. and nordic curls are no joke, first time i tried them i thought i'd torn something congrats on the little one btw, the first few weeks are chaos but you find a rhythm eventually

  • u/gnygren3773·1·1 août 2026, 14:43

    How do you do all the other exercises with just a pull up bar?

    • u/salamandectomy77·1·1 août 2026, 14:52

  • u/HxCxReformer·1·1 août 2026, 15:16

    Calisthenics is the answer. Pull-up bar and gymnastic rings and you’re cooking. Weighted Pull-ups, dips, rows, and ring push-ups. Then add in a squat (pistol squats were my favorite) and a hip hinge (Nordics). I will say, while I did have to do at home for a while, I eventually shifted my scheduled to evenings once my wife and kids are in bed, and I get there 4-6 times a week. I have three kids (6, 2, and under 1 year). Congrats, brother. Remember, it’s not a dad bod… it’s a father figure!

• u/Aonswitch·1·1 août 2026, 14:12

  Stop being a fool

• u/Electric-Lettuce·1·1 août 2026, 14:13

  You’re making this way more complicated than it needs to be. Get a pull up bar, get some adjustable dumbbells. Boom you’re set

• u/Glove_Right·1·1 août 2026, 14:25

  If you got any beams or supporting structures in your garage, patio or anywhere in your house/apartments ceiling, get a pair of rings and set it up. 

  • u/zaminDDH·1·1 août 2026, 15:13

    I used swing hangers and climbing carabiners to hang rings in my garage because I have nothing exposed. The weakest part of the system are actually the ring straps, and they're rated for ~1000 lbs each.

• u/ClenchedThunderbutt·1·1 août 2026, 14:27

  Alan Thrall: 10 TIPS for Dad's who care about fitness

  Given that you probably don't have equipment at home, just follow a calisthenics program.

• u/1CoffeePoweredHuman·1·1 août 2026, 14:59

  First off, congratulations! Second, keep things as simple as possible knowing energy levels are going to be a lot different and you’ll need to adjust your exercises accordingly. The easiest way to transition to home training would be to get a set of suspension straps and bands. Those two with bodyweight will give you well over 900 exercises you can do As far as programming goes, “Overcoming Gravity” And “Smart Bodyweight Training” are two great books that will help a ton. Other than that, simple, simple and after simple, keep things simple. I also read “The First Year Father” and it was amazing. Helped me a ton. I’ve been where you are twice with new kiddos. The trickiest part was balancing the fatigue with wanting to do the same workouts. Once I went to a super simple push/pull/squat routine and took more days off in between workouts, everything balanced out really well. Then when the kiddos were older and sleep was better, I was able to slowly add in more to the workouts until I eventually got back to what I did before they were born.

• u/Dreamless_Sociopath·1·1 août 2026, 15:15

  sadly no pull up bar.

  Can't you get one? You should also consider dip bars and rings, though that depends on your budget and whether you have a space to put them at home. Beside that all you need is the floor and a wall.

  Pull-ups and bodyweight rows cover your back muscles. You can progress with variations like archer pull-ups and rows, into the one handed version of each exercise, or by wearing a backpack filled with heavy stuff (If you have money to spare, you can also get a dip belt and some plates).

  To add isolation work for your biceps you can do pelican curls (easier on rings), and for the rear delts there are ring facepulls.

  For your push muscles, looking at your numbers, weighted dips are an obvious answer. For overhead press there's the pike push-up, progressing with feet elevated, then to wall assisted handstand push-ups (next is the free handstand and handstand push-ups, but it's more of a skill so you'll need to build up to it).

  Bodyweight triceps extensions work wonders to isolate the triceps, but for the side delts the best way is to use weights. You can also do chest flys with rings.

  Training your calves at home sucks. Just get the heaviest weights you can and do single leg calf raises, high reps, slow tempo, on an incline if possible. Or do you 10km runs on hills, they'll grow like crazy that way.

  You probably don't need them since you run so much, but bulgarian split squats, nordic curls, and sissy squats are all awesome leg exercises.

  Lastly for the core you can keep doing hanging leg raises if you get a pull up bar (or prop yourself up on dip bars/rings and do them that way). But there's also ab rollouts using rings or an ab wheel (sorry, yet another purchase, but they're pretty cheap), or plank walkouts just using the floor.

• u/Hot-Profession4091·1·1 août 2026, 15:20

  I think the first thing you need to do is accept you’re not going to workout 6 days a week anymore. Then you need to simplify simplify simplify. Push ups, Hand stand push ups (probably pike push-ups), chins ups, pull ups, dips, squats 3 days a week for 30 min. Find a progression of each of these that’s challenging. You’ll probably want to purchase some dumbbells to add weight given your current training level. I prefer plates, but lots of folks like those adjustable ones.

• u/Vacuum_Burrito·1·1 août 2026, 15:28

  Take that gym money and get some home equipment. A squat rack with a pull up bar, plus Olympic barbell, a bench, and rings will go a long way. Adjustable dumbbells as well. 

• u/Un_bearable·1·1 août 2026, 15:42

  Since you said you could get away for a hour every other day. So maybe buy like a weighted vest and go to your nearest park. Then you can rep out weighted calisthenic movements since you can already do 10 + on dips and pull ups. If not a vest then invest in weights and a dip belt that you can bring to a park.

• u/burner46·1·1 août 2026, 16:20

  https://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/wiki/faq/?rdt=50092#wiki_what_routine_should_i_do.3F

• u/jhibner281·1·1 août 2026, 16:53

  My first is coming end of October. I’m getting a wall mounted pull up bar and I have my rings. Then I have a nice set of paralettes. Also have a set of adjustable dumbbells. I think I’ll be set with that and can build from there.

• u/Kali-of-Amino·1·1 août 2026, 17:03

  Get a large baby sling and get used to taking walks. Your body, wife and child will thank you.