Some guys like to go to the gym, others hit the local park to play basketball or toss the football around. But there are certain men who prefer to work out at home or need to exercise at home due to parenting, work, or caregiving duties. In these cases, finding the right workout is a challenge, especially if you are a beginner.

If you’re overweight, obese, or have been sedentary for some time, it’s smart to start moving to improve your health. But you’ve probably noticed that many home exercise websites and DVDs are designed for women. Let’s face it, you may not get motivated to exercise if your choices are ballet barre class or jazzercise. So, this list of beginner workouts is designed just for men. It accommodates the unique biomechanical properties of a guy’s physique and appeals to the interests that a sports-minded man might prefer.

Working out doesn’t have to feel like a punishment. The whole idea is to get fit and to have fun while doing it. Taking a jog in the park or spending an hour doing weight training are perfectly good ways to get into shape, but it can be hard to be consistently enthusiastic about these traditional workouts.

The human body is amazing. No matter what we throw at it, it adapts, and it adapts quickly. Regular changes in your workout are essential for long-term growth. There are plenty of techniques used by the pros to stimulate muscle growth. Here are 5 techniques you can use to switch up your routine and build more muscle!

Mixed Martial Arts (MMA)

If it’s challenging enough for Connor McGregor, it’s challenging enough for you. Unlike most sports and gym workouts, you don’t focus on one body part at a time in MMA. Being a total body work out, it helps to strengthen your upper and lower body and also gives you a steel core. MMA is so much more than cardio; it’s not only an intense form of a workout to get fit, it is also a self-defense combat sport– the knowledge of which is always something that’s good to have.

Aerial Fitness

Aerial fitness is a “practice of traditional Hatha yoga with soft fabric hammock, supporting 1000 lbs, suspended a few feet off ground. The hammock is a prop like a strap or a block, intended to assist alignment, deepen awareness and provide the immediate benefit of spinal decompression. With the weight of the body partially or fully supported along with the help of gravity, you can explore and create space in your bodies as intended in traditional Yoga practice.

Parkour Fitness

If you’ve ever fancied ninjas (or Jackie Chan’s insane moves), you’re going to love practicing this ‘art of flight’. This military obstacle-inspired form of working out takes place in the real world and teaches you how to manipulate your surroundings to get to your goal, which makes it as creative as it is difficult and challenging. It is a combination of a variety of physical movements including jumping, running, swinging, rolling, vaulting etc.

Horseback Riding

Sure, you might think that the horse does most of the work. But if you think saddling up will not leave you sore and sweaty afterward, boy are you mistaken! Riding a horse helps you build your core, improve your flexibility, and is particularly great for your thigh muscles and coordination skills.

Boot Camp Fitness

A fitness boot camp is a type of group physical training program conducted by gyms, personal trainers, and former military personnel. These programs are designed to build strength and fitness through a variety of intense group intervals over a 1-hour period. Originally popular in the US, they were brought over to the UK in 1999 and have been growing in popularity ever since.

Boot Camp training often commences with dynamic stretching and running, followed by a wide variety of interval training, including lifting weights/objects, pulling rubber TRX straps, pushups/situps, plyometrics, and various types of intense explosive routines. Sessions usually finish with yoga stretching. Many other exercises using weights and/or body weight, similar to CrossFit routines, are used to lose body fat, increase cardiovascular efficiency, increase strength, and help people get into a routine of regular exercise. Many programs offer nutrition advice as well. It is called “boot camp” because it trains groups of people, maybe outdoors, and may or may not be similar to military basic training.