This is your complete guide to fixing the skinny fat look at home.

So, if you’re:

• Skinny but have no muscle definition
• Inexperienced with weight training
• Unsure what to do

And you can only exercise at home, you’re in the right place.

In this guide, we’ll go over absolutely everything you need to shed fat, build muscle, and achieve the physique you’ve always wanted. And the best part? You can do it in the comfort of your home.

Let’s dive in.

Part 1: Training at Home

Is Effective Training at Home Even Possible?

Prevailing wisdom suggests that we need regular gym access and all kinds of machines to train effectively. But the truth is, our muscles understand and respond to stress. Where that comes from is of much lesser importance.

Having access to a gym is beneficial because it’s easier to change up your training, induce overload, and train your muscles in various ways. It takes little thought to change your workouts because there is always a way to tweak your routine. For example, if you get tired of lat pulldowns, you can easily find another rowing exercise for your back.

Home training is more challenging to pull off because progressing is trickier, finding new ways to train your muscles isn’t always obvious, and many people feel like they can’t do as many exercises. But the truth is, home training is a viable alternative to the gym, especially if you can’t (or don’t want to) work out in a gym.

So, if you’re skinny fat and want to get fit, you can rest easy knowing that you can train at home and make impressive strength and muscle improvements.

How to Fix The Skinny Fat Look (What Goals You Need to Focus on)

Many skinny fat individuals feel discouraged and confused because they don’t know what goals to set. On the one hand, they are at a high body fat percentage, suggesting that dieting is the best course of action. But, on the other hand, they have little to no muscle mass, which makes them wonder if dieting truly is the right choice.

Fixing the skinny fat look comes down to two things:

• Lose body fat
• Build muscle

Replacing even a small percentage of your fat will drastically improve the way your physique looks. The best part is that you can take advantage of a process called body recomposition as a beginner. Instead of chasing either goal in isolation, you can build muscle and lose fat simultaneously. You can read more about the process here: Skinny Fat to Fit: The Ultimate Guide to Transforming Your Body.

What Training You Need to Go From Skinny Fat to Lean And Athletic

Fixing the skinny fat look involves fat loss, so many think cardio plays the most crucial role in the equation. While beneficial, cardio is not what you should prioritize. Instead, you need a structured resistance training program because it will provide the stimulus you need to build muscle.

Cardio is beneficial because it’s good for our health, improves our work capacity, and burns calories. Doing it can help us more easily establish a calorie deficit for fat loss.

But lifting weights provides the strong stimulus our muscles need to strengthen and develop. In the case of dieting, lifting weights allows us to preserve our muscle mass. As a result, we lose primarily fat and achieve a lean and athletic look. Plus, as mentioned above, you can take advantage of body recomposition (simultaneous muscle growth and fat loss) as a newbie. Meaning, weight training will allow you to build muscle while losing fat.

The best part about lifting weights is that you can make it work, regardless of your available equipment. You can even train effectively without any equipment, so long as you push yourself, make gradual improvements, and train the correct muscles.

What Equipment You’ll Need to Have Effective Home Workouts

1. Adjustable Dumbbells

Having a pair of adjustable dumbbells will make the entire training process much better. Dumbbells are versatile, easy to store, and useful for various training styles. The best part is that adjustable dumbbells work for various movements, from simple lateral raises to goblet squats and floor presses. You can even do dumbbell-only workouts and make fantastic progress.

Adjustable dumbbells are also affordable, making them viable for everyone who wants to train at home.

2. Resistance Bands

Next to dumbbells, resistance bands are another fantastic piece of equipment you should have. Similar to dumbbells, resistance bands are affordable and easy to store. Resistance bands also offer linear variable resistance (LVR). Meaning, the more you stretch the band, the more tension it provides. As a result, you cannot use momentum to do your reps, and your muscles have to activate well to complete each repetition.

Plus, using resistance bands is great because they are pretty versatile and allow you to do all sorts of gym-based movements like squats, chest flyes, pulldowns, curls, and extensions. You can even add bands to simple exercises like push-ups to increase the difficulty.

Check out my guide on effective training with resistance bands for skinny fat folks.

Effective Home Training Guidelines

Many people scoff at the idea of training at home and feel that gym workouts are the only viable option. But the truth is, so long as you follow sound training principles, home training can kick your butt and bring you outstanding results. 

1. Adequate training volume

Volume refers to the amount of work you do inside a workout or training week. The simplest way to measure it is to track the number of sets you do per muscle group. According to most guidelines, we should aim for 10 to 20 weekly sets per muscle group.

2. The right intensity

Intensity refers to the amount of weight we use relative to our maximum capacity. In the case of training for optimal muscle gain, it’s best to use resistance that allows us to do anywhere from 6 to 30 repetitions per set.

3. A good frequency

Training frequency is a measure of how often you train a muscle group. It seems that training each muscle group two times per week is the sweet spot. Doing so allows us to split our training volume between two sessions, train in a more recovered state, and possibly build more muscle. Plus, muscle protein synthesis seems to peak and drop within 36-48 hours of training. Stimulating the muscle every three to four days allows us to use our time more effectively.

4. Adequate effort

Volume, intensity, and frequency are essential, but effort is at the core of progression. Without it, even the best training program won’t bring us good results. As a rule of thumb, you should do most of your training sets close to failure. Leaving one to three repetitions in the tank will allow you to push yourself hard, but it won’t cause too much fatigue that might otherwise hinder your performance or recovery.

5. Proper technique

Regardless of your training goals, environment, and available equipment, proper training form will always play a massive role in your results and longevity. So, strive to do each repetition on every exercise well, train through a full range of motion, and feel the correct muscles working.

Working with a coach is one option, but you can always watch instructional videos on Youtube. Plenty of great coaches have recorded videos for almost every exercise you can imagine. Filming some of your training sets can also help you see your technique from the side and what might need improvements.

6. Progression

Making steady improvements with your training is another crucial element for fixing the skinny fat physique. The reason is, your body is in a constant state of adapting to external stressors, and training is one of them. The first workout you do causes a significant disruption because your body isn’t used to the stress. But the more times you do the same workout, the more adapted your body becomes and the less of an impact the activity has.

So, your objective is to keep challenging yourself. Lifting more weight is one sign of progress. But other options include:

• Doing more reps
• Doing more sets
• Doing the same workout more frequently
• Having shorter rest periods between sets
• Training through a longer range of motion

You can read more about progression here: The Importance of Progressive Overload For Skinny Fat People.

2 Sample Routines You Can Copy or Take Ideas From

Here are two sample routines that should give you an idea of what effective home training might look like. One is based on upper/lower training and features four weekly workouts; the other is a push/pull/legs split with three workouts.

The 4-Day Upper/Lower Home Routine

*All you need to do here is secure a long towel or sheet on a door, grab it and mimic the pull-up movement pattern without having your feet lift off the floor. The goal here is to do more repetitions.

*You can do these on the floor or against a slick wall/door with a towel on your forearm.

**You can grab onto a table, counter, desk, or something else that is sturdy and will support your body.

*For example, you can wrap a towel against something sturdy and hold onto it for balance.

*If the pistol squat is too challenging, you can stick to Bulgarian split squats until you build up the needed leg strength.

The 3-Day Full-Body Skinny Fat Routine

7 Ways to Progress With Your Training

Let’s go over the seven best ways to keep challenging yourself while training at home:

1. Add extra weight.

The simplest way to make an exercise more challenging is to add weight. For example, you can fill up a backpack with books, put it on your back, and do the exercise as usual. The tactic works great for movements like inverted rows, push-ups, squats, and bodyweight bicep curls.

2. Use resistance bands.

Adding a resistance band to an exercise is a great way to make it more challenging. For example, you can:

• Wrap a looped resistance band over your upper body and do a push-up
• Step on a resistance band, put it over your shoulders, and do squats
• Step over a band, grab it with both hands and do a Bulgarian split squat

3. Do more reps and sets.

Another obvious way to make your workouts more challenging is to do more of some exercises. For example, do more repetitions on a given exercise if you can’t think of a creative way to make it more challenging:

• Instead of doing three sets of push-ups, do five
• Instead of doing 20 reps per set, do 25, 30, or more
• Instead of doing push-ups weekly, do them twice per week

The literature suggests that even a lighter resistance can lead to growth, so long as we push ourselves close to failure.

4. Do unilateral exercises when possible.

Doing the unilateral version of some exercises is a great way to keep things fresh and challenging. Plus, you also get the added benefit of focusing on one side, which can help you spot and fix muscle imbalances.

Here are some examples:

Push-ups ⇒ One-arm push-ups
Back rows ⇒ Single-arm dumbbell or suitcase rows
Bodyweight squats ⇒ Pistol squats
Glute bridge ⇒ Single-leg glute bridge

5. Do more challenging exercises.

Another way to adjust the difficulty of your workouts is to pick more or less challenging movements. For example, if the Bulgarian split squat gets too easy, even with a backpack and a resistance band, you can switch it for pistol squats. If the classic push-up becomes too easy, you can instead do plyometric push-ups.

6. Increase the range of motion.

Increasing the range of motion is also an excellent way to make a movement more challenging. For example, if classic push-ups are too easy, you can elevate your hands on books or push-up stands to increase the range of motion and cause a more significant stretch at the bottom. You can also elevate your heels slightly and squat to a greater depth even if you don’t have the best ankle mobility.

7. Change the angle of attack.

Changing the angle of your body is another great way to make an exercise more or less difficult. For example, you can change the angle of push-ups in several ways and progress from a complete beginner to an advanced trainee:

Incline push-ups ⇒ Classic push-ups ⇒ Decline push-ups

Here are some examples of making an exercise easier or more challenging, depending on what you need:

a. Pike push-ups

Bent knees Pike push-up ⇒ Straight leg pike push-ups ⇒ Chair-elevated pike push-ups ⇒ Countertop-elevated pike push-ups

Merely changing the angle provides us with several versions of one exercise.

b. Inverted rows

We can also make inverted rows easier or more challenging by changing the body’s angle. As a complete beginner, you can start doing these in an almost upright position and slowly work your way up to having your body near parallel with the ground:

Part 2: How to Eat

Why Traditional Weight Loss Approaches Don’t Work

The traditional weight loss approach often leads to the skinny fat look because it lacks precision. For example, you might choose to eat only ‘clean’ foods every day. But are you consuming enough calories for your goals, and are you getting enough of the three macronutrients (proteins, carbs, and fats)?

You might need to eat around 2,200 calories daily to lose weight. But if you follow a ‘clean’ approach, you might only get to eat 1,400-1,600 per day. Doing so unnecessarily makes things more difficult for you.

The best thing you can do to prevent this from happening is to count your calories and track your macronutrients. That way, you know exactly how much food you need to eat to achieve your fitness goals efficiently. You can create enough of a calorie deficit to shed fat slowly. When the inevitable fat loss plateau comes, you will have room to reduce your calories further and keep losing fat.

Plus, if you follow the principles of flexible dieting, you’ll be able to enjoy some foods like pizza and still lose fat. Flexible dieting has become incredibly popular precisely because it allows for significant dietary freedom. You can enjoy your nutrition and make progress.

Clean eaters always hit a turning point eventually. They eat ‘healthy,’ do tons of exercise (or none at all), and lose lots of weight. But, at some point, the weight loss stops. So, folks panic and reduce their calories further or get frustrated and quit. Neither scenario is good.

Bad exercise practices represent the other side of the flawed weight loss coin. Aside from cutting their calories severely, people often start doing tons of cardio. The issue is that less intense activities like cardio don’t protect your muscle when dieting. Doing only cardio leads to significant muscle loss alongside the fat, further contributing to the skinny fat look.

With that out of the way, let’s now review what it takes to set up an effective nutritional plan for fixing the skinny fat physique.

The Three Pillars of Good Nutrition

1. Adequate Caloric Intake

As discussed in the previous point, consuming enough calories is essential for fixing the skinny fat look. Your goal should be to eat just enough to drop fat gradually while maintaining your muscle mass. If you do everything right, you might also build some muscle mass while leaning down. The process is known as body recomposition. Bulking is also an option under certain circumstances.

We’ll go over how to calculate your caloric needs below.

2. The Right Amount of Protein

Aside from dropping fat gradually, maintaining a high protein intake will provide your body with the building blocks it needs: amino acids. Once you eat protein, your body breaks it down and absorbs the amino acids. These building blocks then travel into the bloodstream, contributing to the plasma amino acid pool.

The internal storage of amino acid travels around the body, lending building blocks where needed:

• Muscle repair and growth
• Production of hormones, enzymes, neurotransmitters, antibodies, and more

3. Balance And Flexibility

The third pillar of effective and sustainable nutrition relates to flexibility. No matter how good a diet or eating plan is, it will never work for you in the long run if you don’t enjoy it.

Everyone can feel motivated to follow a rigid plan for a week or month. But you will lose the drive at some point and go back to your old ways. Before you know it, you’ll erase the progress you’ve made.

Aside from tracking your calories and getting enough protein, you should make sure to have enough dietary freedom to enjoy yourself, attend social events without feeling anxious, and not feel deprived.

How to Set Up Your Nutritional Plan For Fixing The Skinny Fat Physique

Step #1: Calculate Your Caloric Needs

The first step to setting up an effective nutritional plan starts with figuring out your caloric needs. Use the following formula first:

Women

BMR = 655 + (4.35 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) - (4.7 x age in years)
BMR = 655 + (9.6 x weight in kg) + (1.8 x height in cm) - (4.7 x age in years)

Men

BMR = 66 + (6.23 x weight in pounds) + (12.7 x height in inches) - (6.8 x age in years)
BMR = 66 + (13.7 x weight in kg) + (5 x height in cm) - (6.8 x age in years)

(Credits.)

The above formula will provide you with an accurate estimation of your basal metabolic rate (BMR), the number of calories your burn burns each day, even if you don’t move a muscle.

Once you have your BMR, it’s time to use the below activity multiplier to find what your TDEE is: the total number of calories your body burns each day.

• Sedentary (little or no exercise): Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2
• Lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week): Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375
• Moderately active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week): Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55
• Very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week): Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725
• Extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training): Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9

(Credits.)

Once you have a rough TDEE estimation, I recommend removing around 200 calories from that value and eating that many calories for a few weeks. Ideally, you should drop fat and weight gradually. You might also gain a bit of muscle, resulting in no significant weight loss. So long as you gradually improve how you look, it means you’re eating the appropriate number of calories. We’ll go over good tracking methods below.

Let’s now do a quick example calculation for Jennifer, a skinny fat girl who wants to get fit. Jennifer is 31-years-old, weighs 130 pounds, and is 5’6” tall (66 inches). Here goes:

BMR = 655 + (4.35 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) - (4.7 x age in years)
BMR = 655 + (4.35 x 130) + (4.7 x 66) - (4.7 x 31)
BMR = 1385 calories

Let’s also assume that Jennifer isn’t that active. So, we’ll use the 1.375 value from the above multiplier:

1385 * 1.375 = 1904 calories

Let’s now remove 200 calories to create a small deficit. We end up with 1700 calories as a starting point. Jennifer then has to start tracking her progress to see if she’s on the right track. She will likely have to make minor tweaks to her training and nutrition to make long-term progress. 

Step #2: Determine Your Protein

Many people recommend tracking all three macronutrients, but I prefer a more straightforward approach. Tracking proteins, carbs, and fats is beneficial but is unnecessary for the average person. Training consistently, eating enough calories, and tracking your progress matter far more.

As far as protein goes, I recommend shooting for 0.8 grams per pound of body weight. In our example from above, Jennifer weighs 130 pounds, so she should aim for 104 grams of protein daily.

You can bump your protein to a gram per pound of body weight, but know that it likely won’t make a difference in muscle growth or fat loss.

Step #3: Start Tracking Your Nutrition

Once you’ve laid the foundation, it’s time to start work. You’ll need a couple of things:

1. Kitchen scale
2. Food tracking app or a notebook

Getting a simple kitchen scale is essential for ensuring accuracy with your calorie intake. Eyeballing food is a valuable skill, but it’s difficult to estimate accurately. In most cases, you’ll probably end up over or under your calorie and macro goals.

Still, you shouldn’t obsess over every gram of food or calorie. You don’t have to be entirely accurate and precise with your food weighing. Instead, aim to be close - within a few grams.

Aside from the food scale, I also recommend downloading a simple tracking app like MyFitnessPal. Here is how:

1) Head over to Play Store or Apple store and download the app:

2) Sign up or log in (if you have an account):

3) Go through the setup steps because you can’t skip those:

4) Once finished, click the green number representing your calories for the day:

You’ll be directed to the following page:

Click the number in the Goal section, and a pop-up window will appear, allowing you to change your daily calories. Write the calorie number you got from step #1, and you’re ready to start tracking with MyFitnessPal.

Alternatively, get yourself a simple notebook and start recording your meals there. You have to write things by hand and calculate your calories and macronutrients, but the method is not that challenging. Plus, it can be fun and fulfilling.

It will take you a while, but you’ll learn the calories and macronutrients of the foods you commonly eat, and tracking will get easier. 

For ideas about specific meals, check out Meal Plan For Fixing The Skinny Fat Look.

Part 3: Tracking Progress

Why The Weight Scale Isn’t Always Your Friend

The weight scale can be a helpful tool, but it isn’t always suitable for skinny fat folks looking to get fit. The reason is, the scale shows your total weight (fat and fat-free mass). Fat mass is your adipose tissue. Fat-free mass is everything else: muscle, bone, liquids, organs, etc.

The objective for skinny fat people shouldn’t be to lose weight, but body fat. But since muscle growth is entirely possible for skinny fat beginners, you might find yourself not losing or gaining weight for long periods. Would this mean you’re not making progress? Of course not. But it can be discouraging for people who love gauging progress on the scale.

So, while useful, don’t put too much stock into your weigh-ins. Other tracking methods will be much more beneficial for your progress. Plus, we also have to consider that our weight can fluctuate for various reasons. You might wake up heavier one morning, but this doesn’t mean you’ve gained fat overnight. Your carb and sodium intake, hydration status, and timing of weigh-ins will play a significant role in how much you weigh.

With that said, here is how to take the most accurate weigh-ins:

1. Weigh yourself frequently enough.

Weighing yourself is important because it presents an accurate trend and prevents you from fixating on any given weigh-in. For example:

Week 1
Monday - 180.2lbs
Wednesday - 178.8lbs
Thursday - 179.1lbs
Friday - 179.5lbs
Sunday - 179.0lbs
Weekly average: 179.3

Based on your weekly averages, you can better track body weight changes (or lack thereof) and quit worrying about individual weigh-ins.

2. Weigh yourself at the correct time.

You should step on the scale at the same time each day to make your weigh-ins as accurate as possible. It’s best to do that in the morning. Get out of bed, go to the bathroom, and step on the scale before having any liquids or foods.

How to Make Good Use Of Progress Photos

Progress photos are a fantastic measuring tool for skinny fat individuals because they capture visual changes. We see ourselves in the mirror daily, so it’s challenging to notice improvements. But progress photos show you how your body changes.

Progress photos are only helpful if you take them under the same conditions every time. Meaning, you should take them in the same spot, under the same light, at the same time of day, using the same poses. Take progress photos every two to four weeks and compare.

Here is how to take them:

1. Stand in front of a light source - ideally, a natural one. A window will do great.

2. Place your phone or camera on something sturdy - for example, atop a chair.

3. Take several photos of yourself. Preferably, in a relaxed state, don’t flex your muscles. The front, sides, and back work great. You can also take some photos in a flexed state if you’re particularly pedantic.

4. Save those photos in a folder, and don’t forget to write the date.

5. Take another set of photos two to four weeks later, put them in a different folder, and compare them side by side.

Take your progress photos in the morning and use the window as a natural light source.

Circumference Measurements: What Are They And How to Use Them?

Circumference measurements are a fantastic tool for tracking progress. They also work great for skinny fat people because measurements provide in-depth data on how your body changes. For example, you might be at the same weight, but if your arms are getting bigger and your waist is getting smaller, you’re on the right track.

You should measure eight key places:

1. Chest (at the line of your nipples)
2. Left arm (at the peak of your bicep)
3. Right arm (at the peak of your bicep)
4. At navel
5. About three fingers below the navel
6. Hips (at the widest part)
7. Right thigh (at the widest point)
8. Left thigh (at the widest point)

I recommend taking measurements in the morning and on an empty stomach. Doing so helps you avoid bloating that can throw your measurements off course. It’s also essential to make your measurements as consistent as possible for greater accuracy:

• Always measure the widest part, which will help you measure the same point every time.
• Tense your muscles as much as you can every time.
• Don’t wrap the tape measure too tightly around yourself, as that can compress fat tissue and show a misleading measurement.
• When measuring your navel, hips, and chest, ensure that the tape isn’t getting twisted behind your back.
• Measure and write down each measurement to the millimeter.

Using circumference measurements along with progress photos and weigh-ins will make the tracking much more accurate, which can otherwise be difficult for skinny fat folks.

I recommend taking these measurements every two weeks.

Training Performance: How to Track It Effectively (And What It Can Tell You)

As discussed in part 1 of this guide, training progression is crucial for fixing the skinny fat look. Pushing yourself hard and making gradual improvements allows you to build muscle while shedding fat.

Before we dive into this point, I’d like to stress that this is not about how you think you are doing with your training. Tracking progress is an objective exercise where you write down your workouts as you do them, then compare your performance.

I’ve used an app called Evernote. I had notes for each workout, where I would write:

Then, as I do the workout, I write in the reps I get on each set.

I sit down for about 15 minutes and write down each workout in my log once I finish a training week. I then revisit each note, change the date, change the weights I’ll be using for specific exercises, and I’m done.

This method is convenient because all I have to do is make a note for each session once. I only have to change the dates and make minor tweaks like changing the weight goal, adding or removing sets, etc.

Alternatively, you can buy a simple notebook or log and record your workouts there. So long as you can easily compare your performance over time, you’re doing well.

How Long Is It Going to Take?

Changing your body composition will be a challenge. You will have to work hard, push through challenges, and stay on course even when you don’t feel like it.

You will also feel like you’re not making progress at times, despite the hard work. You will doubt yourself and feel tempted to find a new ‘shiny’ diet or training plan to reach your goals. This is one huge reason why I recommend tracking progress. You get data telling you how things are going, regardless of how you feel about it.

Fixing the skinny fat physique will be different for everyone. It could take you twelve weeks or over six months. Your consistency, dedication, and attention to detail will play a role. What matters most is that you never lose sight of your goals, no matter how difficult it might seem at times.

So, the best answer I can give you is this:

It’s going to take as long as it needs until you reach your desired look. Don’t compare yourself to others and don’t wish for the results to come quicker. Fitness is a life-long pursuit. There is always something to learn or improve upon. Do the work, enjoy the journey, appreciate each milestone, and you will be successful.