If your goal is to learn how to build muscle then we have little doubt you have already considered the possibility of working out at home versus joining a gym. Can you get an effective workout without a monthly membership to a high tech health spa or fitness center? Today this is what we will be reviewing for you.

Ask any bodybuilder or strength athlete for their opinion and you'll hear countless people telling you that your body doesn't care where you are when you exercise. If you put in the work, you'll get the results.

The majority of the principles for building a leaner, more impressive physique are things which don't happen in your workout. They're outside influences, such as your diet plan and your ability to let your body rest up after each session. The actual workout only plays a small part in the overall goal.

If you can apply the main rules for growth, it really doesn't matter where you are exercising.

1) Calories are important to growth. You can't build a bigger body if you're not providing yourself with the nutrition to grow.

2) Compound exercises are the best for hypertrophy. Focus on these.

3) Rest is the most overlooked factor by many gym users. If you do not rest, you will not get bigger.

4) Carbohydrates are your friend. They're very important for growth.

5) The basic supplements will do the job.

Your exercise program needs to tick a few boxes if your goal is to get bigger and stronger. You'll notice that these rules have been in place for well over two decades now, despite the constant evolution in the sports and fitness industry. The old basic rules are in place for a reason. Compound exercises, which tend to work more than one muscle group at a time, bring out the quickest results.

If you are working out in your spare room all you need is a barbell, some weight plates and a pull up bar which you can attach to a door frame. It might sound basic, but some of the best physiques on the fitness model circuit today were built with that simple setup. You can even improvise and use just about anything as a weight.

The deadlift is probably the biggest overall strength exercise in existence. Other great compound exercises include squats, pull ups, shoulder press, the bent over row and, of course, the bench press.

The best way to ensure you are getting optimal strength gains from all of the big exercises is to aim for the hypertrophy zone. This means using weights which cause you to fail at 8-12 reps on every set. Using this simple rep system you will stimulate maximum growth as well as having an easy method to see when it's time to increase the resistance or lower it. Less than eight reps show you the weight is too heavy for you to handle right now, whereas more than twelve mean you need to progress.

When all is said and done, your body does not care where it is when you work out. When you learn how to build muscle or how to lose weight you notice that many of the principles are things which take place away from the gym anyway, so if you want to work out in your garage or spare room then there is absolutely nothing stopping you.