Rainy days can throw a real spanner in the works if you like training outdoors. Mostly that’s a cardio problem rather than a strength one, but the result is the same: a session you’d planned is suddenly off the table, and the temptation to write the day off entirely is real.

Good news: there are plenty of indoor options that get the job done without needing a gym membership or much equipment. Below are ten that we actually use and recommend, plus a few honest notes on which ones are worth your time and which ones are filler when nothing else is available.

The Best Indoor Workouts for Rainy Days

1. Go to the Gym

The obvious one. If you have a gym membership or a home gym setup, this is exactly the day to use it. There’s no point listing specific workouts here because a gym covers everything you’d otherwise be doing outside.

If you usually run outdoors and the weather has canceled that plan, hop on a treadmill. It isn’t the same experience as a road run, but it does the same job for the cardiovascular system, which is what actually matters for your training. If your usual routine is more structured, this is also a good day to follow a proper program rather than freestyling. Our workout programs are all free if you need somewhere to start.

2. Do Yoga

Yoga is one of the most versatile indoor options because it can be whatever you need it to be. Mostly flexibility and mobility, mostly strength via held poses, or genuinely cardio if you flow through a faster sequence. If you’re a complete beginner, start gently. Yoga is often harder than it looks, and pushing too far on day one is a quick way to tweak something.

Some good beginner poses to anchor a routine:

• Cat cow
• Downward dog
• Warrior I and II
• Triangle pose
• Pyramid pose
• Low lunge

Watching a video is far more useful than reading pose descriptions, so search for a 20 to 30 minute beginner routine on YouTube and follow along. Once you’ve got the basics, you can build your own flow around whichever combination of strength, flexibility, or cardio you actually want that day.

3. Dance

Genuinely underrated. Put on a playlist you actually enjoy and move for 20 minutes. It won’t replace structured training, but it gets your heart rate up, burns calories, and improves your mood in a way that grinding through reps doesn’t. If you want a little more structure, a YouTube dance workout will do the job. If you don’t, just put on whatever music makes you want to move and go.

Worth saying: this counts. Movement is movement. People who write off “fun” cardio as not real exercise are often the same people who struggle with consistency, and that’s not a coincidence.

4. Use the Stairs

If your home has a flight of stairs, you’ve got a free cardio machine. The simplest version is to just walk up and down for 10 to 15 minutes, which is harder than it sounds once you get going. A few variations to keep it interesting:

• Stair lunge: Take two steps at a time, lunging up.
• Side step: Face sideways and step up sideways, alternating which side leads.
• Incline push-up: Hands on a stair, feet on the floor. Easier than a regular push-up, useful for higher rep work.
• Decline push-up: Feet on a stair, hands on the floor. Significantly harder than a regular push-up.

Stairs won’t burn the same calories as a gym session, but they’re a great low-effort option when you’ve genuinely got nothing else available. The bar to entry is zero.

5. Bodyweight Exercises

This is the one we’d actually recommend most days when you’re stuck inside. Bodyweight training is properly underrated, and you don’t need anything but your own body and a bit of floor space. Some of the most useful staples:

• Push-ups (or knee push-ups, or incline push-ups for easier progression)
• Bodyweight squats
• Lunges
• Glute bridges
• Planks
• Mountain climbers
• Sit-ups or crunches

Pull-ups belong on the list too, but only if you’ve already got a doorway bar or somewhere safe to hang from. They’re not really an impromptu option otherwise.

The trick with bodyweight work is making it actually challenging. Banging out 10 push-ups and calling it a session won’t move the needle. Instead, pick four or five movements, do 3 sets of each, and push every set to within a couple of reps of failure. If you want a structured plan rather than freestyling, our beginner 3-day home workout plan is built almost entirely around bodyweight progressions.

6. High Knees

Essentially running in place with exaggerated knee lift. Surprisingly hard to keep going for any length of time. The basic version:

1. Stand with feet roughly hip-width apart.
2. Lift one knee as high as you can, then alternate.
3. Pump your arms as if you’re running.

Start with 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off, for 6 to 10 rounds. If that feels too easy, go for 45 on and 15 off. Most people find round 5 onwards is harder than they expected.

7. Build a HIIT Circuit

If you’ve got a bit of floor space, a HIIT circuit gives you a complete cardio and strength workout in 15 to 25 minutes. Pick 4 to 6 movements, work for 40 seconds, rest for 20, and run through the whole circuit 3 to 4 times. A solid all-rounder circuit:

• Jumping jacks
• Bodyweight squats
• Push-ups
• Mountain climbers
• Reverse lunges
• Plank hold

HIIT done properly is genuinely demanding, so don’t talk yourself into thinking you need an hour. 20 minutes of real effort beats an hour of half-effort every time. For a more structured HIIT-focused program rather than improvising each session, our band and bodyweight fat loss plan is a good place to start.

8. Play a Fitness Video Game

Worth a mention, especially if you’re someone who struggles to get motivated for a “proper” workout. Fitness games are far better than they used to be, and a few of them genuinely make you sweat:

• Ring Fit Adventure (Nintendo Switch)
• Fitness Boxing
• Beat Saber (VR)
• Supernatural (Meta Quest)
• Les Mills Bodycombat (VR)
• Pistol Whip (VR)

These obviously require the kit, so they’re not an option if you don’t already own a console or headset. But if you do, they’re a low-friction way to get 30 to 45 minutes of real movement on a day when motivation is somewhere on the floor.

9. Walk Indoors

Not a full workout, but worth including because walking is genuinely useful for general health and not something you should skip just because it’s raining. A shopping mall, large supermarket, or even just laps around your house all count.

If your daily activity is mostly driven by steps and you’d otherwise be losing them to the weather, this is the option that protects your NEAT on bad-weather days. For more on why daily movement matters beyond your structured workouts, our piece on whether 10,000 steps a day is the right target is worth a look.

10. Stationary Cardio

If you’re short on space, you can still get a real cardio session without a single piece of equipment or much room to move. The staples:

• Jumping jacks
• Air jump rope
• Jogging in place
• Lateral shuffles
• Mountain climbers
• Burpees

Pair these with a couple of bodyweight strength movements and you’ve got a real workout in 20 minutes. If you’ve got a resistance band lying around, you can layer that in too for added resistance on the lower body movements.

Final Thoughts

The point of having a rainy-day backup isn’t to replicate your usual training exactly. It’s to keep moving so a missed outdoor session doesn’t snowball into a missed week. Pretty much everything on this list can be done with no equipment and no money, which means the only real obstacle is deciding to start.

If you find yourself defaulting to indoor training more often than you’d like, it might be worth reading our breakdown on whether home workouts are actually effective, or checking out the best at-home workouts for more substantial options once you’re settled into a routine.

And if you’d like a coach to help you structure all of this around your goals and your schedule, regardless of the weather, find out more about our coaching here.