I want to start working out but I don't have any equipment except for a Swiss ball and 5lb dumbbells. I don't have the money for workout equipment so this will most likely be free-hand or something. Workouts that I can do for myself are the basics: push ups, crunches, squats, planks, jogging in place & jumping jacks for cardio. This should be 3 times a week M-W-F and I was considering walking for the off days to keep active. What other type of things should I do to work out certain muscles areas? Also what should I do to build more strength after doing these workouts for a good few weeks?

Ah, I love talking about health.

 

Now first and foremost, if you want to get in better shape and build some muscle, you gotta make sure you have a good balanced diet. Especially for muscle building, have lots of protein (eggs, beans, red meats, chicken, peanut butter, etc.)

 

As for the actual working out part, always warm up. Basic stretching exercises for counts of ten and then do some cardio, running or jumping jacks are good. I suggest running outside instead of inside in place, because that gets very boring very quickly. So go for a 10 minutes run or do 100 jumping jacks, just get your heart rate up and then move on to calisthenics. Alternate sets of different workouts, for example, if you want to do 3 sets of 12 push ups and 3 sets of 15 in-n-outs, you'd alternate with one set of pushups and then another set of in-n-outs and repeat till you finish the number of sets. Design a program for yourself (like on Mondays you focus on arms, Tuesday core workouts, etc etc). Make sure to do a proper cool down to avoid sore muscles, so probably jog for another ten minutes.

 

You might want to invest in other dumbbells for the future. You're going to get nowhere if you stick with the 5lb ones, but it's a good starting point. Here's a with basic workouts you could do. http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/dumbbellexercises.html

 

Change your workout up constantly so you don't bore yourself and your muscles, if that's make any sense. Incorporate burpees spontaneously, do some mountain climbers for a minute straight, push yourself constantly and you'll get results.