Just because you’re training at home (or stuck at home if you’re reading this in 2020) doesn’t mean that you can’t be making progress with your strength training.
And that’s true no matter what level you’re at…
You just have to know the right things to be doing and the right way to do them.
1) Your first step is to assess the equipment you have available
- Do you have a barbell, a rack, a platform? How about dumbbells or a bench?
- Could you get access to some resistance bands? A pull-up bar?
- Perhaps a weighted vest or even a backpack you can load with books or cans?
The type of training you can do at home is going to vary massively based on what you have available to you.
Make a list of everything you have available as well as the things that you could easily build or acquire.
2) Know that Hypertrophy/Muscle Building Phases are your friend
Chances are that most of you don’t have a barbell and 200kg of plates at home, so the typical 3 to 5 sets of 3 to 5 reps strength training is probably out for a while.
The good news though….?
Cross-sectional area, aka how big your muscles are, is responsible for 50% of their strength. So by getting bigger, you WILL eventually be getting stronger too.
How about trying 4 sets of 20 reps per leg Bulgarian split squats wearing a weighted vest? I can promise you now you’ll be challenged like almost never before by the end.
Or how about what I like to call ‘mechanical advantage drop set press-ups’. You do feet elevated to failure, then regular to failure, then hands elevated to failure. By the end your chest, shoulder and triceps will be toast.
3) Use Higher Training Frequencies
The reality is that using lower loads simply creates less total fatigue on your body. You might be sore for a day or two after a good hypertrophy style home workout, but then you’ll be ready to go again.
Personally, instead of 4 bigger sessions per week I’ve moved to 6 smaller sessions (about an hour each) per week. 3 Upper and 3 Lower.
This kind of approach allows you to hit each muscle more regularly, increase your total weekly volume, build more muscle and ultimately get stronger.
>> This is me after about 12-16 weeks of this approach. Probably the leanest, best-defined shape I’ve ever been in…
Honestly, just give it a go. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by what you can accomplish
And if you need some personalized guidance on how to apply these principles to your own training then I strongly encourage you to fill out an application to work with me.
We’ll start with a 30-minute coaching to call to go over your goals, ask each other questions, and see if we’re a good fit.
Speak soon
Alex
