With all that’s happening in the world, more and more people are having to switch their usual spin class, free weights session, CrossFit workout or studio classes and move to home workouts which consist of bodyweight training or minimum equipment workouts. This might start to throw a few curveballs into the mix.
Some of the exercises such as bodyweight squats, sit-ups or planks might be far too easy but on the flip side exercises such as full press ups, handstands, pull-ups or pistol squats might be far too hard. How do you bridge the gap but still see results without doing hundreds of reps or having terrible form because the exercise is just too hard?
First of all, it comes down to exercise selection. You need to find a version of the exercise that is a challenge but you can do with good form to focus on your strength. An example, if you can’t do a full press up do negative only press ups or if the exercise is easy, like a bodyweight squat, try a 1 leg box squat.
Next, you need to think about what variable you want to alter as progression. This is where it might seem a bit tricky. In the weights room, you can add a rep or set or go and grab heavier weights.
Let’s break that down and think about what you are doing;
Adding additional reps into a set or doing an additional set or sets are both measures of manipulating training volume, reps x sets = total training volume. Ultimately you are creating more workload by increasing the amount of time the muscle spends working. Rather than always adding reps and sets, try
When it comes to building muscle the key is the amount of mechanical stress you put through the tissue. This is a huge part of the muscle-building process. Adding reps and sets does this but it’s not the only way.
The longer a muscle stays under tension is called Time Under Tension or TUT. By using a slower TEMPO you can increase TUT and increase more mechanical stress which will create muscle protein breakdown (MPB) and build more muscle.
I would say 95% of gym goers lift too fast and do not effectively manipulate this variable to their advantage.
The human body can deal with more force in the lowering phase (eccentrically). Therefore tempos should ALWAYS include a slow lowering phase a pause at the bottom, than a fast lifting phase and a short pause at the top (as long as the top is held with tension
Increasing load to an exercise is a way of generating more force production to increase the intensity of the lift. Rather than adding additional load, try:
Range of motion or ROM is also one of the most under-utilised variables for training. As you work through a greater range of motion the leverage of a joint will be altered and the muscles around the joint need to be able to generate more force to be able to work through the range.
Note: It’s also worth noting that, often, when using a greater range of motion, tempo naturally has to be a bit longer as it takes longer to perform the rep.
Using a deficit for the lift will challenge the range.
A few other versions of challenging range you might already have seen
You will continue to see progress as long as you are always increasing a training variable. If you cant add weight keep a log of the TEMPO, ROM or VOLUME.
Note: Only improve one of these variables per exercise per session
I’m going to put it out there that most people don’t even do this in the gym. Rookie PT’s and Instagram trainers are equally as bad at creating balanced training plans as the average gym goer.
Training should plug the gaps in people bodies. Most of us sit too much and do not use our posterior chain enough. We live in a world of pressing dominate movement patterns.
Then to offset this yoga is usually everyone’s go too. Which is also a very push dominate form of training.
Now with lots of us home training the posterior chain gets totally neglected when it should be priorities. As a general rule, I program a 2:1 or 3:1 ratio of pulling moves to pushing moves in ALL my client’s plans.
With that in mind here are some of my favourite minimal kit posterior chain exercises
Prone OH press (I know it says press, trust me its a back exercise)
If you have been following me a while you won’t be surprised to read this. Let’s make this very clear. Bodyweight training does not need to turn into HIIT. I class the popular form of training that people call HIIT as HDT High-Density Training. In the sense, you get a lot of exercises done in a short period.
But for strength training, manipulating density and shortening rests periods is not always a very effective way to progress. Actually, it can be detrimental to your progress as the cardiorespiratory component becomes what you are training, not the muscles.
However organising your workout into
Supersets (2 exercises back to back)
I suggest something like a Lower Body exercise back to back with an Upper Body exercise.
A1) Hip bridge
A2) Push up
Or
Tri-Sets (3 exercises back to back)
I suggest something like Push, Pull, Core paired together.
A1) Band Face Pull
A2) Pike Push Up
A3) Side Plank
This way of organising your exercise ensures you do not create too much cumulative fatigue because of the programming. Note that my HOME WORKOUT GUIDE is an Upper – Lower superset plan.
Let me reassure you that you are not going to all of a sudden get weaker and lose your muscle mass or strength because of the switch to home training.
As long as you implement some form of Progressive Overload, choose the correct exercise for you and organise your training as in a strength training set up you will be able to continue your progress as you were in the gym
Here’s the thing, I live in a social media bubble where I surround myself with women lifting weights, getting strong and generally being freaking badass human beings. Yet when I walk into most gyms, this isn’t exactly what I’m seeing.
Elevate your conditioning with well-designed circuits. Far too many routines throw together exercises haphazardly, creating unbalanced fatigue and overwhelming recovery demands. It’s about strategic selection and smart planning—ensuring each session builds you up without burning you out.
The big scary carbohydrate is here to ruin your diet and make you gain weight. It’s time to separate the facts from the fiction, such as why you should not cut a whole food group out of your diet and why we need carbs.
It’s a common misconception that exercise must be long to be effective. This usually aligns with the notion that exercise is all about calories burned.
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