If you don't have an equipped home gym, exchanging fitness centers for strengthening at home could be completely lifeless for you. Unfortunately, doing squats on your own weight or with the help of an external load in the style of "what the house gave" may not be as challenging as loading a load in the cage that is close to your personal maximum and trying to set a record. Even with training at home and without fitness accessories, however, you can put yourself in the body! Just know a few tips that we will present to you in today's article.
Will my muscles not disappear if I only exercise on my own weight?
The first losses of muscle protein generally occur at the earliest in the time range of 10-14 days without training. However, do you still feel that your muscles are smaller after a few days without training? This is due to the loss of muscle glycogen and water, which is due to a training break.
Considering that the basic recommendation for a correctly set training plan is in the form of 3-4 trainings per week with 3 exercises for a large muscle part and 2 exercises for a smaller muscle part, in 3 - 4 work series, it is based on the following. In this context, training the whole body about twice a week should be enough to maintain muscle mass, with 1-2 honest exercises for the muscle part, which will approach muscle failure by the number of repetitions.
As you can see, any workout is better than no workout. I dare say that most people exercise several times a week, but the main problem is to maintain the intensity of training without fitness accessories.
What should home training look like without fitness accessories?
First and foremost, it should entertain you and be challenging enough for you.
As in the gym, at home, training should be challenging and intense.
You should practice the series almost until the muscle failure.
Of course, one can practice push-ups or squats with their own weight throughout the episode of the popular series and another is close to muscle failure after 20 reps. Therefore, it is necessary to look for ways to make the training more demanding and increase its intensity. You should not forget about a good diet with sufficient protein intake.
10 ways to make training at home more challenging
1. Slow down the speed of the exercise
When planning strength training, the variable Time Under Tension (TUT) is generally very often overlooked. This information expresses how long you perform one repetition or series within one exercise or muscle part. It is simply a time when the muscle is loaded and working. On the other hand, it is not necessary to exaggerate. According to Shoenfeld (2015), the maximum estimated time to perform one repetition in relation to muscle hypertrophy should be 8 seconds. Studies suggest that a time longer than 10 seconds is rather counterproductive in this respect.
You certainly know very well that mowing squats or cranks very quickly is not as difficult as slowing down, especially in the eccentric phase of movement (down to the extreme position). Greater emphasis on the eccentric phase of movement also leads to greater "muscle damage" caused by training, and thus a stronger stimulus to muscle hypertrophy.
2. Accelerate and try HIIT or plyometric training
Acceleration of pace is typical for HIIT and plyometric training. There are many HIIT workouts that you can create yourself from almost any movement. All you have to do is alternate the intervals of maximum deployment with intervals of rest, in a ratio of approximately 2: 1. You put it in your body in a slightly different way, using homemade cardio.
With the help of HIIT training, you will burn more energy and you will also lock in physical condition more effectively than with classic cardio. HIIT is usually 30 minutes of intense exercise. Thanks to the After Burn effect, your metabolism is accelerated for a few more hours after training. You will burn a little more energy even in peace and effortlessly.
Plyometric training is used in almost all sports to increase speed, dynamics and explosiveness. Its goal is to quickly alternate the eccentric and concentric phases of movement, when the impact of the jump is followed by an immediate jump. We can mention, for example, squats with a jump, or jumps on the crate performed with maximum effort to activate the fast muscle fibers and develop strength. Plyometric training also increases the performance of the neuromuscular system, so you are then able to do everything a little faster.
How about HIIT or plyometric training?
Instead of the number of repetitions, focus on time. You can also use the timer of many applications for HIIT training. The tabata format is very popular, when you train for 20 seconds and rest for 10 seconds during 8 series. During plyometric training, the rest interval should last about 30-60 seconds or 3-5 times the training time.
3. Make full use of the full range of motion
Have you ever wondered if you make full use of the potential of each exercise and the full range of motion? This means that with squats you will go as low as possible in the lower phase of the movement, the same with, for example, cranks or lunges. This will lead to greater stretching of muscle fibers, use of the full potential of exercise and more effective building of muscles and strength. If you don't have the strength or mobility to do a deep squat yet, work on improvements such as "partial squats" to your extreme position.
The effectiveness of the use of the entire range of motion was also demonstrated by a study that tested the use of the range of motion in bench press exercises. (Un) surprisingly, the greatest improvement was achieved by the group of exercisers who used the whole range of motion, compared to using 1/3 or 2/3 of the maximum range of motion.
4. Hold for a while in the extreme position of the exercise, you can also use pulsation
Another tool for achieving greater muscle tension, and thus greater intensity of training, is a momentary stop (1 - 3 seconds), or the use of small movements up and down ("pulsing") in the lower position of the exercise. If you are strict enough on yourself, after the first few repetitions you will feel a burning of muscles, which means more exercise. For example, you can bounce off 5 or 10 small up and down movements (pulses) near the lower end position, such as a squat, and then go back to the starting position in a standing position. You will engage the entire range of motion and take full advantage of all phases of motion.
5. Try unilateral exercises
You will not naturally do a unilateral movement with some exercises, but with many you can. An example could be a squat on one leg or a plank with support on one hand. You will start working more on stability during exercise and in the case of a plank on one hand, you will also involve the oblique abdominal muscles more. Another example is a one-sided tightening with the use of a water bottle or within the possibilities of a full shopping bag, when the muscles of the middle body are slightly more involved again.
6. Do more repetitions
It may be a very clear method to make training more challenging, but it is worth mentioning. You will appreciate practicing several repetitions, especially if you do not use an external load and the exercises are becoming too easy for you. With more repetitions, you will achieve metabolic stress, which is one of the mechanisms that stimulate muscle growth.
7. Shorten the rest interval
Shortening the pause between sets will rehearse the exercise in a shorter time, leading to more metabolic stress, similar to the previous case. Muscles simply work harder. For example, start shortening the rest interval after 10 seconds, depending on your exercise experience.
8. Load the muscles at a different angle
What do you do when ordinary handles are too easy for you? That's right, rest your feet on a raised mat, such as a couch, chair, or table. This will put more strain on the upper half of the body, forcing the muscles to work harder. You can use the same principle, for example, when practicing the "bridge" (glute bridge), when you rest your legs on a raised mat again and practice the buttocks and back of the thighs more effectively.
9. Be creative and combine exercise types
How to spice up your training and make it even more challenging? Combine multiple types of exercises into one. We will illustrate this with the example of a squat using static endurance or pulsation and plyometry. At the beginning, practice 10 squats, then move closer to the lower end position, and either hold for 10 seconds or make 10 small up and down movements ("pulsing"). End the whole series with squats with a jump. How to make your exercise more challenging is up to you and your abilities, there are many possibilities.
10. Use anything you have at home as an external burden
Canned food, such as chickpeas or beans, various large plastic bottles filled with water or sand. You can use hydrators and water barrels as a load instead of classic dumbbells.
You can use a backpack or backpack filled with books or plastic water bottles as a load for squats, lunges and other exercises on the lower half of the body, as well as with a plank or handles.
You will especially appreciate shopping bags filled with books or plastic water bottles during biceps, triceps or shoulder exercises.
Pieces of furniture that are suitable for handling and do not risk injuring yourself or someone else, or destroying the apartment. If you have a smaller massive table in the living room, you can use it, for example, for pulling on your back. The chair or couch, in turn, will serve as a support for triceps or regular handles.
Wondering how to make an Olympic pole? Take an old wooden broom or an unused hockey stick for several years and put shopping bags or a backpack on each side, also filled with books. You can fix their position with insulating or carpet tape.
Use your partner, especially when exercising squats, push-ups or endurance in the plank. Of course, he doesn't have to weigh full weight on you, all you have to do is put your feet on your back at the plan, for example.
Suddenly you discovered almost the entire gym at home, didn't you? If you don't want to improvise like this, get strength bands, a hanging weight system or dumbbells to equip your home gym.
What do you remember?
Training at home without fitness accessories does not have to be boring and you do not have to worry at all that you will not get enough in your body. Of course, it's not as difficult as in a gym, where you're used to loading a "hundred" on a squat, but whoever wants is looking for ways. Also interesting is the fact that to maintain muscle mass, you only need to practice about 1-2 workouts per week with 1-2 honest exercises for the muscle part, which will approach muscle failure by the number of repetitions.
From the common things you have at home, you can create an external load that makes training difficult for you. You can be inspired by today's article. For example, such static endurance in deep squats can be taken up considerably.
And how do you deal with exercise at home? Share with us in the comments about your advice, tips, gadgets that you use in home training. If you liked the article and it was useful for you, support it by sharing it so that your friends can lock it up too.
