How to Strength Train at Home

Sometimes our home gyms can lack a variety of equipment but I don’t want you to feel discouraged, we got this! I want you to feel confident and challenged going into this Strength Cycle and here are some tips to ensure you do. 

How to know if you need to increase weight:

If your last few reps are slow and strenuous then you’re probably using the right level of resistance. On the other hand if you find yourself flying through the set with the last few reps just as easy as all the others, then it's time to go heavier. Another way to look at it, If you can perform all reps and sets with perfect and proper form and still have enough juice for 2-3 more reps, then it is time to go up in weight. 

Here are some ways to make strength training at home more effective regardless of what equipment you may or may not have:

Increase your range of motion

• The longer range of motion demands more work on your muscles. 

  • Using objects like chairs, book stacks, yoga blocks, coolers or steps 

    • Elevate your front foot in a Stationary lunge, 

    • Elevate both your feet when doing a sumo squat,

    • Elevate your hands in a push up.
      

      Do your reps slower 

• It sounds counterintuitive but doing an exercise slower can actually make it harder.

• Next time you’re doing squats 

  • Spend 4 or 5 seconds lowering into the squat, 

  • Pause at the bottom, 

  • Then spend 4 or 5 seconds pushing back to standing. 

• When you’re pausing in the hold position you are mechanically in a weaker position and are putting the muscles under strain for a longer duration of time. 
  

  Add pulses or “Start-Stops” 

• You can make lighter loads heavier when increasing the time under tension. 

• Pulse reps add more isolated activation allowing you to engage all the key target muscles, which is a secret to maximizing fatigue and driving muscle change.

• Try the Start-Stop rep. Unlike a pulse, you’ll completely cut off the move at the bottom of the rep coming to more of a “rest” position, meaning you'll need to use more force to get the movement going again.

• Two great examples of this are

  • Hand Release push ups. You actually turn off your chest muscles before putting your hands back on the floor to push back up. 

  • Box Squats. Coming to a full seated position on a chair, bench, or box before standing back up.
    

  Supersets

• Working two muscle groups back to back with no rest between can help pre-exhaust your muscles so you feel challenged. 

• Example

  • Squats followed by lunges. 
    

  Focus on single leg work

• Unilateral exercises, where you work one side of your body at a time.

• These movements are also super challenging at a way lower load than bilateral (2 legged) movements at a time. 

• Examples 

  • Lunges, single leg glute bridges, bulgarian split squats etc. 
    

  Do more reps 

• When we want to make an exercise feel harder, the first thing we tend to do is add weight. 

• If it's not an option when you’re strength training at home, simply add more reps!  
  

  Use bands

• Mini Bands and long bands for the whole workout. 

• I use Hope Fitness Gear!

• ** Use code “ANNE” for 30% off at https://hopefitnessgear.com **

This Strength Cycle is going to be FIRE, just like you! Keep these tips in your back pocket so you don’t feel discouraged and get ready to show this week what you are made of! Let’s get it.