Introduction
We have all been doing Home Workouts during Lockdown at the moment. Most of us haven’t got the luxury of a home gym so have been having to make do with the odd dumbbell, Resistance bands or just bodyweight. During this time I have massively enjoyed my home workouts. Do I miss the gym? Of course! However, working out from home has taught me a few things and I have had some incredible workouts because of it.
Currently, the equipment I am using is 5 Resistance bands of varying resistance, Some handles and an Exercise Ball. Using this equipment I can workout my entire body and have had some great workouts with some decent pumps. In this article, I am going to go over what these Home Workouts during Lockdown has taught me! Let us get straight into the first lesson.
You can get Creative
The first things that my Home Workouts during Lockdown have taught me is that you have to get creative. Don’t have a bench and a barbell? Well, what could you use instead? For me, it was an exercise ball and some resistance bands I had. Works great! Just because you don’t have the gym equipment doesn’t mean you can’t do that movement.
Now I understand that weight can be an issue, not enough of it, however, again you have to get creative. Do more reps, more sets or Incorporate paused reps into your sets. There is always a way! You just need to have a look at what you got and the space you have. Plus the more you do it the more things you will think off. I have tried a lot of things, using brackets on a wall to simulate a Lat Pull Down. Hooks on the floor to do Seated Rows as well as other things., all with great results!
There is no Excuse
There isn’t an excuse! Traffic can’t be bad, Weather can’t be bad, Timing can’t be bad! There isn’t a reason for you not to squeeze in at least a short workout! Bedroom, garden or garage! When working out from home everywhere is a gym.
We are all guilty of it, Driving home from work and driving straight past the gym because you just aren’t in the mood, or you left work a bit later. Well, none of these excuses works when you are already at the “gym”. You will still be able to hit your goals and continue with your progress.
It is a great Change
Finish work, Get in the car, drive to gym, workout, then drive home, Repeat. This can get stale, boring and makes working out a chore rather than a hobby. While during these times we have the opportunity to change things up. Try different things. It’s refreshing. Pair this with having to get creative and working out suddenly becomes fun and your motivation goes through the roof.
You can use this time to try other workouts, like CrossFit, WOD workouts or even as simple a changing up your normal workout split. Everything is worth trying! If you don’t like it, just don’t do it again. During these times I have found that a lot of my Home Workouts during Lockdown have been circuit workouts. Resistance band circuit paired with a form of cardio (Sprints, Skipping or Burpee) and have found this to not only give me a great pump but also make working out fun and I find myself looking forwards to working out.
Short Commute
We touched on this above, but we think it deserved a section of its own. Working out from home means you have no commute. No travelling 20, maybe 30 or even 40 minutes to a gym, plus the drive home. This means that the window of time for your workouts shortens because you don’t have a 40-60 minute commute to worry about. You could effectively wake up, get change and go workout for 30 minutes, then you are done. Meaning it is a lot easier to fit in Home Workouts during Lockdown. A great time saver meaning the part of the day you have to put aside for working out is shortened, allowing you more time to do other things you enjoy!
Nothing kills motivation like sitting in traffic, or having to commute to the gym, While currently, due to the situation we don’t have that issue! Our house is out Gym! So when you find yourself with motivation to workout, you can jump straight into it!
Basic Equipment can go a long way
As we said in the first point, you have to get creative when doing Home Workouts during Lockdown. What this shows is how far some basic equipment can go! As I said, all I am using is some resistance bands and an exercise ball. Using various anchor points around my house and garden I am yet to find an exercise I would do at the gym I can’t do at home. Lat pulldown? Throw the bands over a Tree, sit on the exercises ball. Job Done!
When people think about working out they tend to think they won’t get a good workout due to not having “Gym Equipment”. This isn’t the case. You can do a lot of exercises without much equipment at all. A few bands, bench and even some dumbbells and you will be able to do 80-90% of your standard gym workout.
Saying that the only things that you might struggle with is Weight. Doing exercises like rows or deadlifts you might find yourself not having enough weight. To get around this you will have to increase volume another way (More Reps, Pauses Reps ore More sets) to get make sure you are getting the “same” workout.
No Busy Gym and No waiting for equipment!
My favourite point by far is that there is no waiting for equipment or not having to worry about Busy or overcrowded gyms. You are in your house, so the only person you have to wait for is yourself! All the equipment is free meaning you can superset easily, plan any workouts with interruption, take as much rest as you need or go to fill up your water bottle without someone stealing your machine (We have all had this done to us)!
This Reason and the two reasons above is why I love home workouts. It can lead to so much freedom and possibilities when you don’t have to wait for equipment. As much as I love the gym, I don’t love not being able to get the equipment or machine I want or an overcrowded gym. Those two things are the biggest motivation suckers for me personally. I don’t have that issue when doing Home Workouts during Lockdown.
When people think about working out they tend to think they won’t get a good workout due to not having “Gym Equipment”. This isn’t the case. You can do a lot of exercises without much equipment at all. A few bands, bench and even some dumbbells and you will be able to do 80-90% of your standard gym workout.
Saying that the only things that you might struggle with is Weight. Doing exercises like rows or deadlifts you might find yourself not having enough weight. To get around this you will have to increase volume another way (More Reps, Pauses Reps ore More sets) to get make sure you are getting the “same” workout.
Can lead to a full home gym
Once you have seen all the benefits while doing Home Workouts during Lockdown you will soon want a full home gym. Which I think is everyone’s dream. You need the space and the budget, but it is possible and for a lot less than people think.
It also doesn’t have to be an overnight build. You can do it over a few weeks, months or even years. You buy equipment when you can find it and afford it. Doing these Home Workouts during Lockdown you will see how little equipment you need for a good workout. So when building a home workout you will notice that you won’t have to buy as much as you thought, that expensive leg machine you will discover that you don’t need it because you can do the same movement using another piece of gear.
Conclusion
As you can see there are a few things we can learn from being forced into doing Home Workouts during Lockdown. Having to do them full time and not having options, really makes you think about that you can achieve, equipment to use and what kind of workouts you will do.
How are you all getting on working out from home? Having some great workouts? Let us know over on our Instagram. We would love to see some ideas you have all come up with. Remember if you are looking for some amazing home workouts check out our free application. Workouts for everyone, Doesn’t matter if you have little to no equipment, we have you covered!
Written by Kieran Blacker
Kieran is the CEO and Founder of Sets & Reps. He decided to make an application that helped people get a gym workout when not at the gym. He designed, Coded and built the application himself.