Introduction
We are experiencing something completely unprecedented with the COVID-19 situation. Many of us are stuck looking for ways to maintain our habits, our fitness, and our strength.
We will need to make adjustments to the workouts we do maximizing what we have. But treat this as an opportunity to apply creative use of fundamental training principles to help you push to your potential. This is a chance to work on weaknesses and turn them into strengths.
The goal of this article is to provide a guide for you to help navigate through a multitude of scenarios of how to adjust and program your training so YOU can make progress. You can do it with bodyweight only, with small amounts of essential equipment or a full ghetto gym set-up.
You will learn a ton about training and become a more adaptable human. A skill set that will serve any great coach or athlete. In a challenging situation, how you respond is up to you. Keep your strength, share your knowledge and resources with others, and remain committed to your fitness and your health as that is the best response to challenge and to be ready for anything.
If you want training sessions to follow, try to get the minimalist essentials of bands, Dumbbells, Kettlebells and a sandbag and join the free Facebook group for daily training, knowledge, and community. If you want a personalised program and nutrition advice on how to get through this. Go ahead and apply for coaching.
Let’s crush this!
METHODS OF STRUCTURING A HOME WORKOUT:
FULL WORKOUT WITH 45-75MINS DURATION.
Choose a warm-up
Add one or two Absolute Strength pieces
Pick structural balance exercises that pair well; for example, the same category as Absolute Strength or one of the following: Agonist & Antagonist aka non conflicting movement patterns are often most preferred.
Push + Pull
Squat + Pull
Hinge + Push
Hinge + Squat
However. At times. Formats like mechanical drop-sets like Squat into lunge into leg extensions are excellent in finishers or in accumulation (High Volume) training periods.
- Add in one core/plank focused exercise
- Determine a conditioning
METHOD ONE: If you have a full home gym set-up (Barbell, Dumbbells, Kettlebells, Bench and Squat Rack). 4-6 Sessions a week.
5min Warm-up:
A1. Intensity Lower Squat/Hinge
A2. Intensity Upper Pull/Push
B1. Unilateral Single Leg x 3-5 sets / 8-12 Reps
B2. Core Isometric or flexion x 3 sets /8-12 Reps
B3. Volume/Unilateral Upper x 3-5 sets / 8-15 Reps
- Capacity: EMOM x 10-12mins / AMRAP 15-20min or Interval Weight Training Sections.
METHOD TWO: IF you have some equipment such as dumbbells, KB’s. 3-5 Session a week.
5-10min Warm-up.
Can choose to do upper/lower Split. Or choose a Full body method of hitting Lower Push, Lower Pull, Upper Push & Upper Pull.
- AMRAP 15mins – Sustainable Pace
1 – Cardio Movement for 30-45sec
2 – Crawling Variation 30-40sec
3 – Plank/Isometric Variation for 20-30sec
METHOD THREE:
Full Body Structural Balance & aerobic work + Pain Finisher.
4 Sets x 8-15 Reps with 40-60 seconds worth of tension per set.
A1. Volume Squat
rest 30sec
A2. Volume Horizontal Pull
rest 30sec
A3. Rotational core
rest 30sec
A4. Volume Horizontal Push
rest 30sec
A5. Volume Single Leg Hinge
rest 30sec
A6. Breather movement for 45-60sec
rest 90sec
FINISHER:
Anaerobic – Short Sprint Work – 10-20sec High Effort movement w/ 3min Rest x 6-8 sets
IDEAS FOR SOME SIMPLE TRAINING / CONDITIONING FORMATS.
Fave Formats for mix-modality Intervals & steady state.
Giant Sets: 3-5 Movements that will flow from one to the other with a 60-90 second rest after each round with a 10-15 second rest between movements during set.
SAMPLE:
5 Sets:
12 Push-up @ 3111 Tempo
Rest 15
20 Gorilla Row @ 2010 Tempo
Rest 15
30 Walking Lunge
Rest 15.
20 Tuck-Ups
Rest 90 Seconds.
EMOM Flow:
Pick 3-5 movements in an EMOM format that will go for 10-15min or up even to 30-40min or even 60min. Ideally sustainable efforts that can be done with 15-30 seconds remaining.
SAMPLE:
EMOM for 21min.
- 14 KB Alternating Snatch
- 12 Burpee
- 200m Run
Continuous movement:
Rotate movement through 3-5 movements at a steady state for 12-30min ‘AMRAPS’ with 80% intensity.
Sample:
AMRAP 20min.
6 Pull-up
10 Push-up
14 Air-Squat
18 Windshield Wiper
IWT’s:
6-12 Reps of a Heavy movement + 10-20 Reps of lighter movement + 1-3min of a conditioning movement with 2min rest. These are excellent metabolic burners.
SAMPLE:
3 Sets.
4 Sandbag To Shoulder @ Heavy
12 Goblet Squat @ Moderate
2min AMRAP Burpee (Target 30+ Reps)
Rest 2min
Dane Crushing The Kettlebell Z-Press For Boulder Shoulders
REMEMBER CORE BASIC PROGRAM PRINCIPLES:
Work full range of motion and great movement quality.
Work to 1-3 reps in reserve. Near Failure.
Stick to core movement principles. Push, pull, core, hinge, rotate, lunge. Play with variations for fun.
3-5 hard sets per movement.
4-6 Movements per a workout
3-5 Workouts a week.
12-16 Workouts, pushing progression in reps, load, sets or increasing tempo before switching formats.
Conditioning Daily 20-30min. Elevate Heart rate.
Equipment:
Ghetto Kit:
Barbell + Bumpers
Bench
Rack + Pull-up bar
Rings
Kettlebells
Dumbbells
Bands
Sand bags
Essentials Kit:
Bands
Kettlebells
Dumbbells
Sandbag or Dead Ball
Minimalist Kit:
Mini-Band Set
Jump Stretch Band
Pull-up bar
Sliders
Rings or TRX
Stability Ball