Bodyweight Home Workout Tips

During the current crisis we are all having to exercise from home.

For most people this is a complete new way to train and can become quite challenging to stay consistent, find the motivation and keep training varied and fun, but most importantly being SMART with how to exercise specifically for you at home.

Understanding that lots of high intensity and plyometrics without getting a correct balance of strength and mobility exercises will increase your risk of injury and not build true strength.

Most people will not have access to equipment, but the amazing thing is your own body is one big piece of equipment that you have a vast amount of exercises that you can do with it

From strength to high intensity training, endurance, flexibility and more more ways of training just using your body along with some simple home tools everyone will have.

A chair, step, towel, tie and even pillow can be used to help add some variety with exercising from home.

Many problems with home workouts is that people feel the exercises need to look different and fancy for it to be a good workout.

Simplicity is key, below I will list 10 strength exercises that can be done using your bodyweight with some of the home equipment tools listed above.

1. Single leg hip thrusts

2. Split squats (back heel elevated)

3. Back extension variations

4. Push up variations

5. Tricep dips

6. Towel isometric row hold (sat down with a long towel going around feet)

7. Deadbugs

8. Hollow hold

9. Walkouts

10. Side Plank

Adding tempo and pauses to movements are a great way to progress a bodyweight exercise

For example if you start just doing normal push ups for 10 reps. The next progression could be to add a 1 second pause at the bottom phase of the movement.

You could then from here add a 2 second eccentric (lowering) phase with a 1 second pause still, now 10 reps will become much harder.

This same format can go with all other exercises too and you can build unto 4,5,6 second eccentrics and holds to really make the movements harder.

A 5 day home bodyweight format could be as followed:

1. Monday - Whole body HIIT

2. Tuesday - Lower body strength

3. Wednesday - rest

4. Thursday - Whole body HIIT

5. Friday - Upper body strength

6. Saturday - Core and cardiovascular endurance emphasis (run/cycle)

7. Sunday - rest