Cross Training at Home
Everyone that works out on a daily basis has encountered a time where they were unable to make it to the gym and frankly did not feel like going for a run or doing something outside. If this is yet to happen to you, I can assure that at some point it will (sorry to burst any bubbles out there!). Many people looking to develop a consistent exercise routine often have trouble getting out away from the kids or finding a place to workout when traveling for business or pleasure. Regardless of the situation, there is a solution to this, the at-home workout.
There are numerous things you can do within your home or hotel room that will provide an effective workout. Even if it is not at the level you prefer, it will still help keep you conditioned to have a great workout once you are able to return to the gym again. At the gym, we look to machines or free weights to serve as resistance to train our muscles. As it turns out, our body weight provides quite a challenge in itself when gravity is called into play.
The most well-known classic exercises people can think of are generally bodyweight exercises—pushups, sit-ups, squats, lunges, and more. The beautiful thing about working with your own body weight is your body will adapt and be much more efficient on a daily basis. Simple tasks of daily living become much easier as your body is adjusted to handle its weight effectively. Many people tend to prefer a “not big, but toned” look and working with body weight is a great way to achieve that.
Forming the Workout
As with previous workouts, your health is the most limiting factor. If something is causing a pain, stop doing it and seek medical attention. The next thing to consider is what story of a building you are on. People on any story above the first will want to consider the impact of certain activities such as burpees that require jumping. If you have neighbors below you, it is best to be considerate and adjust your workout routine to exercises that will not create a lot of noise.
When performing bodyweight exercises, the amount of sets and reps will depend on your level of conditioning. Someone who works out on a frequent basis and is in generally good shape will need to add more reps since the amount of resistance will be low for them. An individual that is overweight will struggle more so with their body weight and, will therefore, do fewer reps yet still reap great benefits.
For different body weight exercises, there are a few variations to make it easier or harder depending on the overall goal. The use of the variations in alignment with the conditioning level of an individual will allow for an effective workout and possibly more variety. If certain movements are more difficult, they can be worked on with a strength perspective, while easier movements will have an endurance perspective.
To work the upper body in general, the key movement is the pushup. The pushup works the chest and triceps along with some benefits for the shoulders and core as well. Many people used to do them when younger but often have difficulty doing one when older. Pushups like other exercises can be adapted to become easier. “Modified pushups” is the term used for doing pushups on the knees instead of the toes. Females typically have weaker upper body strength in comparison to males and often stick only with modified pushups. It is because of this that people have referred to them as “girl pushups” but I can assure you that they provide a great way to get a workout in for beginners. If knee pushups are still difficult for you to do at this point, counter pushups can be done. This involves using your kitchen or bathroom counter to do pushups against. Hands are placed on the counter about 3-4 inches wide of the chest. Keeping the body straight, you need to lower it down to touch the lower chest on the counter before pushing back up. It is okay for the heels to come off the ground during this. I give below a simplified breakdown of the varying pushup levels:
Counter pushups – Easiest form of pushups.
Knee pushups – More difficult than counter pushups, but easier than traditional.
Pushups – Use the toes as the point of contact with ground, the standard pushup.
As with other cross training workouts, deciding what areas of the body you would like to focus on will be the first step in making your at-home workout. Keep in mind that functional movements like squat, sit-ups, and pushups are generally most ideal in that they work multiple muscle groups and do not require other resistance. If you want other muscle groups to be specifically worked, it is much easier to do so when you are in a gym.
At some point, you will not have any time to work out. But not really. Here is a “NO time to work out”, workout. Simply take 1-5 exercises and do as many as you can in a designated time period, such as 10 minutes. For example:
Pushups 10
Sit-ups 10
Squats 10
As many rounds as possible in 10 minutes
This workout will start off easy for a conditioned person, yet after doing 3 or 4 rounds, the body will become increasingly fatigued. There is no time to rest as you are racing against the clock (even so keep perfect form). There is not a reason you cannot carve 10 minutes out at some point in the day to get this work in. Again as I have mentioned before, use creativity and listen to your body to have more variety within this. If you are able to, you can try to do as many squats as possible in 10 minutes. 10 minutes of nothing but squats!! That will get your legs going for sure. Naturally, do not plan on doing squats the following day as you should be sore from this.
Ideally, your workout is well rounded with cardio, strength and endurance. Resulting to do these 10 minute workouts every day is not the best plan. A plan that focuses time on each area of fitness will be most beneficial to your overall health and physique. These 10 minute workouts are for the times when its “impossible to fit in a workout” whether it is mid-week of your normal schedule or you are thinking about starting a program but just has not found the time to do so yet. Once you start with these, you should start to find yourself working and tweaking the day as necessary to have more time to work out and make better all-around progress.
As the theme has been, it remains the same for at-home workouts, pick what you want to work on, select certain exercises, sets, and reps based around these desires and make a workout. From that point, simply keep track of the workout and your comments regarding it. Each cross training workout you do should help you grow not only your overall conditioning, but your ability to form great workouts.