6 months into this pandemic and most of the country is still working out at home. I’ve received a few messages in the last few weeks how some of you have hit a plateau with your workouts. You’re either bored or sick of them, you’re not seeing progress, you don’t know how to change them up, or how make them harder.
It definitely can be hard to change things up at home. There’s less equipment, less resources, and less space. Maybe you have a resistance band or pair of dumbbells, but that’s it. So I thought I would share some ways to change things to and make workouts harder at home without adding weight:
1. SLOW DOWN! Slow down your movements. What do I mean by this?! Next time you’re doing squats, spend 3-4 seconds lowering into a squat (eccentric), pause, and then 3-4 seconds coming back up (concentric). This goes for any movements.
2. ADD MORE REPS! If increasing weight to make an exercise harder at home isn’t an option, than do more reps! Instead of doing your usual 10, go for 15! This will push you a little closer to failure.
3. USE RESISTANCE BANDS! Mini bands can make workouts more difficult as well. Add them to your knees and ankles for lower body workouts or even your wrists for upper body and core work.
4. INCORPORATE MORE UNILATERAL EXERCISES! Check out my highlights on Instagram– I have tons of single arm and single leg moves that make exercises much more difficult to perform. There’s no need to add more weight if you start adding in more unilateral work.
examples-
- single leg squats instead of basic squats
- single leg RDL instead of basic RDL
- upper body exercises like anterior/ lateral raises or bicep curls standing on one foot
5. DO CIRCUITS! If you’re used to resting after each exercise, switch things up and do a circuit workout instead. Give yourself minimal rest between exercises and rest at the end of the circuit. You’ll be exhausted by the end because you’ll be constantly moving, so there won’t be a need to increase weights.
Have you been implementing any of these tips into your workouts?!
