Since this COVID 19 situation started, we have all being confined to our houses and all the gyms have closed, it has made it challenging for some (present party included) to get the workouts we want to have at home.
I don't know about you, but I find working out at home just not the same. I don't have a lot of equipment at home and I miss the comradery and focus the gym gave me. But alas, we are stuck with what we have at home for the foreseeable future!
You may be stuck in the same boat as I am, not a lot of equipment and a need to move your body. Exercise and activity have been helping to keep me sane and balance my moods in an overly-emotional time.
So it has forced me to be creative, which really isn't the worst thing in the world. I've been finding ways to make my workouts different and more challenging, so I will share my tips with you on how to change up your workouts to help make them more challenging, especially if you have minimal equipment.
1. Perfect your form
The biggest difference that can make your workouts more effective is to make sure that your form is on point. Quite often, we get complacent with our form and let it slack a little bit. Taking the time during our workouts to really make sure that your core is properly engaged (i.e BRACED not sucked in), that you're feeling the exercise in the proper muscles that it's supposed to be working and that you're having proper alignment makes a huge difference in how you feel your workouts.
For example with a squat, really assess your form. Is your back neutral? Is the weight in your heels? Are your knees tracking over your middle toe or are they falling inward or outward, etc? Grab a mirror or video yourself doing your workouts, and take a look at your form.
2. Changing the sets and reps
If you are finding your usual 3 sets of 10 with the same weight is beginning to get redundant and you need to change it up, but you can't really increase the weight, there are some things you can do. First, you can always add more reps. If you are finding that 10 reps are getting easy, try 12 reps. Second, if you're getting to the point where you are going above 12-15 reps, I recommend then adding an additional full set. Increasing to 4 sets will help add more volume in and more strength over time.
3. Change your tempo
Another great way to make a workout just that much more intense is to change up your tempo or speed that you perform your reps. My favourite way to do that is to slow it down the tempo of your reps and really concentrate on the mind-muscle connection and 'firing' of the muscles as you go.
For example, if we take a squat, slowing down the rate that you lower yourself to a 2 count, 1 count pause at the bottom before another 2 counts back up can really add an extra something to your exercises. By slowing things down a little bit, you can also work on perfecting your form and control of each muscle involved.
Alternatively, you can work on speeding your tempo up. This would be appropriate if you a) know you have proper form and b) want to focus on speed or perform a certain amount of reps in a given time. It is a great way to challenge yourself a little more!
4. Try different form variations or stances
There's more than one way to skin a cat (terrible metaphor but you get it) just like there are many different ways to do all the different exercises out there. Think of Bubba for Forest Gump, as many ways there are to eat shrimp, there are different variations for your exercises!
Take a squat! You've got sumo squat, goblet squat, overhead squat, pause squat, Bosu ball squat, barbell squat, front barbell squat... you get the idea! Trying different variations of each exercise can really challenge you to work on different areas of your muscles, balance and stabilizers and add huge variety to your workouts!
5. AMRAP until failure
Definition of AMRAP: As Many Reps as Possible. What this means is you pick your exercise and do as many reps as you can until you feel your form is going to fail and stop before it does. For example, this can be done with pushups, you do as many pushups as you can until you feel like you cannot do it with proper form. You can use that as a fun way to challenge yourself and continually beat your own personal bests. A word of caution, don't do this all the time for every workout you do and do not do this unless you are completely comfortable with what proper form is for you.
6. AMRAP in a set time
Another great way to challenge yourself is to set a timer for a given time and complete as many reps as you can of a certain exercise until the timer goes off. This is another great way to compete against yourself and try to be better or faster each time. For example, you can see how many bodyweight squats you do in 30 seconds and track it to see how you improve each month.
7. Try a different style of workout
If you are used to doing 1 or 2 exercises at a time, try a circuit-style workout. If you struggle with balance, try a yoga routine (many available on YouTube). If you do mostly weight workouts, try doing a strickly bodyweight-only workout. Used to running on flat surfaces, try sprinting hills or stairs. Trying different styles of workouts or new exercises can add some variety and challenge to your workouts and give you something to push yourself to be better at.
If you feel like you're stuck with your at-home workouts, you aren't alone and there are many ways to change things up and make them more challenging!
Need some at-home workouts with minimal equipment? Check out my Youtube channel for my At-Home Workouts Series!
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