In this article about strength training for home schedules for beginners and advanced: You spend a lot of time at home with the kids, have little time due to work, or simply prefer to train at home rather than in the gym. How do you best approach strength training at home? We share tips for beginners and advanced.
Strength training for home schedules for beginners and advanced explained
What is strength training at home?
Strength training is a form of training primarily used to build muscle mass. This makes it a suitable training method to achieve goals such as losing weight, feeling better in your body, or feeling more vital. In this article about building muscle mass, we already explained that with strength training, you provide a training stimulus to the muscles, causing them to become tense. That stimulus must be strong enough to stimulate the muscles and promote muscle growth. This means that the training must remain challenging, for example, in terms of the amount of weight and number of repetitions. Strength training at home therefore requires more creativity because you do not have access to the same materials as in the gym. In this article, we provide tips for beginners and advanced who want to start training at home.
How to start strength training at home
If you are just starting with strength training, you logically need lighter weights to stimulate the muscles. This makes it easier to start strength training at home. You simply reach the point where your muscles are fully stimulated more quickly. These tips will help you prepare for your strength training at home:
Train with your own body weight
In principle, you don't need much for strength training at home. By doing exercises with your own body weight, you can already put your muscles under tension. You can vary with different exercises, repetitions, and intensity. On YouTube, for example, you can find HIIT workouts for home or you can follow your own schedule. More on that later.
Use household items
Before you start your strength training at home, it can also be helpful to look around your house to see what items you have that you can use for your workout. Water bottles, a backpack with books, or just a mat that you can roll out can make your strength training at home a bit more comfortable.
Set up a training space for yourself
When you start strength training at home, you need to motivate yourself. It can help to set up a training space that makes you feel inspired and encouraged. You can approach this as big or as small as you want. For example, lay down a mat and place a music box next to it. Or buy your own training materials like a pair of dumbbells, a kettlebell, or a resistance band. By setting up a training space with nice items, you lower the threshold to start training at home.
Strength Training at Home: Beginner's Schedule
If you are a beginner in strength training, you don't need much more than a good schedule, your own body weight, and a place where you can train undisturbed. Ready for your strength training at home? This full body home workout without weights is perfect for beginners:
1. Squats
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and slowly lower your hips to 90 degrees while keeping your back straight. Push your knees outward and extend your arms in front of you if necessary. This way, you perform a squat with your own body weight. Repeat this movement 15 times.
2. Incline push-ups
Find a bench or ledge where you can do the push-up. Place your hands shoulder-width apart on the ground and come up on your toes. Keep your body and back as straight as possible. Lower your arms as far as you can. Keep your body stiff like a plank and do not touch the ground. Push yourself back up in a controlled manner until you are back in the starting position. If it's too hard, you can also come down on your knees and push up from there. Repeat this movement 15 times.
3. Lunges
Step one leg forward and one leg back. Optionally, place your arms at your sides. Slowly lower yourself through your front leg until your back knee touches the ground. Then slowly come back up. Repeat 15 times with one leg, then switch sides and continue with your other leg forward.
4. Tricep dips
Find a sturdy chair, bench, or cabinet to do this exercise against. Stand with your back to the furniture and place your hands backward on the edge. Position your legs a bit further out in front of you. Lower yourself with your arms until you can't go further and/or you almost touch the ground. The further you place your legs in front of you, the harder it gets. Repeat the movement 15 times.
5. Leg raises
Lie on the ground with your legs extended in front of you. Press your lower back firmly into the mat and slowly raise your legs. Try to keep your legs straight. If this is not possible, you can bend your legs a bit more or place your hands under your buttocks. Repeat this movement 15 times.
Have you done all the exercises once? Then do the round 2 more times so that you have completed 3 sets of each exercise. This way, you have a complete strength training session at home in the pocket.
Strength Training at Home: Advanced Schedule
If you have been strength training for a while, training with your own body weight may not provide enough challenge to stimulate your muscles. It can help to have a few dumbbells at home or to add weight in the form of household items like a backpack or a jerrycan filled with water. Other ways to seek more challenge include:
Doing more repetitions of the same exercise until you feel you are close to muscle failure.
Performing the exercises more slowly so that the time your muscles are under tension (Time Under Tension) is extended.
Taking less rest between exercises or choosing more complex variations of the exercises.
This full body home workout with weight and/or variation is suitable for advanced:
1. Jumping squats (with weight)
Perform squats as described above. Add extra challenge by making the squats jumping. If you want even more variation, you can also do this with a bottle of water clenched in your hands or a backpack on your back. Repeat the movement 15 times or more if you feel you can do more.
2. Push-up
Do the push-up as described above but without a bench. Do the push-ups on the ground and try to delay going to your knees for as long as possible. Repeat the movement 15 times or more if you feel you can do more.
3. Jumping lunges (with weight)
Perform lunges as described above. Add extra challenge by making the lunges jumping and switching legs. If you want even more variation, you can also do this with a bottle of water clenched in your hands or a backpack on your back. Repeat the movement 30 times (15 times left forward, 15 times right forward). Or 40 or 50 times if you can do more.
4. Tricep dips (with weight)
Perform the tricep dips as described above. Add extra challenge by placing weight on your legs or extending your legs as far out in front of you as possible. Repeat the movement 15 times. Or more if you feel it is not challenging enough.
5. Leg raises (with variation)
Perform leg raises as described above. Add extra challenge by extending your legs as far out in front of you as possible. When you raise your legs, you can also lift your upper body and touch your toes for extra variation. Just make sure to keep your lower back pressed into the ground. Repeat this movement 15 times. Or more if you feel it is not challenging enough.
Have you completed a round? Then repeat the exercises 2 or 3 more times for a complete workout.
Combine strength training at home with personal training
With these tips, you can easily get started with strength training at home! Do you want to combine the convenience of training in your own home with personal guidance? Then you can, for example, follow personal training once a week and also work on your own at home. This way, you learn more about strength training, get acquainted with different exercises, and can apply this further in your own training. Visit us for a free trial in one of our studios in Overveen or Heemstede.
