With the most recent set of restrictions in full swing and countless more to be relaxed and reintroduced, we thought it’d be a good opportunity to talk to you about home workouts and what you can do to help yourself over this time. With gyms being closed a lot of people have taken to working out at home and some have given up for the time being because “they like to do weights”. But this does not have to be the case.
Weight training is pretty much resistance training. You place your muscles under stress and “resistance” for them to grow bigger, stronger and more effective. Resistance does not always have to be weights, here at Physical Balance we use resistance bands or commonly known as therabands which add that resistance without the need for lots of equipment. There are two types of resistance bands - the closed loop and normal bands. Often colour coded for resistance but this varies from brand to brand.
It is massively important to keep on exercising especially during the winter months when it gets cold and dark out. Exercise is found to improve mood, mental health and cognitive function to name a few benefits without even touching on the physical aspect. By carrying on your training you can carry on right where you left off when the gyms reopen soon.
Below I’m going to show you some simple exercise to do for the main muscle groups we commonly train, there are plenty of other exercises you can do and that can be done by working against the resistance bands.
Here are a few tips to help you get the most out of your homework outs.
· Take your time, slowly coming back against the resistance adds just as much value as the quick push against it.
· With all these exercises experiencing fatigue/tiredness in the muscle is the key to building strength.
Row - Narrow and wide.
● Tie the band round something strong - a sturdy door handle will do.
● Feet shoulder width apart and knees slightly bent to keep your body strong.
● Pull the band towards you keeping the elbow down for a narrow row and elbow up for a wide row.
● You will feel this in the back of your shoulder or upper back.
● Try doing 3 sets 10-15 repetitions.
Chest press
● Take hold of either end of the band in each hand and pull the band over your back. Standing or sitting.
● Push arms out straight feeling the resistance in the chest as you go, for more resistance just take hold of the band tighter.
● Be sure to get the band over the midsection of your upper back so it doesn’t slide up and come off.
● 3 sets and 10-15 repetitions. Or whatever you can achieve.
Shoulder Raises - Lateral and anterior.
● Stand tall and up straight, stand on one end of the band and take hold of the band with the arm of the same side.
● Raise the arm out to the side or straight out in front of you for the lateral and anterior raise respectively.
● Nice and slow on the way down and really work the muscles hard.
● 3 sets 15 repetitions minimum if we can.
Squats
● Stand tall and take the end of the band in either hand and stand on the centre of the band, making sure it’s pulled tight when you’re stood up straight.
● Bending from the knees and keeping your body weight over your toes go down to a ninety degree bend at the knee, keeping your spine straight.
● Push up straight digging your heels into the floor, you’ll feel this in the front of your thighs.
● 3 sets - 10-15 reps.
Bicep Curls
● In the standing position, place the band in one hand and stand on it with the same leg, pull the bad tight with you arm by your side.
● Pull the hand up to your shoulder with a bend at the elbow, you should feel this in the bicep that’s at the front of your upper arm.
● This responds well to getting really tired so try 3 x 20 reps.
These are just a few exercises that you can do, any exercise can be achieved, you just have to work out what muscle your focusing on and add the resistance to the movement that it performs.