Effective strength training at home

If you have the right equipment and a ready-made set of exercises, you can create a fitness environment in your apartment and do strength training at home without expensive equipment.

Today, there are many online fitness programs that you can join. Another option is to create a complex yourself, based on your training goals and initial physical fitness.

This article provides principles for creating a training plan, provides strength exercises at home for men and women, and provides training sets for each gender.

What is strength training for all muscle groups at home?

Strength training at home, including circuit training, for men and girls involves working with weights and your own weight.

The main complex should be carried out after a joint warm-up, which consists of 6-8 circular movements of body parts from head to feet. The second condition that provides non-traumatic strength training at home is 5-10 minutes of cardio. Examples of aerobic exercise include jumping rope, boxing, running in place, and climbing stairs.

After this, the main training begins, where the number of repetitions of exercises and approaches depends on the desired result of strength training.

To avoid soreness, the workout should be completed with stretching exercises for the muscles involved during the training.

Body Sculpt or Super Sculpt

The content of the lesson is similar to Pump. But this program does not have a strict format, so each coach can make his own adjustments to it. It is structured like interval training: we do exercises either quickly or slowly, the length of the approaches is shorter than in Pump.

Here you can pick up not only a barbell, but also any weights - dumbbells, body bars, shock absorbers. The exercises are the same classic strength exercises: squats, lunges, push-ups, bench presses. The whole body is worked out, both the lower part and the upper part. In general, we get the same desired effect: strengthening muscles and burning fat. But the load here will be lower than on Pump, so it may take longer to achieve the goal. But it won’t be so difficult for beginners.

Strength training at home for men

Before the main load, you need to do joint exercises and cardio for 5-10 minutes. Only after this can you move on to strength training, which consists of the following exercises:

• squats;
• lunges;
• cross crunches;
• planks;
• push-ups;
• bent over dumbbell rows;
• dumbbell bench press.

Finish your workout with 5-10 minutes of stretching.

Strength training at home for men with this plan trains the entire body, focusing on the shoulders, arms and back.

How to properly train at home?

Before you start training, stock up on the desire to work on yourself and the desire for a healthy, fit body. A few simple but important details will help you make the lesson comfortable and interesting.

Set a workout schedule

It’s not for nothing that they say that discipline is the key to success. Choose the time and days of classes that are convenient for you so that you can perform the exercises systematically and without excuses.

Make a music playlist

If your attention is easily distracted, it is better not to combine studying at home with watching a TV series or movie. To concentrate on sports, make an upbeat and energetic playlist. It will motivate and lift your spirits.

Photo: istockphoto.com

Choose a convenient place to train

Before you begin, prepare a comfortable and safe space. Remove unnecessary things from there and move furniture if necessary. Lay out a mat to prevent slipping while doing exercises.

Don't forget about sportswear

Don’t think that sports outfits are only needed for working out in the gym. After all, one of the main advantages of special fitness clothing is that it does not restrict movement and allows you to train at full range. Therefore, we do not recommend exercising in old shorts and slippers, as this can lead to injury.

Drink water

During training, it is necessary to restore water balance. So you need to drink at regular intervals, regardless of whether you are very thirsty or not.

Make it louder! 10 best tracks for training

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Home strength training program for girls

Before performing the complex, the body is warmed up with joint exercises and 5-10 minutes of aerobic exercise. The following are the approaches of the main training, which includes exercises:

• Bent-over dumbbell rows;
• bar;
• cross-twisting;
• squats;
• straight lunges;
• Romanian deadlift;
• gluteal bridge.

Finish with 5-10 minutes of stretching or basic yoga exercises.

The women's complex works all muscle groups with an emphasis on the hips and buttocks.

Not recommended exercise machines and exercises for girls

The goals of going to the gym are also different for men and women. If the former strive to gain more muscle mass, then the latter want to ensure a toned shape and remove fat deposits. Therefore, everyone has their own training programs, which needs to be taken into account. There are several erroneous exercises that slow down progress for girls.

Abdominal trainers

Any girl just rave about having a flat stomach. Therefore, the first thing that the fair sex is looking for is an abdominal exercise machine that makes it possible to do crunches with weights. But such exercises are not capable of giving a good effect, because they will visually expand the waist through the active growth of the abdominal muscles. And just noticeable muscles are not needed, it is enough to just remove fat deposits, for which twisting without weights is enough.

Shrugs with dumbbells

This shoulder shrug is aimed at growing the trapezius muscle group. But this is good for a man; at the same time, the exercise cannot give the desired shape to a woman’s figure.

Bending with weights

Many girls find this exercise effective for eliminating the sides, the so-called ears on the hips. But this is a misconception, because in reality, lateral extension and bending with dumbbells contribute to the expansion of the waist. If you need to remove the “ears”, then you will have to focus on creating the right diet and side plank or bicycle.

Seated leg extensions (simulator)

The tendons near the kneecap are much weaker in women than in men. And to properly load the quadriceps with the help of a simulator, significant weights will be required. This means that the simulator is not suitable for quality exercise. An alternative would be wall squats on one leg.

Reverse raises (glutes, machine)

Although the simulator was developed to load the gluteal muscles, it is low in efficiency. It’s not worth wasting time on it; it’s better to focus on other activities.

Hummer press

Seated bench presses on a special strength machine cause excessive stress on the shoulder joint. Along with the peculiarity of the technique, the joints have a vulnerable biomechanical position. Considering the increased fragility of the female shoulder, this can cause injury, because it is not always possible to perfectly follow the exercise technique.

Pull-down of the upper block behind the head with a wide handle

A good exercise to work your upper back. But if the shoulders are not flexible, then it is difficult to follow the technique here. Considering the fragility of a woman’s shoulder, there is a high probability of injury, and this will eliminate any stress on the body over a long period of time.

Cardio equipment

In any gym, the cardio machines are always occupied by girls. And it is unknown when they will be released. Of course, for a girl, aerobic activity comes first, but you can’t do this more than 3 times a week and for more than 40 minutes. Therefore, it is better to combine sprint races and calm running no more often than this period of time.

The best complexes for women

For girls who have not been actively involved before, a type of cyclic (circular) training is suitable. In this complex, several exercises are repeated several times - 5 exercises of 4 circles. When choosing, you should focus on the capabilities of your body, but it is recommended to increase the load with each new day - the number of repetitions and time to complete.

Example:

• classic squats – 60 sec;
• push-ups on knees – 60 sec;
• leg lunges - 45 sec;
• elbow bar – 30.

For more experienced ones, exercises using weights are suitable - these can be dumbbells or, if they are not available, bottles with sand or water will do.

Example:

• squats with dumbbells – 30 times;
• oblique twists – 20 times;
• push-ups on toes – 10 times;
• “bicycle” - 60 seconds;
• lunges with dumbbells – 20 times.

For those who can consider themselves to be in the category of “advanced” athletes, the following exercises are suitable:

• slow squats - with knees bent, hold for 20 seconds. – 30 times;
• pull-down to the belt - taking a weight in your hands, tilt your back to the floor, while inhaling, pull your arms towards you - 20 repetitions;
• twisting – lying down, pump the press 25 times.

Advice from experts on organizing physical activity

Each trainer has his own approach to organizing workloads, but there are general principles based on which you can count on positive results when training at home.

Recommendations:

• Before classes, warm-up is required.
• The load should not be to the point of exhaustion.
• You should start with exercises for speed, agility and accuracy of movements.
• Only then on strength and endurance.
• Increase the load gradually.
• After finishing your workout, do exercises to calm your heart rate.

You need to track your workouts; it’s very easy to do at home. You can have a regular notepad or application, the main thing is to record the exercises planned and done.

Article design: Svetlana Ovsyanikova

Core

7. Lying leg raises

There are quite a lot of exercises for the abdominal muscles and this is one of the excellent options. The main thing is to remember not to lift your lower back off the floor.

Options for replacing this exercise/alternative:

• Lying crunches . Lie down on the floor and place your shins on a stool. Now twist, bending the spine - the rectus abdominis muscle (the same “abs”) is doing exactly that, bending the spine. When doing crunches, it is important not to lift your lower back off the floor.

The 7 exercises listed are one of the options for a full-fledged home strength training.

Why you need to train your back

If you think about what answer to give to the question indicated in the subtitle, then there are two main options, and both of them are correct. First, you need to train your back for beauty . It is much more pleasant to have an athletic and fit figure than a loose body with flabby muscles. This is what usually worries the majority of people inhabiting the planet. However, there is a second aspect - health . And it is much more important than the presence of muscle relief.

Back muscle training

The fact is that physical activity on the back is simply necessary - it will help train the muscles, and due to this, part of the impact experienced by the spine will be distributed to the muscle corset around the upper part of the skeleton and, accordingly, it will be easier for the spine to support a large body weight. Due to this, the risk of developing a number of back and spinal column diseases is significantly reduced.

A trained back looks beautiful

Pilates

For some reason it is considered something easy like stretching and breathing exercises. But in reality, everything is radically different. “Professional fitness has never considered Pilates as a recovery exercise after the main training,” says Ruslan Panov. — This training perfectly eliminates body dysfunction through the formation of a muscle corset. And it is created only through tension. Therefore, Pilates is initially a strength training, and dividing this area into strength and non-strength lessons is a mistake.” Alas, now, especially in small fitness studios, you can actually find Pilates lessons that are completely incomprehensible in content, where there is nothing but stretching. Try to get into classes with real professionals certified by the International Pilates Institute. Then you can safely include Pilates in your list of strength training hits.

Pump, functional training and Pilates are the classes that should be combined, first of all, if you are interested in strengthening muscles without the gym.

Exercise sets

To work all muscle groups

The following set of exercises is suitable for both beginners and amateurs.

All muscle groups will be involved in the lesson:

• #1 Squats with toe raises. The calf muscles and buttocks are involved.
• #2 Arm press while lunging. In addition to the thighs, the triceps work.
• No. 3 Plank. During this exercise, the abs, muscles involved in straightening the back, buttocks, and hips are strengthened.
• #4 Push-ups. When performing push-ups, you work everything at once: neck, chest, shoulder girdle, triceps.

Program with Natalia Reutova

Natalya Reutova is a multiple winner of various all-around competitions and a certified fitness instructor with more than 10 years of experience. Together with her husband, she teaches online strength training classes. Online training is convenient for those who, without visiting a fitness room, want to watch a trainer who explains the correct execution of exercises.

Strength training is suitable for all categories of people with varying degrees of training and of any age . During the classes, all muscle groups are used and the arms, legs, and back are worked out separately.

Strength training with Natalia Reutova:

The best program for weight loss

Home workouts aimed at losing excess weight should be varied and systematic.

Day 1

• Squats with weights – 15 squats, repeat 3 times, taking a short break;
• Leg lunges forward – 10 times per leg, 3 repetitions;
• Lifting the body in the classic way - as many times as you can;
• Raising arms with weights to the sides - 10 times, 3 repetitions;
• Body lifts with support on toes – 20 times, 2 approaches;
• Standing press with dumbbells (elbow curls) – 20 times with 3 repetitions.

Day 2

• Press – as many times as possible, three repetitions;
• Raising arms with weights to the sides, lying on the floor - 10 times, repeating 3 times;
• Push-ups on the floor.

Day 3

• Squats with weights – 15 times, repeat 3 times;

  
  Squat exercises are included in most workouts and complexes for girls. They do not require special equipment and inventory; they are easy to perform at home.

• Raising the body (abs) – 30 lifts, do three repetitions, after a short rest;
• Body raises with support on toes – 20 times, 2 repetitions
• Leg lunges forward – 10 times per leg in 3 sets.

Program for ectomorph

Ectomorph is a type of human body with a small layer of fat in the body. Such people are tall, have narrow shoulders, long arms and legs. The ectomorph boasts good digestibility of foods and copes with physical activity without much difficulty. For people who consider themselves to be of this type, cardio exercises are relegated to the background.

Before strength training, warming up or stretching will be enough, and the exercises themselves should be basic, with an emphasis on the weight of the weights.

Program without additional equipment

There are plenty of exercises that do not require any means other than your own weight:

• classic push-ups;
• reverse push-ups;
• squats;
• lunges;
• body lifts;
• raising the body on the toes;
• stretching;
• bar;
• running in place;
• and others.

Program for pumping the press

The complex includes exercises:

1. "Scissors". From a lying position, raise your straightened legs as high as possible. Next, spread them apart and cross them to the maximum possible position. Spread again and cross so that the legs change position.

2. Side crunches. In a lying position with bent knees, raising the body to the side - alternately left/right, with arms outstretched.
3. Plank . Standing on your elbows with your legs extended, look at the floor, trying to keep your back straight and not raise your buttocks. Stay in a static position for as long as possible – 1-3 minutes.

Program for legs and hips

The complex includes exercises:

1. Kicks. Standing on your knees slightly bent, you need to lunge in front of you with your legs up, with your heel extended, as if you were “kicking” an invisible pear. Keep your hands on your belt for balance.
2. Jumping. Keeping your hands on your belt and your feet together, jump to the sides - left, right. 30 times.
3. Jump squat. Clasp your hands in front of you, connect your legs together when jumping up, and when landing, spread them wider than your shoulders, and lower your buttocks as low as possible. 30 times.

4. Leg raises. Get on all fours. Arms straight, raise legs bent at the knee joints. You can place a dumbbell on the bend of your knee to strengthen it.

For the shoulder girdle and chest

The complex includes exercises:

1. Clenching of palms. Spread your legs, keep your back straight, bend your arms at the elbow joints in front of you, clasping your palms with your fingers up, elbows apart. Holding your breath, press your palms against each other for 10 seconds. - 6 repetitions.
2. Press against the wall. Position yourself in the doorway, stretch your arms towards the wall, and make pressing movements for 1 minute, as if trying to push them apart.

3. Lifting weights from the sides. Standing straight, arms spread to the sides to shoulder level as you inhale, and as you exhale, lower to your hips. 30 reps.

For the abs and back

The complex includes exercises:

1. Lifting the body - 30 times.
2. Plank – 3 min.
3. “Bicycle”, “scissors”, “birch tree”.
4. Swing your legs – 20 times.
5. Crunches on the floor – 30 times.

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Power yoga

It cannot be classified as active strength training - it has a completely different mode of work. The focus here is not so much on “pumping up” muscles and burning fat, but on the harmonious development of the whole body, during which both the muscles and the fat layer are naturally corrected. Static load is used.

“The founder of power yoga, Beryl Birch, has developed a set of asanas that are technically simple, but with a hold of up to 80 seconds each,” explains Ruslan Panov. “This shifted the emphasis of the load to the strength side. The difference from Hatha or Iyengar yoga is precisely the static tension.” In general, this direction is for those who cannot or do not want to perform full-fledged strength exercises in dynamics, or additional, unloading training for everyone else.