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How to build a good workout program by yourself (for in between your training days).

You want to get extra training at home but do not know where to start? Here is a quick guide for the main movements and the must haves in a workout. If you are just looking to supplement your current training with us, you probably just want to get some movement in, so the structure of your workout does not matter as much. You could do some cardio or go for a run/walk and supplement this with some strength training. Unless you have a home gym, you will likely need to be doing the exercises bodyweight only.

A good rule of thumb is that if the exercises are too easy just bodyweight, you can increase the difficulty by spending more time under tension (muscles will have to contract for a longer time), either by doing isometric holds (holding the position) or doing eccentric exercises (slowing down the descending part). You are probably wondering what exercises you should be doing? There is no right or wrong answer to this question, but if you are looking for a full body workout, you might want to have some balance between upper and lower body, but also between anterior and posterior muscles groups (front of the body vs back of the body).

An idea of a workout structure is to perform 3 blocks of 3 different exercises for 3 sets. Choose a lower body exercise, an upper body exercise and a core exercise to alternate the muscle groups you are working. This is called a super set, and this will give your muscles enough time to recover in between the working sets. You could for example have a quadriceps muscle exercise such as a squat or a split squat. You could then have a gluteus muscle exercise such as a hip thrust (double leg or single leg) or you could have a hamstring exercise such as a Romanian Deadlift or a Good Morning. Make sure that you also have some sort of single leg exercise in the mix so if you choose to do a regular squat and a double leg hip thrust, throw some side lunges in the mix and you would have covered all your bases!

Same goes for upper body exercises: Have a push exercise such as a push ups or an overhead press, and have a pull exercise such as a back row or single arm rows. These might be hard to do from home with no equipment, but you could be creative with this one. You could also have some sort of pull ups or lat pull downs if you are feeling really cool! Finally, it is always a good idea to throw in some more postural exercises such as swimmers, prone I-Y-Ts or external shoulder rotations that will be working on the smaller muscles of your back.

As per the core exercises, this is your chance to get creative! Have some variety of planks in as well as some more dynamic core exercises such as dead bugs, Russian twists, leg raises and so on. Don’t be afraid to show your core some love!

Here is an example of a workout structure:

3 sets 

Lower body exercise 8-10 reps

Upper body exercise 8-10 reps

Core exercise 10-15 reps

 

3 sets

Lower body exercise 8-10 reps

Upper body exercise 8-10 reps

Core exercise 10-15 reps

 

3 sets 

Lower body exercise 8-10 reps

Upper body exercise 8-10 reps

Core exercise 10-15 reps.

 

Get your sweat on!