During this period of time, fitness has never been more important. Controlling and staving off any health issues by continuing a consistent exercise routine can help create resilience and we at PGPT want to help during any periods of social distancing or self-isolation.
I understand that there is a growing concern about entering gyms at this time; although I would say that most are very much on top of their hygiene and disinfecting. However, this should not mean your training should stop.
Besides the health benefits, it’s also good to stay active to ward off going stir crazy from being cooped up for an extended period of time.
PGPT provide mobile personal training and have a number of Personal Trainers in our team who can facilitate your personal training requirements within your own home; this is our business. We are very used to working around busy and high pressured lifestyles and provide all of the required equipment for each session. So please get in touch for more information and look out for our ‘Immunobooster Package’ soon to be announced.
How to Choose the Kind of Workout You Require
My advice to ensure you are achieving excellent all round fitness, while also seeing physical results, is to try and fit in 2 cardio workouts and 2 strength workouts per week. I always aim to do mine first thing and fasted (before breakfast), which really gets the metabolism firing!
On top of your workout routine, remember how important nutrition is right now; supplement with Vitamin C for your immune system (e.g. citrus and chili foods), and Vitamin B for your nervous system (dark green leafy veg like spinach, kale etc.).
Lastly, I advise practicing Mindfulness before bed… just 5 minutes to meditate and visualise happiness, good health and success in the future.
Cardio and Bodyweight Resistance Workouts
The videos I’ve provided below offer 3 excellent high-intensity interval training workouts that are sure to get you sweating and build up your endurance! All you need to complete any of these is: space within your home, a bottle of water, a towel and a 30s interval timer (many apps are available specifically for training), or a stationary bike to complete Workout 3.
If you are a beginner or feel you currently have a lower base-level of fitness, start off with our 6 minute workout. If you are slightly fitter and want to challenge yourself, try our Level 2 or 3 workouts.
Beginner 6 Minute Workout
Level 2 12 Minute Workout
Stationary Bike Workout
This 20-minute workout created by British Cycling is an excellent way to take your cardio through high-intensity bursts in a short space of time (view a PDF here).
What’s great about this is that most, if not all, hotel gyms will have an exercise bike, so there are really no excuses! The workout is as follows (exactly 20 minutes in length):
Please note: This can be quite intense at first if you’re not used to cycling, regardless of the resistance put on the bike. I’d advise beginners to subtract 10 RPM from the cadence (except during the sections of ‘Max Rev Out’). At an intermediate level you should drop 5 RPM.
The above makes no mention of resistance or gearing, because the chances are that you will spin too slowly! Keep the resistance low and make an effort to spin fast. If as a beginner you find -10 RPM too easy then move to intermediate pace. You should only progress to the above sheet once you’ve done the -5 RPM. Do not sacrifice RPM for extra resistance! Once you can do the above, then at this point you can now add resistance to the gearing.
Create your own Home Strength Workout
“You see furniture, I see equipment.”
Rather than create a home workout for you to do once and then forget about, I’m going to run through some strategies and tools you need to create your own workout at home. This allows you to be creative, train what you want and when you want. The information and guidance included below will give you some accountability and ownership to complete a workout anywhere and have no excuses to not fit it in.
Where to Begin
All effective training sessions begin with a thorough warm up. When you’re pressed for time you can keep this shorter, but don’t sacrifice this part, as it will lead to a much more effective session and will reduce your risk of injury.
Goal 1 – Temperature: Raise your core temperature and get a bit of a sweat on.
Time Period: 2-5mins
- Star Jumps (hundreds of variations)
- Stair Runs or step ups using a step or stair
- Jogging on the spot
- Up downs (get down and lie flat on the floor, stand up and repeat, be creative don’t move in the same way more than once)
- Squat Thrusts
- Mountain Climbers
Goal 2 – Mobilise/Activate: Run through some basic movement patterns to prepare the body for the session.
Time Period: 2-5mins
- Overhead Squat
- Lunge (multiplane or all directions)
- Bridge
- Push/Press/Row/Pull/Carry/Rotation
The Strength Part
If you would like a simple example programme to begin with, then follow the one below. If you’d like to get creative, then read on…
Strength Programme Example
5 Rounds, 6 Movements, 30 seconds each movement, no rest between movements and 60-90 seconds rest between rounds.
- Overhead Squat
- Push Up
- Reverse Lunge
- Doorway Row
- Single Leg Hip Thrust
- Bear Crawl
Create Your Own Programme
A full body workout can involve a squat, hinge pattern, lunge, push, pull and a rotation, carry, etc. You can select your sets, rep ranges or time and rest making sure you’re giving yourself a challenge and try not to just go through the motions. There is not right or wrong, just get something done that challenges you and makes you sweat!
Below are examples of movements you can do at home using chairs, tables, stairs, couches etc.
Lower Body Emphasis:
| Squat: Body Weight Squat, Overhead Squat, Split Squat (SS), Front Foot Elevated SS, Staggered Stance Squat, Single Leg Squat, Bulgarian SS, Step Up, Lateral Step Up, Crossover Step Up, Cossack Squat… |
| Hinge: Bridge, Hamstring Bridge, Single Leg Bridge, Hip Thrust, Single Leg Hip Thrust, Bridge Walkout, Back Extension, Reverse Hyper (Table), Leg Curl… |
| Lunge: Forward Lunge, Reverse Lunge, Lateral Lunge, Crossover Lunge, Curtsy Lunge, Rotational Lunge, Scissor Lunge, Diagonal Lunge, Jump Lunge, Lunge w/Hands Overhead… |
Upper Body Emphasis:
| Push: Push Up, Kneeling Push Up, Incline Push Up, Doorway Press Isometric, Handstand Hold, Kitchen Corner Dips, Chair Dips, Inverted Shoulder Press, Floor Inverted Shoulder Press… |
| Pull: Doorway row, Table Inverted Row, Pull Up, Floor YTW Raise, Reverse Elbow Push Up (Chair/floor/wall), Towel Slide Forward Pull (Wooden floor)… |
| Rotation/Anti-Rotation/Anti-Extension/Flexion: Lateral Windmill, Side Plank, Front plank w/Arm & Leg Raise, Side Plank w/Rotation, Plank T-Rotation, Russian Twist, Lying 90-90 Twist, Bear Crawl, Crab Walk… |
Sets:
Whatever you want…
Seriously though, anything between 3-8 Sets or Rounds will suffice, depending on your training goal. You can vary how you pair movements together or complete a circuit. There are many variations of how to set up your workout. Keep it simple.
Repetitions:
Whatever you want…
This will again depend on your training goal. If you have no additional weight, then keeping the reps relatively high works well. Anything between 10-30 repetitions or 15-60 seconds of each movement. Just make sure you’re being challenged and you’re staying out of your comfort zone.
Rest:
Seriously, whatever you want…
This will also depend on the training goal, and if you’re targeting different areas of the body or doing a total body workout. If you are pairing exercises together that hit different muscle groups, you don’t need to rest between exercises. Rest after you’ve completed the paired sets and if you’re completing a circuit, rest once you’ve finished the round. Anywhere between 30 seconds to 2-3 minutes. The aim with rest is to make sure things don’t get sloppy and to keep movement quality high.
And There You Have It
Remember, we are always here to provide further support and advice if required; stay tuned to our social media channels where we will be showing examples of these home workouts to help you complete them.
If you would prefer a visit from one of our trainers, then get in touch today for more information on our Mobile Personal Training packages available.
Stay Fit, stay positive, be resilient!
Pete