In some states, gyms will soon be reopening and you can decide whether you’ll return to regularly going to the gym or setup a home gym if you haven’t already. However, many states are still some time from reopening gyms due to the Covid-19 pandemic we are presently dealing with. Even if you live in a state where gyms are opening soon, you still need to be careful. You still need to use social distancing in the gym. Most of them are going to have guidelines, so you still may be better off training at home. I find that with gym bag home workouts, I can go heavy even without much to work with.
Work With What You Have Available
Unfortunately, it’s still hard to find quality home gym equipment at this time so you have to work with what you have available. Unless you already had home gym equipment, or bought some right before you had to quarantine, you likely only have the bare minimum to work with.
Of course you can still get an awesome weight training workout with minimal equipment. From exercises that target certain muscle groups like push-ups, pull-ups and squats to ones that work the whole body like burpees and Turkish getups, you can put together a home workout plan that requires just your bodyweight.
Making Heavy Weight From Light Weights
If you do have some resistance available in the form of small weights or other items, you can add a lot of exercises to your home workouts. Items such as heavy books, jugs or large bags of pet food can definitely be used for resistance, but you need a way to lift them effectively. This is where your gym bag can be used for home workouts.
I’ve found that you can put a decent amount of weight in a gym bag to do certain exercises with much more resistance than just using light or medium weights by themselves. In my case, I have a couple of 30 pound dumbbells, along with some smaller weights. These are best used for arm exercises and isolation exercises for the larger muscle groups. However, by putting them in a gym bag I can actually go a little heavier on certain exercises.
One Arm Rows with a Gym Bag
My favorite exercise when it comes to using a gym bag for home workouts is the one arm row. By putting multiple weights in the bag, I can get close to the same amount of resistance that I would use at the gym for this exercise. I put the weights in the bag and zip it up to start. Then I wrap the handles around the hand I’m using once, then proceed to perform the lift. Wrapping the handle straps around my hand is like using wrists straps with a heavy dumbbell at the gym. It also makes it so the gym bag doesn’t get lowered all the way to the floor on each rep.
Shrugs with a Gym Bag
Shrugs are another exercise that works well for gym bag home workouts. Medium weight dumbbells really don’t offer enough resistance on shrugs for seasoned lifters. I find that loading my gym bag with weights and shrugging it allows for some heavier work.
Curling in Home Gym Bag Workouts
Medium weight dumbbells work well for various biceps curling exercises. However, it’s always nice to go heavier when possible. You can try curls with both hands or one-handed.
Other Gym Bag Exercises
I’m sure there are other exercises that lend themselves well to using a gym bag with. I can see some leg exercises being done with a loaded gym bag. If you can set up some type of pulley system you could work your lats and triceps using a gym bag filled with weight.
Whether you have some light weights or other items you can use for resistance, now’s the time to take advantage of using your gym bag for home workouts. It’s nice to know that you can actually go heavy without much equipment.