You may enjoy going to the gym to work out, whether it’s to weight train, do cardio or some type of boxing or MMA style training. If so, that’s great, nothing is better to keep your body in shape than participating in these activities. However, there are plenty of us who aren’t crazy about working out in public. And for those of us who like going to the gym, just look at how things presently are in early 2020 and most gyms are closed throughout the country. At some point gyms will reopen, but this should be a wake up call for many of us to entertain the possibility of making home gym workouts a more regular part of our routines.
Home Gym Workouts Without Much Equipment
One of the best options for home gym workouts is to train with no, or very little, equipment at all. This may be seen as a great idea only for beginners or people who are getting back into it, but you can get an incredible home workout without weights if you are a seasoned lifter. You can do a lot with bodyweight exercises like push-ups, pull-ups, squats and lunges, and their variations. You can also find inexpensive options like cables with handles and bands to get more out of your home workouts. For cardio, you can jog or bike outside, weather permitting. Other great cardio options are to jump rope or shadowbox.
High Intensity Techniques
If you are going with just bodyweight or very basic equipment to work out with at home and are a seasoned lifter, you can try many high intensity techniques to get the most out of your workouts. Decreasing rest times between sets and focusing on perfect exercise form will certainly boost your home workout intensity. With bodyweight exercises, one of my favorite things to do is to do as many reps as possible on a set of an exercise like the pushup, then rest for 10 seconds before continuing. You can do over and over again until you reach a set number of reps.
Home Gym Equipment
If you enjoy training heavy you’ll want to do more than just use your own bodyweight when you are able to. You can find any type of equipment you see at a gym for use at home, as well as home gym setups that allow you to do many major weight training exercises. Cardio equipment like treadmills and elliptical machines are also great for any home gym. You can certainly find very basic home gym equipment for inexpensive prices, but quality should take precedence over price. Do you want to trust a very basic bench press that may move around when you’re lifting heavy? Or do you want the peace of mind that comes with benching on the most high quality bench with the types of bars and weights you’ll find at the gym.
Finding Space to Work Out
Of course, space is going to be a factor in any home gym setup. You don’t want to have to crowd equipment into too small of a space and doing damage to walls, or even yourself, if you’re not careful. There are compact workout stations that have a spot for chest workouts in the form of a seated press and cable setups for back training. How much equipment you want for a home gym is going to depend on the amount of space you have. Man caves and she-sheds will qualify as great places for home gyms, you just may have to share it with your loved ones.
In our present times, it seems like a good idea to entertain the idea of putting together at least a basic home gym if at all possible. Even if you are a gym regular, it can also be an excellent secondary option when you just aren’t going to make it there that day. At the very least, with a home gym you will have a place to lift if anything like this happens in the future.