Low Cost, Effective Home Training Routine, Part One

I shot these videos last summer and thought I'd share them again for all the people looking to get into shape as part of their New Years Resolutions.

Now, it's like I talk about all the time. If you actually want results you need to train productively, not just "burn calories". Resistance training really is the key, but weights are expensive! On a budget, some resistance bands and a suspension trainer are a great option to train seriously at home.

Today's routine is based on pushing movements, and accessory exercises that compliment them.

Routine Description:

Warm Up: Resistance Band One Arm Flies

I usually start this routine with Pec Dec in the gym. A dumbbell or cable fly is a similar movement, and the resistance band fly is the option we’ll use with the home routine. If you had two sets of the same bands (and really they’re not very expensive, so that’s worth thinking about) you could do both sides together… or one at a time like I am doing here. I’m adding a little extra shoulder rotation to the end of the movement here which I feel gives me just that little extra bit of contraction in the pectorals.
Do 3 sets of 12 - 16 reps of these.

Horizontal Push: Push Ups

We could do a Chest Press with the Resistance Bands, but I feel like Push Ups are as good an option as any. You can see I start with a beginners version, leaning against the railing… and then I do a more advanced version with my feet elevated. If you have the TRX and are really looking for an advanced option you can have your feet in the straps which means a lot of extra work to stabalise yourself.
Do 4 sets of 10 to 12 reps.

Various Squats

I think the TRX Squats are a really good method to learn good, deep squatting technique. You can lean back into the squat a little and you have the handles to hang on to for balance, and you can squat nice and deep. Once that’s too easy, try either the one legged (pistol) squat or the one legged lunge. These damn near killed me. You can see some discrepancy with my form from one side to the other as well… if only I’d had a coach there to point that out at the time!
4 sets of as many as you can manage!

Resistance Band Front Raise

Coming back to upper body, and this is a nice one to target the shoulders. Anterior Deltoid muscle in particular.
Do 2 x 12 - 16 reps.

Resistance Band Side Lateral Raise

Shoulders again, this time trying to hit the Lateral (or middle if you prefer) Deltoid. With both this and the above exercise, try to have a little pause at the top of the movement, and then return slowly to the starting position.
Do 3 x 12 - 16 reps.

Vertical Push: Resistance Band Shoulder Press

Much like performing a Dumbbell Shoulder Press in the gym, but with the Resistance Bands instead.
Do 3 x 10 - 12 reps.

Resistance Band Overhead Tricep Extension

Self explanatory, isn’t it? You could do a variation on Cable Kickbacks here as well, which I quite like.
Do 3 x 12 - 16 reps.

Here's the link to the next routine.