Quarantine Workouts: 5 Ways to Stay Fit at Home without the gym.

Quarantine Workouts: 5 Ways to Stay Fit at Home without the gym.

by | Mar 26, 2020 | build muscle

While we’re all stuck inside for the time being, many are trying to find ways to stay in shape, maintain muscle and strength or maybe even improve overall fitness.

So we have 2 choices… Wait it out and do nothing, or make the most out of it and come out even better.

Every problem carries with it an opportunity. Yes, the gyms are closed.. But sometimes taking a step back can be a good thing. You can discover new ways of training, work on some weaknesses. It’s a chance to grow.

1.) Follow Along With Great Trainers

Xplicit Fitness Quarantine Workout Series

It helps to know some people in the fitness industry, and I’m lucky to know these guys. Having spent some time as a trainer at Xplicit Fitness in San Diego, CA, I can tell you that these workouts are among the best you’ll find to do from home.

Here’s a full at-home, 30 minute full body workout they posted to keep their members in shape during the quarantine. Chad (the owner) makes every workout fun and he’s a great motivator.

If this leaves you wanting more, they’ve posted several more of these workouts. Click here if you’d like to check out the rest of the quarantine workouts by the guys at Xplicit.

Other Good Sites:

There are other good sites out there with plenty of home workout ideas. These are a few that people like and that I’ve checked out and deem worthy of your time and energy.

  • Fitness Blender: Lets you filter workouts by difficulty, Gender and body part focus.
  • Turbulence Training: Youtube channel with free, easy to follow and effective body-weight workouts.
  • Body Rock TV: A huge collection of at home workouts with limited equipment.

2.) Work Out Like an Inmate

I spent over 10 years working in a prison. Being a trainer, I spent a LOT of time watching how inmates in my units work out.

Use what you’ve got

With no equipment other than a pull up bar, they stay in extremely good shape. Some fill up trash bags with water to use as resistance. Others filled pillowcases with books or soda bottles.

The point is, where there’s a will, there’s a way. Here’s one example I saw a lot:

Perform one set (4 push ups) of the push up variation below, get up to your feet and jog in place. Jog in place only as long as you need to perform another set. Repeat this for a set period of time. For example, 20 minutes (inmates would do it for 1-2 hours)

Keep it Simple

With no equipment, inmates are forced to keep it simple. You can add pull ups and/or some body weight squats and lunges into the mix and get a great full body workout.

Looking for help with push ups or pull ups? Check these two articles out:

3.) Resistance Bands

Resistance bands can be an awesome addition to your workouts, even when you do go back to the gym.

Resistance Bands are:

  • Cost Effective
  • Versatile
  • Adaptable to any fitness/strength level
  • Easier on the joints than heavy weights

Here’s a good set of Resistance Bands at a reasonable price from Amazon

Resistance bands offer Ascending Resistance, meaning the further you stretch the band, the more difficult it becomes. This is especially beneficial for 3 reasons:

  1. Most people are weaker at the end range of motion of a movement. Bands can help improve strength all the way through.
  2. Injuries often occur at the end range of motion. Resistance bands can serve as a “prehab” tool by building strength at the end of the movement.
  3. Bands can allow you to perform a ton of reps without the joint stress you’d get using weights.

If you’d like to see a list of exercises you can do with resistance bands, check out my article here with 20 muscle building exercises with resistance bands.

4.) Tabata Workouts

Tabata workouts are 2 things: Really short, and really hard.

They’re also really simple. To perform a Tabata workout, just follow these guidelines:

  • Choose an exercise, preferable a compound movement like a squat, squat jump, push up, or even jump rope.
  • Do as many reps as you can in 20 seconds, then rest 10 seconds
  • Repeat 8 times, for 4 total minutes = 1 Tabata
  • Perform one, or several Tabatas to make up your workout

Studies Show Tabata Workouts Work

A Study by ACE showed that a 20 minute tabata workout could burn 240-360 calories, and met the criteria to improve cardiovascular fitness and improve body composition.

Since Tabata workouts are high intensity, It is recommended to perform them 1-2 times per week, allowing your body 2-3 days of rest in between sessions.

If you’re looking for home workout ideas, try this out:

tabata workout

5.). Run Sprints

It always amazes me that more people aren’t out there running sprints. The benefits of sprinting are tremendous:

  • Build Lean Muscle (look at any Olympic sprinter, male or female)
  • Improve cardiovascular fitness
  • Get faster
  • Improve body composition (burn fat)
  • Can be done quickly, and from almost anywhere

Studies show that just 6 sprint sessions can improve performance in athletes. This is because maximum effort sprinting is a very high intensity effort. It pushes your heart rate up to the upper zones, and forces your fast twitch muscle fibers to their limit.

Sprinting can raise your resting metabolic rate, causing your body to burn more calories for several hours or even days after your workout.

run sprints home workout

How to Work out with Sprints:

Interval Sprints

To get the most out of a sprinting workout, use interval sprints. This means you’ll sprint as hard as you can for a set distance (or time), then walk slowly the same distance (or time) to recover. Then repeat.

My favorite Sprint workouts are 400 meter (1/4 mile) sprints, but 200 meter sprints can also work really well.

30/60’s and 60/120’s

Another Sprinting workout that works really well are 30/60’s and 60/120’s. We used these in the military a lot. You simply sprint for 30 seconds, then walk for 60 seconds, and repeat. If that’s too easy, then up the time to 60 seconds sprinting and 120 seconds walking.

Since sprinting is very demanding on the body, it is recommended to only do 1-2 sprint sessions per week, so your body can recover properly and you can get the most benefit from your hard work.

quarantine workouts home

Conclusion

Relying on the gym can cause you to miss out on a lot of activities that can improve your overall fitness. It’s always good to take a step back and find new ways of pushing your body.

I hope you found some of these ideas helpful, and as always, I hope something here will help you get a little closer to that best version of you!

My Wife’s 1000 Rep Ab Routine. At Home Ab Workout

My Wife’s 1000 Rep Ab Routine. At Home Ab Workout

by | Feb 28, 2020 | Training

My Wife: Hey, wanna do abs with me today?

Me:

scared of wife's ab routine

My Wife’s ab routine is pretty epic. She’s been doing it for years. Halfway through her 30’s and 2 kids later, she still has shredded abs and can do a 10 minute plank. Not to mention regularly doing this 1,000 rep routine.

If you just want to see the whole routine, you can check it out in the video below: If you’d like a breakdown and some good info on ab training, then read on.

1000 Rep Ab Workout Breakdown:

1000 reps workout

How Often Should You Work Your Abs?

Most experts recommend working your abs at most every other day. This allows a day in between for the muscles to recover, helping you avoid injuries. Just like any other muscle in the body, you don’t want to train your abs every day.

My wife does this routine two times per week and does another core routine with planks and weights 1-2 times per week. She’s been doing this for years without any injuries, and has a six-pack to show for it.

What If You’re Just Starting Out?

If you’re looking to start training your abs and core, you definitely don’t need to start with 1,000 reps. Instead of doing 100 reps of each exercise, try doing 15-20 reps. Then add reps each week until you feel ready to do the whole workout.

People mistakenly believe that more is always better. In this case, as is usually the case with exercise and working out, it is not. Always build up to higher volumes of training and make sure you’re able to recover.

5 Ab exercises to start with

She recommends using these 5 exercises if you’re just starting out. Do 2-3 sets of 15-20 reps of each. Do this 2-3 times per week max when you’re just starting out. Then build up to hitting your abs more often over time.

Crunches with feet on the ground

  • Lay on your back with your feet on the ground
  • Don’t pull on your neck when you crunch up. This puts unnecessary strain on your neck and can create injuries.
  • Gently crunch up by flexing your abs, squeezing them on each rep.

Leg Raises

  • Lay flat on your back, hands under your butt.
  • Keep your back and head touching the floor throughout the movement.
  • Keeping your legs straight (slight bend is ok) raise your legs to 90 degrees, then back down.
  • Try to keep from touching your feet to the ground
  • The legs are a long lever, making injury risk higher. Stay under control with slow, controlled movements and don’t force reps out.

Knees to Chest:

  • Start from a high plank position (push-up position).
  • Bring your knee to your chest, then back out. Repeat for 10 reps each side.
  • This movement can help get you started on building core strength and stability for more intense training in the future.

Planks

plank position abs
  • Assume the plank position by resting on your forearms and feet.
  • Don’t allow your body to sag (hips to the floor) or arch up.
  • Try to keep your body in a straight line.
  • Do 2-3 sets of 30 seconds, then add more time each week.
  • Planks build core strength and endurance and have many other physical benefits.

Side Planks

side planks ab workout
  • If you felt comfortable in the plank position, try 2-3 sets of 30 seconds each side in the side plank.
  • Again, your body should form a generally straight line from head to foot.
  • Side planks work the oblique abs really well and build endurance in the upper body as well.

Diet and Nutrition for staying lean

No discussion about abs would be complete without talking about nutrition.

My wife puts me to shame when it comes to eating healthy. She isn’t extreme about it, but here are some things that I see her do every day that help her stay lean and strong.

  1. She Juices every morning. First, a shot of ginger, lemon juice and turmeric. Then a green juice containing a variety of vegetables and sometimes fruit. Her favorite is:
juicing for lean abs workout

2. She drinks a gallon of water every day. She carries around a gallon jug and makes sure she finishes it each day. This helps cleanse the body and stay hydrated. It also help to keep your stomach feeling more full.

3. She prefers protein over heavy carbs and sweets. At dinner she will sometimes eat a piece of chicken or steak and barely touch the potatoes or rice. She’ll eat vegetables instead. Protein builds muscle and keeps you feeling fuller for longer.

4. She does moderate intensity cardio and lifts weights at least 2-3 times per week. (See this article if you want to know more about this). Lifting/resistance training makes your body a fat burning machine. The article I highlighted above can help you to understand how this works.

Conclusion:

I hope you liked this article. The purpose was not only to display my wife’s ab routine, but also to offer some insight into how you can achieve a leaner body and shape up your abs by dissecting what she does.

My wife isn’t usually too into my blog posts, but since I know she’ll be reading this one.. I love you babe! And maybe, just maybe… I’ll do abs with you tomorow.

Thanks for being here, and I hope this article helped in some way to get you a little closer to that best version of yourself.

If you liked this article, check these out:

References: