Home Workouts: Building Effective Strength Sessions

We’re on part three of how to have successful home workouts. Check out Part 1 and Part 2 here, if you’ve missed them.

If you’ve got some resistance training equipment in your home gym then you are ahead of the curve and no doubt interested in putting together the most effective training session possible. But, unlike the equipment you can find in a commercial gym, you likely still have some constraints with the range of equipment you own.

This means you are in need of a lot of flexibility and variety that, as I mentioned in my last post can and should be regulated by a template to ensure some level of overarching consistency.

With the template design, you can expand it to be fairly extensive. The level of experience you have and the amount of equipment you own will really determine what populates the template.

Below is a general 3x/week training template that allows for a great deal of flexibility for in-home workouts.

I’m a big fan of systems and the whole idea of templates is to help systemize and standardize to ensure high quality sessions. You can use the above template a couple different ways: plug and play each workout. The advantage here is lots of variety, the downside is progress will be limited if you are looking for strength gains. With this approach you can enjoy knowing you are healthier and stronger, but remember this approach should be for a limited time only.

The other approach would be to select a month’s worth of exercises and then program design with sets, reps, tempo and load. This approach is great for people with a bit of experience who are looking for predictable progress. The downside is that it does take some time and a bit of knowledge.

With a few key pieces of equipment, a good template, and a willingness to be creative you will be making great progress towards your at-home fitness goals.

Since you’re here: We have a small favor to ask! At SAPT, we are committed to sharing quality information that is both entertaining and compelling to help build better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage us authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics.

Thank you! SAPT

The Best Beef Hamburgers (in Bulk)

Whenever I make food in bulk, I always try to make sure the dish checks a several boxes:

1. The food has got to be at least as delicious as when first prepared once reheated (or just served again in the case of cold dishes).

2. It has to line up with dietary goals for myself and my family (this generally means it is not processed and made from fresh ingredients).

3. It needs to be budget friendly. This generally means, I’m looking towards ground beef, turkey, dark chicken meat, and stews or soups for main dishes.

For many years, I was trapped in the chicken, rice, and broccoli food vortex. This is the stereotypical bodybuilding diet that is devoid of much in the way of healthy fats and flavor. Never again. Taste is king and you can get that while aligning with your other goals.

One of the most simple and delicious bulk meals I like to make - that everyone loves - are hamburgers (with or without a traditional bun). If you don’t eat red meat, then this isn’t the recipe for you. But if you do, here is the best way to make the most delicious burger.

I like to read recipes and tend to try to learn from trained chefs and brilliantly creative home cooks, alike. Recently, I learned from a chef that putting other ingredients into ground beef for a loaded-style burger is really frowned upon by the upper echelons of the culinary world. Personally, I like burgers with stuff packed in the meat! But, I kept reading because this chef claimed that all you need for the perfect burger patty is a fatty ground beef (85/15 or 80/20) and a lot of salt.

Hey, if he was correct, then all I was saving was preparation time and money.

Not only does this simple approach cut down on preparation time, but it also reduces the cost per burger significantly - given the other ingredients you are not having to buy and the encouragement to enjoy a ground beef with higher fat content.

The Perfect Burger (in Bulk)

3-lbs ground beef (the fattier the better)

Sea salt to taste

Fresh ground black pepper to taste

Form each patty into LOOSELY packed patties. I can’t emphasize how important it is to pack them loosely. If they are packed too tight, each burger patty ends up feeling like you are eating a dry hockey puck.

Then generously season one side of the burger with salt and pepper. Throw them seasoning side down on a skillet or grill and season the other side before letting them cook for 4-5 minutes (or however long you need to get the desired level of doneness).

Let the burgers rest for about 5-minutes and then plate them up however you like! They may be so delicious and juicy that you don’t find the need to add much of anything at all to the top.

The last step in this is equally as important as the preparation - it’s the storage of the leftover burgers. After taking whatever is being eaten for that meal, immediately place the leftovers in airtight storage containers. I really like this style because when you reheat, the moisture stays in the container and helps keeps the meat juicy and fresh tasting.

Since you’re here: We have a small favor to ask! At SAPT, we are committed to sharing quality information that is both entertaining and compelling to help build better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage us authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics.

Thank you! SAPT

Home Workouts 201: Building a Body Weight Workout

In your quest to achieve a home workout environment that breeds success, not frustration, the next step is to have a plan on what to do.

Body weight exercises are a great place to start. Whether you are new to exercise or not and whether you are in great conditioning or not, there is a good fit for you with body weight choices.

A successful single workout, can and should be thought of as one singular day within a broader program that is designed to achieve a specific goal.

So, that means you should settle on a primary goal before launching headfirst into your home workout space. Goals can be as simple as exercising twice a week for 8-weeks in a row. Or improving shoulder ROM. Or filling in the days between trips to the gym with targeted injury prevention exercises.

Once you’ve got your goal, the next step is to settle on some sort of a basic structure or template for the session(s). A lot of this has to do with the goal of your training and will also be dictated by the space you are training in.

Here are a couple examples of two different, and scalable training templates:

Beginner Strength Template:

A1 Breathing Drill Variation

A2 Mobilization

Our home workout space, shown as a complete mess in this photo. Did you read part 1? I know from experience!

B1 Unilateral Lower Body

B2 Core Bracing

C1 Upper Body Push

C2 Mobilization

D1 Bilateral Lower Body

D2 Crawl Variation

Advanced Conditioning Template:

A1 Jump/Plyo Variation

A2 Upper Body Push

A3 Crawl Variation

B1 Bilateral Lower Body

B2 Core Bracing 

B3 Carry Variation

C1 Jump/Plyo Variation

C2 Unilateral Lower Body

C3 Upper Body Push

You’ll notice both of those examples are total body focused. When equipment is limited, it is best to stick with total body workouts. Both days provide a balanced approach to training the whole body, but can be worked endless ways to fit your needs.

Once you have the template set, you can feel free to plug-and-play with exercise selection. I like to stick with exercises for several weeks and will generally progress volume and intensity before changing exercises, but if you really like variety, feel free to rely on the template to ultimately control quality for the program. This way you can change it up, but still know you are getting a balanced program that’s working towards your goals.

Example Exercises:

Bilateral Lower Body

Squat (with tempo alterations)

Staggered Stance Squat

1.5 Rep Squat

Squat into Lunge Variation (Lateral, Forward, Stepback)

Unilateral Lower Body

Split Squat (with tempo alterations)

Bowler Squat

1-Leg RDL

Lateral Squat

Lateral Lunge

Upper Body Push

Push-up Variations (ex alt 1-leg push-up)

Push-up with tempo alterations

Crawl Variations (ex lateral bear crawl)

Crawl to Push-up

Breathing Drills

90/90 Breathing

Prone Belly Breathing

Bear Plank Breathing

Jump/Hop/Plyos

Pogo Jumps

Box Pattern Hops

Lunge Jumps

Cycled Lunge Jumps

Broad Jump

Carry Variation

After you’ve plugged in your exercises to your template, go ahead and make some decisions about sets and reps. For people new to exercise, I recommend most exercises stay in the 2-3 x 5-8 range. This repetition range will start to make positive changes, but not make a new exercisers insanely sore.

If you are more experienced, anything is up for grabs when it comes to set/rep schemes. This is pretty serious business in my book and goes far beyond the scope of this post. So, my recommendation is to make decisions based on what you want to accomplish. Set/rep schemes can vary from 1-12 x 1-25 (or even more!). 

Hey! You did it! You are ready for your first home workout! Make sure everything is written down and if you are trying new exercises, have a device that can play video nearby with the exercise videos either already loaded or easy to load and watch during your session.

Don’t forget to turn on some music and allot enough time to enjoy your first, successful, training session at home.

In part 3, we’ll explore home gyms that have more equipment and some of the options that opens up.

Since you’re here: We have a small favor to ask! At SAPT, we are committed to sharing quality information that is both entertaining and compelling to help build better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage us authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics.

Thank you! SAPT

Home Workouts 101: Designing the Space

Ah, the home workout. An idea many well intentioned, time strapped individuals embrace as a possible solution to their physical fitness needs.

Whether you are just starting to exercise regularly or are an avid lifter, the home workout poses some interesting challenges that must be overcome to achieve success.

Just the nature of what “home” means to people is the biggest barrier. Home means (well, to me… and hopefully you, too): comfort, safety, downtime, relaxation, etc. 

Now, while a good training environment should be safe, we literally want it to have NONE of those other qualities!

Everything from the flooring to the ceiling height to the room temperature of a home is generally incompatible for what we would normally categorize as a good training environment.

So, if you are in the position of needing to get in home workouts - whether it’s because that’s the only place you have to workout OR because you are trying to get in extra sessions between gym training, I’m going to help you navigate how to set up your home gym and how to get creative with the exercises and methods you choose to help lead you down the path of home workout success!

Designated training area setup:

1. Did you just get caught up on my use of the word “designated”? Yes, well, I don’t care how small your space is and how much your kids overrun every square inch of your house. You must designate a workout area. Period. Ideally, this will be an area that is off-limits to other activities in the house. But, if that’s not possible, just know that you need to be able to switch uses quickly and easily. You don’t want to have to spend 10-min rearranging the space just to get your workout in. That will not be sustainable.

2. A good training space is always well organized and ready to go. See above.

3. Do not, I repeat, do NOT set up exercise equipment in your bedroom. Psychologically, that does not work. Asking the bedroom to function for sleep AND the absolute opposite will not work for most people.

4. The living room, basement, garage, office areas, or a spare room of some kind are all good options. The garage is the holy grail of home gym setup spaces.

Equipment - the bare minimum

1. Get proper flooring - even if it has to be removed after every training session, you need a flooring solution. If you don’t believe me, see how you feel dripping sweat on your carpet or wood floors after that first workout. Rubberized flooring it the best choice (yoga mats don’t cut it) - this is not just to protect the surface underneath, but also to reduce slips and falls that may happen to YOU if you are training on an unsafe surface!

2. Get a few bands.

3. Invest in a small assortment of kettlebells (I find these to be the most versatile).

4. Other equipment to consider based on available space and desired investment: anything that lines up with your goals. If great conditioning is a goal, you should try to squeeze in a piece of cardio equipment; if significant strength gains are a goal, then you should outfit your space with free weights.

The Vibe!

1. Set the mood - remove pictures of your wedding and the births of your children. These do not line up with the environment we want to create. Trust me, seeing that stuff while training sucks your strength right out of your body.

2. Consider doing a bit of redecoration and get some posters or pictures that help you be more focused on the task.

3. Tunes - whether its headphones or a stereo, you need to have music available that gets you in the right frame of mind.

Get your housemates on board

Once you’ve got the space, equipment and vibe setup, you need to communicate to whoever cohabitates with you what’s going on, what they should expect, and what you need from them to help you succeed. 

In part two, I’m going to dive into bodyweight exercises and workouts; part three will cover resistance training and part four will cover conditioning.

Since you’re here: We have a small favor to ask! At SAPT, we are committed to sharing quality information that is both entertaining and compelling to help build better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage us authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics.

Thank you! SAPT

Upper Body Blowout: Push-up Negatives

Finishers are a great way to complete your training on any given day. Depending on what you select, you can bring up weak points by improving work capacity.

One of the keys about conditioning is that we are generally pushing the body pretty hard. So, you expect to see some break in form, but you need to know what is acceptable failure in form and what isn’t.

For example, if I were having an athlete perform a shuttle run, unacceptable failure would be when we reach ANY biomechanical failure - we can only condition as long as we’re being safe - acceptable failure would be from the standpoint of the aerobic system (times get a bit slower) or because the muscles start “burning” and times slow.

Once failure of form is reached - and this applies to conditioning scenarios as much as lifting - the set must stop immediately.

The other rule is that we don’t want to burn in movement patterns that - while they may be highly unlikely to cause injury - are an incorrect pattern we are working on correcting through other parts of our training. A great example is the push-up. Push-ups are often butchered resulting in way too much strain on the lower back and shoulder than they should when done with “perfect” form.

If your push-ups don’t look like the ones in the video, then you are probably not ready for Depletion Push-ups. To get some tips on how to troubleshoot your push-up, check out SAPT’s guide to Diagnosing the Push-up.

Depletion Push-ups + 90-Second Negatives

This sweet little combo of Depletion Push-ups + 90-Second Negatives are best used for areas of the body that are already fairly strong. If you’re just learning to keep your hips elevated and hold a brace, this would not be a recommended finisher.

Negative only push-ups are a great way to develop upper body and core bracing strength.

I think this is a perfect variation for athletes who may lack work capacity in the upper body, but can solidly hold a brace for… well, close to forever. Since it’s easier to control the body as it’s lowered to the ground, we can still accumulate a ton of volume to improve work capacity if the upper body.

Progressions

• Add more sets: starting with one set of :90 is often plenty, but you can add another 1-2 sets to get even more volume. Keep rest times minimal.

• Add weight to the back to increase difficulty: using a plate, chains, weight vest, or even making these band resisted will ramp up the challenge.

• Full Depletion Push-ups: once you’ve maxed out progress on the negatives and are certain your form is excellent, go ahead and remove the emphasis on the slow negative to knock out as many push-ups as possible with PERFECT form for 1-3 sets of 90-seconds.

Give these a shot if you feel like you’re ready! I bet you will be surprised with all the muscles that get involved and get sore the next day.

RunFAST - SAPT's Secret Program Development

I’ll be honest, I’ve got a secret... it’s about a new program SAPT is developing. We’ll actually be launching all the info about it next week, but I’ve got to let on about it at least a little! I’m simply way too pumped up and have had a little too much coffee to keep this under my hat any longer.

It’s so exciting and will introduce yet another innovative, high-octane training method to the area via our resident performance coaching geniuses at SAPT.

This is the type of program that is born from those really special places that foster high-levels of both creativity and respect. An incubator for ideas where art and science merge. The type of place that values quality, service, and creativity above all else. That’s where these kinds of innovations come from.

The program is called RunFAST... that’s all I’m going to mention, as I think the name tells enough.

And, I have to also tell you this new innovative approach we’ll launch next week is just the tip of the iceberg. I wish I could let on about all our projects. But, for the moment, I’ll simply leave you with SAPT’s Big 3: Purpose, Vision, and Mission. Read into them as you like...

Our Purpose: Strengthening bodies and minds to support excellence in life.

Our Vision: People of all ages, abilities, and resources will have access to, appreciation for, and engagement in regular physical fitness training that will lead to improvements in all aspects of daily life.

Our Mission: To develop, research, and share our comprehensive approach to physical fitness training that fosters long-term engagement, promotes excellence in life, nurtures human relationships and inspires the lifelong pursuit of health through exercise.

Please stay tuned to next week on the blog... we’ll be devoting the whole week to RunFAST details!