Anytime I am designing a program for someone based on their home-gym equipment, the first thing I do is assess their equipment status. I look at everything they have available and try to involve a little bit of everything to keep things interesting and fun.
Once I know what we are working with,
I would then begin to form the structure or back bone of the workout
through which all of the exercises will be based on. Now I always recommend
starting off on a full-body workout as this ensures that the entire
body gets challenged each and every time you do the workout. Based
on what I have available, I would then select 4 exercises for the lower
body and 4 exercises for the upper body to be performed each day with
2 more for the mid-section or core at the end. Some like to complete
all of the exercises for one body part before moving on but I prefer
to mix it up a bit to ensure equal effort is put forth to the entire
body!
The exercises that I choose are based
on the major muscle groups of the body with some consideration taken
for potential "Weak points" or "areas of special concern" expressed
by the client. Major muscle groups for the upper body include
the back, chest, shoulders and arms and the hamstrings, quadriceps,
calves and glute make up the leg muscles.
For a complete list of exercises please visit one80.com for detailed animated descriptions.
Once you have your exercises picked
it is now time to decide the intensity of your workouts. This
will vary quite significantly and is unique to the individuals' workout
experience and fitness levels. A good place to start is with 2
sets per exercise for 12 repetitions. Meaning, for each exercise
you will perform the movement 12 times (repetitions) then take a brief
rest and repeat for a second time (2nd set).
Regardless of where you will be performing your workouts or what your fitness goals are, every program should always include some cardiovascular activity. Working out in your home, some of you may be fortunate enough to have a stationary bike, treadmill or even an elliptical right there in your home-gym which is a huge bonus. For others, I would recommend walking, running, or biking outdoors and when the weather is harsh, skipping can be a very good choice or, like we talked about earlier in this ecourse - the stairs! Keeping this in your routine will help to maximize your workout efforts by increasing blood flow, improving your endurance and allowing for sufficient oxygen saturation in the muscles. As we will see in day 4 & 5, establishing a regular routine and sticking to it on a regular basis is key to your success!
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I have broken down the training design process for you here and made things really easy for you to get started on your new health program and start seeing results. Some of you will be completely self-sufficient and manage to get into a good routine based solely on the information here. But for everyone else who just wants all of the thinking done for them, I have made things even easier and gone ahead and created some software that will take all of your personal information into consideration and tailor a program to fit your specific workout needs. Go to one80.com to get your free program now!
