The answer to this question I believe is simple – not much at all. A little bit of creativity is important here along with some understanding of how major muscles move around different joints. Combining this with the countless tutorials and workout videos available, you can be well on your way to enjoying effective workouts with little to no equipment at all.
There are some well-known types of exercises that you can do that require little to no equipment including walking, running, hiking & swimming. However, when it comes to resistance training it can seem to be a little more challenging to find sufficient workouts to do. The first thing you need to do is understand where your current fitness levels stand, as this can help point you in the direction of the types of exercises you will do. Once you have acknowledged your starting point, finding the appropriate challenge becomes easier. You may or may not be aware of this, but with almost every exercise out there, it can be modified to either increase or decrease the level of difficulty. If you are unsure of how this can be done, don’t be afraid to ask a professional who can give you information tailored to you.
Given the current state of things, there are numerous reasons that may have you exercising predominantly from home, with little to no equipment, for an extended period. If this is you, you may be finding that the exercises that you have been doing are becoming less challenging. Here are my top tips to increase the challenge with what you are currently doing:
1. Increase time under tension – during each rep of the exercise, purposely go slow and controlled through the movement aiming to feel the muscle that you are targeting fully contracting.
2. Add more reps – increase the number of times you perform the movement pattern of the exercise without rest.
3. Add more sets/rounds – increase the number of times you complete the specific exercise/s after some rest.
4. Increase your Range Of Movement – making sure that each rep that you do, you allow the muscles and joints being used, to work through their entire range, not doing partial reps.
It may seem somewhat daunting trying to get a truly effective workout with little to no equipment, but I personally know it can be done. Before I built up my current gym setup all my training, for myself and my clients, was done with some resistance bands, an exercise ball, and a mat. It does take a commitment to being creative with the exercises you do, but when you stick with it you will see improvements in your overall health, and it may even inspire to find more ways to become creative with the equipment that you do have for your workouts.
If you are unsure of where to start you can get in touch today. Alternatively, if you want to get stuck into some workouts right now on your own, I have a series of workout videos that require little to no equipment that you can do at home. Click here to see the videos.
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