In a matter of months, COVID-19 has completely reshaped the world, how people think and conduct themselves, generate income, gather necessities and congregate with friends and family. Within this, the realm of exercise and physical pursuits for improved health are also greatly plagued. Gyms are closed. There are only a few select “lucky” ones who have access to all the regular equipment that the gym holds. Myself being one of them. I am fortunate my gym provided me with equipment to continue to run my e-business with, as well as train myself. However, for most, they are not as fortunate. The average person I’ve talked to fits into either 2 categories. 1) Has limited weights, some bands and a foam roller. Weights ranging from 5-15 lbs and a random jump to either 25, 35 or 40 lbs. 2) Has purchased or started to make an entire home gym. Now, obviously financially some cannot do this even if they want to; I would be included within this. So this leaves us with the question, what do I do when I do not have equipment that allows me to train however, whenever I want?

We are left with the very simple option of: program for little to no weight. Now this is a short and simple answer, but the how and why’s are anything but simple. How do you program an equivalent of a 350 lb back squat with only a 12 lb dumbbell? In all honesty, you don’t. You can’t. But, you can create a stimulus that leads to a similar effect as a heavy back squat through various programming tools and metrics.

Programming becomes all the more specific and personalized to the individual when they have limited equipment. Before, it could be argued that trainers and coaches could streamline training days under the guise that we all have some level of similar imbalances at the core of everything, such as hip stability issues, range of motion at the shoulder problems, ankle limitations, etc. Especially at a global level, so doing some similar movement patterns is probably okay, such as everyone squats, hinges, pushes and pulls at some respect. However, now we’re at a rock and a hard place, where someone may not be able to do a vertical pull or cannot do a true push pattern, aside from a push up. So now what?

Now we separate the men from the boys, the one’s who want to train and the one’s who simply like to say they train. We look at those that will do whatever they can to maintain their gains, their strength, their muscle mass, their hard-work, and those that just say “eh, I’ll do something tomorrow”, and then never really go and try anything.

This is where I lead this discussion into the realm of adjusting exercise variables. If you follow me on Instagram (@smartfitness1992), you will have seen I have been discussing programming variables that can be broadly applied to help with training, to make a stimulus more challenging, create a stimulus or improve a stimulus.

So what are these variables I’ve been hinting at this entire time? Well, they aren’t rocket science by any means, in fact, you’ve probably done them without realizing or realize them but forgot to incorporate. They are as follows:

1) Increase your volume, decrease your intensity: you cannot have a high intensity with minimal weights in many cases. Sorry. So, increasing your total work volume for a given muscle group is the simplest and best way to maintain and maybe build for some individuals. For example, instead of performing 3 x 3, for a back squat, you are now doing 4 x 15 for a split squat.

2) Slow your tempo. The tempo is the portion within which the movement of a lift goes through. Broadly explained as the lowering and raising phase, with pauses in-between each. With limited weight, having a slower tempo can add in more time under tension, so you have a larger degree of muscular loading. Essentially, the muscle being worked is being worked harder because you are imposing a longer time of work on a per rep basis, and therefore per set. How to prescribe a tempo: 2-1-1-1: 2 seconds eccentric (lengthening portion)-1 second pause-1 second concentric (shortening portion)-1 second pause. The example provided is a fairly simple example used within settings where you have almost unlimited weight and equipment. But now we don’t. So, we can increase the time of pausing after the eccentric, while increase the time performing the eccentric and concentric. For example: 3-2-3-1 would be a good starting point. This means that each rep will take about 9 seconds, when doing that for a set of 10 that’s 90 seconds of work, in one set!

3) Add isometrics: an isometric is essentially being in a position when the muscle is contracted but the length is not actively changing. For example, being in a lengthened position or shortened position, but not changing that length. Performing isometrics at varying degrees about a specific joint, for a specific period of time can become very challenging, very quickly. For example, an over-head press hold at 3/4 shoulder flexion (half way up) for 1 minute will become incredibly difficult by the end. Just imagine how un-fun it’ll be by set 3! The beauty of isometrics is you can progress them in so many ways (which requires a fair bit of detail that is beyond this blog, message me to learn how): but in essence, performing the holds at multiple joints per workout, with varying degrees of joint-length movement about the joint.

4) Using isotonics or a variation of an isotonic. Isotonics can be broadly classified as a form of movement that does not really stop. In many cases the eccentric and concentric exist but not so much to provide value and difference within the moving bodily parts. Most cases of isotonics are performed in a lab setting, with a specific machine, at a single joint, moving the body through a specific range with a specific difficulty through resistance being applied. We don’t have any of that to work with. So, our isotonics can be classified as a constant tension or continuous tension based stimulus. No pause, no slowing, just going. For example, a push up with no pauses at the top or bottom, not fully straightening and extending the elbow.

5) The last area we are going to talk about is challenging your base of support. This is the last area because of the simple fact that it is likely the most complex. Anything deviating away from your center of mass/gravity will challenge you. Whether it is moving your knees over your toes on a split squat or performing a single arm dumbbell curl because of the loss of counterbalanced stability with two dumbbells, you’re certain to feel an added layer of complexity. Making your base of support smaller is more than simply moving your feet closer together or raising one leg off the ground (though this does work). Adding a riser, a deficit or doing something on one side of the body then the other is a fantastic way to challenge yourself. For example: a front leg elevated split squat, using a box or a stepper. This will challenge hip stability due to translating more force forward onto the knee that is elevated, thereby reducing relative stability of the hip because of this forward translation.

Now, in conclusion, I could sit here and talk about fancy ways to add to your training, such as “contrast methods”, or making exercises overtly complex, like a split squat into a single leg RDL, but that won’t do you any good until you recognize that there are foundational ways to progress your training that don’t require any real thought beyond effort and intent! An ever-changing tempo is cool, and doing 2 exercises in 1 looks neat, but that is something to do down the line in your training when you’ve mastered the meat and potatoes of training, and are now ready for some apple pie.

I hope you’ve found this of value and are also slightly hungry, as I am! So I’m going to leave you the with a little reflective piece. In the absence of all else, be it equipment, or a gym, what are you going to do, simply not train? I sure hope not.

As always, stay strong ladies and gentlemen!

David

Smart Fitness