Swap the gym for this six-move kettlebell workout to boost full-body strength at home

The gym is a great place to go if you want to build a stronger body, but it’s not the only option. You can achieve impressive results using just one resistance band, kettlebell or that set dumbbell In your shed – you just have to know how to do more with less.

Need proof? Then look no further than Amanda Caprito, a certified personal trainer, full-time traveler, and founder of smart sweat, Who specializes in training with minimal equipment.

“I’ve been living in a converted van full-time for a year,” she tells me. “Apart from a few local trips gymI have only trained with resistance bands, a 15kg dumbbell and an 18kg kettlebell.

“But I recently hit a PB for Bulgarian split squats, doing eight reps on each leg while holding a 30kg dumbbell in each hand. After working out as a full-time journeyman for a year not only did I avoid losing strength, but I actually got stronger. It really shows that consistency and intensity are key.”

Below, Caprito shares a minimalist tool work out You can try at home, and she reveals the principles she follows to train effectively without the gym.

How to Build Strength at Home: Workout

Straight sets (do all sets of an exercise, rest for 60 seconds between each, then move on to the next exercise)

Superset (perform the exercises below one after the other, with no rest in between, then rest for 60 seconds after both exercises are completed)

Superset (perform the exercises below one after the other, with no rest in between, then rest for 60 seconds after both exercises are completed)

“My workouts are actually quite simple and mostly involve pretty straightforward exercises,” says Caprito. She also provides a range of reps to aim for in each set, rather than a strict target, so you can adjust the number to suit the kettlebells you have.

“Aim for the lows [five to eight reps] If the kettlebell is too heavy for you for a given exercise, aim for the higher end. [12 to 15 reps] If it feels too light,” she advises.

You can also use some of Caprito’s tips below to increase the difficulty of the workout over time, meaning you can come back to it week after week for continued progress.

How to build strength and muscle without a gym

key to success strength trainingOr any type of training for that matter, progressive overload is. This simply means making your workouts gradually more challenging in line with your increasing strength over time. suitability level. By doing this, you send a clear and repeated message to the body that it needs to adapt and get stronger, so you are better able to handle the difficulties of your next session.

The reason the gym is such a great place to train is the range of equipment available. When the weight you are lifting starts to feel easy, you can add a few kilograms to the barbell or pick up slightly heavier dumbbells to make the exercise more challenging. When you’re training at home with only a few weights, this isn’t an option.

But there are other variables you can play with when lifting weights to increase the intensity and resulting effectiveness of your home workouts. Caprito takes an in-depth look at each below.

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Sets, Reps and Rest

“Especially for beginners, it’s possible to make a lot of progress by manipulating simple variables like repetitions, sets, and rest intervals,” says Caprito.

When you reach a point where you can comfortably perform 20 or more repetitions with your own weight, increasing repetitions is no longer a time-saving training option. This is where the techniques below come in handy.

try this: If you can do three sets of 10 press-ups comfortably enough one week, you can try four sets of 10 repetitions or three sets of 12 repetitions the next week. You can also reduce the rest time between sets or exercises to increase intensity.

time under stress

The time under tension is the time when your muscles are working. The longer the muscles work, the more difficult the exercise will be, so slowing down or stopping your repetitions can be a good tool to make the workout more difficult.

try this: “When you slow down goblet squats, they become more challenging,” says Caprito. “Take a full three seconds to descend, hold for another three seconds at the bottom of the squat position, then stand back up. Increasing the number of repetitions will also increase the time under tension.”

one sided practice

“Living in a campervan, storage space is limited and I can’t go to the store and buy extra weights,” says Caprito. “I have to think of ways to increase the load on a given muscle with the same equipment.”

One way to do this is to switch from bilateral exercises, which use both sides of the body simultaneously, to unilateral (one-sided) exercises. Varying these exercises, by placing more emphasis on one limb at a time, can have the same effect as lifting heavy weights.

try this: Use the goblet squat in place of the Bulgarian split squat. This way, you are lifting equal weight from one leg, rather than sharing the load between both legs.

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focusing on power

Strength is your ability to generate force; Power is your ability to produce force quickly. The latter is overlooked in many workout plans, but it can add a fun new dimension to your training.

“With limited equipment, really focusing on [being explosive during] Concentric contractions can be a big help in driving continued progress,” explains Caprito. ”Concentric contraction is where the working muscle fibers become shorter, and this is usually the upper part of the exercise. [think about standing up during a squat, or pressing the ground away during a press-up],

When developing power the focus is on the rate of your force development, which requires you to move faster through the concentric phase of the lift, so you can train this using lighter weights. Pairing it with speed training by lowering the weight slowly and lifting it faster can help you get the most bang for your buck from each rep, says Caprito.

try this: “I implement power training into my routine in two main ways,” says Caprito. “One is adding plyometrics, such as jumping, skipping, bounding, and bouncing exercises. An example is doing squat jumps versus air squats, or clap press-ups versus standard press-ups.

“Another way I add a strength element is to speed up the concentric portion of a movement. For example, intentionally moving the hips faster during a Romanian deadlift to activate more muscle fibers in the primary movers – the hamstrings and glutes.”

range of motion

Another change you can make to increase the difficulty of an exercise is to increase the range of motion – the distance you move a joint or joints during the exercise.

try this: Increasing your range of motion for an exercise might mean squatting a little deeper, or placing your hands on some books during a press-up and letting your chest drop a little more than usual at the bottom of a rep.

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How to use these principles when training at home

The body follows the SAID principle, which stands for specific adaptation to imposed demands. In other words, if you consistently ask it to do something physically difficult, it will adapt to doing it better.

If you use any of the above methods to make a manageable workout more challenging, it will have an impact, so Caprito recommends implementing a combination to keep your workout fresh and effective – “there’s no specific order that’s ‘best'”. She also says that beginners, especially, can get ahead by training with minimal equipment.

“Beginners will build muscle and strength more easily than intermediate to advanced lifters. This is because any type of resistance training is a new stimulus to the body, and the previously unstable neuromuscular and musculoskeletal systems will respond quite dramatically to lower total training volume and less intense stimuli.”

In other words, the completely new experience of lifting weights will have a significant effect on someone whose body is not accustomed to it, whereas advanced lifters will need a more intense stimulus to trigger the desired adaptations such as muscle growth and strength gains.

For this reason, strength training lovers may reach a point where the gym is more optimal for increasing strength. But there’s a lot you can do before you get to this point.

Caprito concluded, “After training with minimal equipment for a year now, I think the point is further passed than most people expect.”

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