5 Simple ways to build strength from home
You don’t need a gym, an hour to yourself or a house full of fancy equipment to get stronger. In fact, for many mums, home is the most realistic place to build a consistent strength training routine.
Between school runs, nap times, work, childcare, the to-do list and everything else that comes with motherhood, getting to the gym isn’t always practical or possible. But that doesn’t mean strength training has to disappear from your life either!
Whether you’re returning to exercise after having a baby, looking to build strength during pregnancy or simply want to feel stronger and more capable in everyday life (and in your future), here are five simple ways to get started from home.
1. Start with your bodyweight
You don’t need weights to begin building strength! In fact if you are newly postpartum or have low energy in pregnancy, this is literally where you should be starting! Your own bodyweight can provide plenty of resistance, particularly if you’re new to strength training or returning after a break.
Try exercises such as:
Squats
Glute bridges
Reverse lunges
Bird dogs
Planks or modified planks
Calf raises
The key is not necessarily doing hundreds of repetitions. Instead, focus on good technique, that mind to muscle connection (so actually contracting the muscle you want to use in the exercise so you can really feel it!) controlled movement and gradually making the exercise more challenging over time. Add in water bottles or the baby for example!
2. Invest in a couple of dumbbells
If you do want to add equipment, you really don’t need much! For all the mums on my online programs they have one (or maybe two) pairs of dumbbells. Its amazing how one pair of dumbbells can give you loads of options for workout at home.
You can use them for exercises including:
Squats
Lunges
Rows
Chest presses
Deadlifts
Overhead press
Biceps curls
Triceps kickbacks
Loaded carries
You get the point….
You really don’t need a huge selection of weights when you’re starting out with strength training . Plus they dont take up much room so if you’re working out at home, your equipment doesn’t need to live in a pristine home gym - a corner of the sitting room or beside the sofa will do nicely!!
3. Focus on progressive overload
This is one of the most important principles of strength training. In order to get stronger, your body needs a reason to adapt. That doesn't mean every workout needs to be harder than the last. Instead, over time you can gradually increase the challenge by:
Increasing the weight (eg. adding in the dumbbells if you start with bodyweight)
Adding a few extra repetitions (eg. start with 8 squats, next time do 10)
Slowing down the exercise
Improving your technique or range of movement, and really focusing on the mind to muscle connection
Adding another set
Increasing your interval time (eg. if you’re working out for 30s and resting for 10, increase that to 40s next time)
Moving to a more challenging variation (eg. Lunges - add in a knee drive. Romanian deadlift (RDL) - make it a single leg RDL)
Small changes add up and you don't need to constantly be chasing heavier weights or completely different exercises. Doing the basics consistently and gradually progressing them is where a lot of the magic happens.
4. Keep your workouts short
One of the biggest barriers to exercise for mums is the idea that you need a big block of uninterrupted time.
You don't.
A 20 minute strength workout is absolutely worthwhile. If you have 45 minutes, great…good for you! But if you “only have 20” you can achieve SO much! If you have 10 minutes before someone needs a snack, a drink, the toilet or approximately 47 other things... 10 minutes still counts!!!!
Gone are the days of long, uninterrupted 60 minute workouts, its all about little and often now! Rather than waiting for the perfect time to work out, think about what you can realistically fit into your day.
You could do:
10 minutes:
2–3 exercises repeated for a few rounds
20 minutes:
4-5 exercises repeated for a few rounds
See how easy it is to get a quick session in? Plus the best workout program isn't the one that looks perfect on paper, it's the one you can actually do consistently and stick too.
5. Build a routine that works around your life
This is probably the most important one. Your strength training routine needs to fit your actual life, not an imaginary version of it where you were pre-kids, or if you had unlimited childcare, uninterrupted mornings and nobody ever asks you where their shoes are.
If you know you have 30 minutes while your baby naps, that is your workout window! You will still get all the to-list items ticked off, the world doesn’t fall apart if you use that time for yourself twice per week!
Speaking of frequency, if you can only realistically manage 2 x 20 minute workouts a week, build your routine around that! As its a great starting block!
Don't be afraid to adjust it too. Some weeks you might manage three workouts, and other weeks you might manage one. That doesn't mean you've failed or that you need to start again from scratch.
Consistency isn't about doing the same amount every week, it's about continuing to come back to it and exposing your body to exercise on a regular basis.
Final thoughts…you don't need to do it perfectly!
Building strength from home can be incredibly effective, but perhaps more importantly, it can make exercise much easier to fit into your life.
You don't need the perfect equipment, or a huge amount of space.
You certainly don't need an hour and it also means you dont have to wait until life is ‘less busy’ because lets face it, life will only be getting busier!
Start with what you have, make it manageable and gradually build from there! Strength training isn't just about what happens during your workout. It's also about feeling stronger carrying your baby, lifting the car seat, getting up and down from the floor, pushing the buggy up a hill and importantly for later life too, like being able to tie your shoelaces when you’re 80 or run with your grandkids!
Something is better than nothing and 20 minutes of strength training from your sitting room floor absolutely counts than if you did nothing at all!
Need help starting your exercise journey?
Enjoy some convenient at-home online workouts including ones that can be done anywhere, with no equipment and all in under 20 minutes!
Join for access to an online library of 10 to 30 minute follow along exercise classes. Specifically designed for busy mothers, postnatal mothers and pregnant mothers to be watched anytime, anywhere that suits you! Book into live classes with Georgy every week and enjoy all the features of the Fitness Hub!
