When you’re ready to progress from body weight workouts, you don’t need a gym membership to get strong, building strength from home is possible and you can do it with just one set of weights! Ask all the mums from my online programs - be it during Pregnancy or Postnatally - so I’m going to tell you 5 ways to get the most out of just one set of weights.
Making progress and building visible and physical strength is so rewarding and motivating. In pregnancy, as our body changes, strength training can help us keep up with the demands of pregnancy. Helping us keeps aches and pains at bay, but also feeling strong right up to birth and beyond. Postnatally it can help to help support life as a mother with all the lifting, pushing, pulling, running and walking we do … it all requires undeniable strength.
But how can we ensure we build strength and don’t plateau? Two words - Progressive Overload
Progressive overload involves gradually increasing the stress placed on the body during exercise. The goal is to continuously challenge your muscles by applying progressive overload so the body adapts to the new demands, improving strength, muscle size, and endurance.
Without a gradual increase in stress for the muscles, strength will eventually plateau, and progress will stall. Which can be disheartening and we can lose motivation. Naturally we can think “I’ll get heavier weights”, but before you do, with the following few tricks, you can achieve an effective strength workout that gets that to is that all important progressive overload box ☑️
1. Incorporate Supersets
A great way to maximise time and intensity is by using supersets. This involves performing two exercises back-to-back with little to no rest in between. This not only saves time but also keeps your heart rate up and your muscles engaged for longer periods.
There are a few ways to do supersets:
You can target opposing muscle groups (upper body exercise followed immediately by a lower body exercise for example). This gives one muscle group a chance to rest and recover as you work another.
You can target the same muscle group twice, placing double the stress on the targeted muscle(s) and improving strength (squats followed immediately by lunges). The burn is real, even if the weights feel like they’re getting easy!
I use both these methods in The Pregnancy Program, particularly between weeks 14 and 30 as I place a focus on really maximising strength in trimester 2 workouts. It’s often the time you feel you can push a bit harder, usually because you may have more energy, potentially less sickness and hormones are regulating after trimester 1.
I use option 2 a lot in The Advanced Postnatal Challenge to keep a set of muscles working hard 2 exercises in a row. Definitely giving you that advanced challenge!
2. Focus on a slower eccentric phase of an exercise
When your equipment is limited, you can manipulate a phase of the exercise to increase the difficulty. This is where slow eccentric lengthening can come in — which is the slow lowering/lengthening phase of an exercise.
For example:
Squats - lower yourself slowly into the squat (3-5 seconds) before engaging the glutes to stand back up.
Romanian Dead Lift - slowly push your hips back and hinge at the start of the RDL so the glutes and hamstrings slowly lengthen. Before squeezing the glutes to come back to standing.
Shoulder press - take your time lowering the weight back down after pressing them again overhead
Slowing down the eccentric portion increases the tension on your muscles, leading to strength over time with one set of weights.
3. Increase Time Under Tension (TUT)
Time under tension (TUT) refers to the amount of time your muscles are under strain for during an exercise. By increasing the time your muscles are working can help you build strength, even with lighter weights, and it massively intensifies the effort. The longer your muscles are working, the harder they work, the stronger they get!
Here are some ways to incorporate TUT:
Slow all the phases of the exercise down take 3 seconds to come down into a squat, hold it at the bottom for 3 seconds, stand up slowly for 3 seconds and immediately repeat with no rest.
Pause at the bottom of a squat or at the top of the shoulder press
Isometric hold - this is contracting a muscle(s) but staying still - such as a wall sit as it’s totally static but you're working hard. Or hold one dumbbell in a full shoulder press above the head as you perform a set of presses on the other side. The buuuuurn is real!
4. Increase Reps and Sets
Might seem like an obvious one, but it’s a great one! Increase the volume of reps/se to continue challenging your muscles. High-rep workouts can be just as effective for building muscle endurance and strength when heavier weights aren’t available.
Instead of 8-10 reps, aim for 12-15 reps per set. You can also add more sets to each exercise, going from 2-3 sets to 4 or 5. This increase in volume forces your muscles to work harder for longer.
The only downside to this one is it can increase the length of the workout… and I’m all about short efficient workouts
This final point might fix that 🔽
5. Using an interval timer, increase the time you work and decrease the time you rest
I love using an interval timer, reason being is you know exactly how long the workout will be, you can’t overrun and they’re so versatile.
If you’re working out for 30s and resting for 20s, try and Increase the time you work gradually to 40,45 or 50s+ and/or reduce your rest down to 15 or even 10s.
Your muscles are then working for longer, resting for less time and you get more reps in the time and you also have less rest before the next exercise.
What weights should I buy when starting out?
When it comes to starting your journey with home workouts, you don’t need multiple sets of weights. Don’t get me wrong, adjustable dumbbells are an amazing investment but when you’re just beginning, ease yourself in with a set of 3, 4 or maybe 5kgs.
Building strength is important for all stages of motherhood and by using these 5 methods, with just one set of weights, you can effectively build strength from the comfort of your own home. Let me know your thoughts in the comments or drop me an email if you have any questions to hello@georgydillonpt.com
I am all about using minimal equipment for workouts, which is why I scatter these techniques throughout all my programs. For more information on my programs, you can access them all here or click on the direct link below:
Love this 🙌🏻