One (of the many things) I've learned since shelter in place started in March 2020 (can you believe its almost been a year???) was that I could do a lot more with less with people's workouts. Yes, my gym programs always had a staple of carry, squat, hinge, push and pull anti-rotation foundation, but at home all of that had to change.
Mostly because the selection of equipment people had access to, particularly heavy loads, was greatly reduced. This meant I needed to creatively come up with ways to make light loads heavy to help people make progress. Luckily (depending on who you ask btw) I found a solid strategy to get this done.
It entailed "creatively dialing in" the three foundation movements of a squat, push and pull. The end user called it torture, I called it sound programming.
One of the ways I did it was with suspension straps. Luckily, most of my clients have a set, so it made my life a lot easier.
Their fitness existence? Not so much.
Lucky for them, one of my training super powers is being completely desensitized to their upper and lower body muscular discomfort. You ever made an omelet without breaking the egg shells? Me neither.
Today I'm sharing one of my (and their least) favorite combinations:
1) Rear Foot Elevated Split Squat Planks + Rear Foot Elevated Split Squats
2) Chest Press
3) Single Arm Rows
When you're juggling all of the fun life is throwing at you right now, trying to do a 47 exercise "instaworthy" workout is probably one of the worst (READ: WORST) ways to go about it. The more simple your strategy, the more you'll get out of it. Plus, who the hell has that kind of time?
These three exercises below take carevof that because they do a great job of:
1) Using fundamental movement patterns.
2) Involving every muscle in the body.
3) Allowing you to diagonally load the body in a really efficient way.
4) Using time under tension as a great substitute for heavy weights.
1) Rear Foot Elevated Split Squat Plank + Squat
This works REALLY well (READ: its horrible) as a plank and dynamic movement combination. You hold the bottom of the position for :15-:30 then move on the same leg for :15-:30. If you don't have heavy weights to load the lower body, this time under tension approach is a great option.
If you really want to hate your life with a passion, you can load this up with LIGHT weights if you've got them. I used a sandbag with 20lbs in it, and it didn't take long for it to feel like 200.
Split Squat Combo Part II
2) Chest Press
This is a moving plank, is incredibly adaptable to any fitness level and is a foundation movement you should master. The key is locking down the core, driving the shoulders to the hips and smashing the heels together to engage the hips that much more.
3) Single Arm Row
This is one of my favorite suspension strap exercises because it gets you working the upper body through the lower body with a nice anti-rotation (work to the obliques in a real world way) component mixed in for good measure. Since most lower back "occurrences" seem happen when we rotate, strengthening the muscles that prevent rotation is a good way to go.
If you're stuck with your workouts and you need help with:
What to do
How to do it
When to do it
Drop me a line and we can set up a video call and get you the help that you need. Thanks a ton for reading, have an incredible week!