HOW TO CREATE AT-HOME WORKOUTS WITHOUT WEIGHTS

COVID-19 and the requirement for social distancing have rapidly changed the daily behaviors of people around the world. This extends to all aspects of people’s lives, including the way they work out.

Many of our coaches and clients are faced with the challenge of keeping their clients active and healthy in the face of gym closures, lockdowns, and social distancing.

If you, like so many, are faced with this challenge, it is important to know that you can continue to keep yourself and your clients moving by creating at home workouts without weights.

In this article you’ll find a training split and two sample weeks of at-home workouts that you can adjust to suit your or your clients’ needs.

Use these workouts as inspiration and please share your home workouts with us. As a fitness collective, we can inspire and support each other to adapt to the current circumstances. Please tag us @opexfitness in your posts and stories.

At-Home Workouts Without Weights

At Home Training Week Split

A simple training split that you can follow is as follows:

Monday: Full Body Resistance

Tuesday: Mixed Bodyweight Aerobic

Wednesday: Full Body Resistance

Thursday: Active Recovery

Friday: Full Body Resistance

Saturday: Cyclical Aerobic Intervals

Sunday: Rest

Full Body Resistance days include both upper body, lower body, and core movement patterns, that is, Bend, Squat, Push, Pull, Lunge, and Core.

The goal of these training sessions should be to maintain consistency and normalcy in your fitness routine. While there may be a brief interruption to regular training, maintaining a daily movement practice will make the transition back to the gym far smoother than stopping altogether. Keeping active at home will also support general health and wellbeing, including immune system health. Looking for tips to stay healthy at home? Learn our Basic Lifestyle Guidelines here.

Below are two examples of at-home workouts following this split. The first example is written for if you have access to bands and a jump rope and the second example is with no equipment.

At-Home Workouts Without Weights: Split 1

If you have access to bands and a jump rope.

Monday: Bodyweight/Band FBR

A1. Knee Banded Air Squat, @3111, 12-15 reps x 4 sets; rest 60 sec

A2. Hand Release Push-Up, @31X1, 12-15 reps x 4 sets; rest 60 sec

B1. Banded Good Morning, @20X0, 20 reps x 4 sets; rest 60 sec

B2. Tabletop Reverse Plank, 45-60 sec x 4 sets; rest 60 sec

C1. Wall Walk w/ 3 sec nose-to-wall hold, 4-6 reps x 4 sets; rest 60 sec

C2. Jump Lunges, 20-30 sec unbroken reps x 4 sets; rest 60 sec

D. 10 min easy cooldown walk

Tuesday: Mixed Bodyweight Aerobic 

15 min AMRAP @ sustained pacing

400m run

30 Double Unders

20 Walking Lunge steps

10 Strict Push-Up Burpees

+

Rest Walk 5 min

+

15 min AMRAP @ sustained pacing

10 Sit-Ups

20 Air Squats

30 Front Leaning Rest Shoulder Taps

+

10 min easy cooldown walk

Wednesday: Bodyweight/Band FBR

A1. Curtsy Lunges, @2011, 15/side x 4 sets; rest 30 sec

A2. Banded Bicep Curls, @20X0, 15-20 reps x 4 sets; rest 30 sec

A3. Jump Squats, @10X0, 15 reps x 4 sets; rest 30 sec

A4. Banded Overhead Tricep Extensions, @2011, 15-20 reps x 4 sets; rest 30 sec

A5. Banded X Lateral Walks, 20 steps/direction x 4 sets; rest 30 sec

A6. Star Pattern Band Pull-Aparts, @1010, 10 complexes x 4 sets; rest 3 min

B. 10 min easy cooldown walk

Thursday: Active Recovery

30-60 min walk outdoors, unplugged

Friday: Bodyweight/Band FBR

A1. Knee Banded Hip Thrust, @21X2, 10-15 reps x 4 sets; rest 60 sec

A2. Banded Z Press, @20X1, 10-15 reps x 4 sets; rest 60 sec

B1. Split Squat with Front Rack Band Resistance, @20X1, 10-15 reps/side x 4 sets; rest 60 sec

B2. Banded Chest Fly, @2111, 10-15/side x 4 sets; rest 60 sec

C1. Banded Reverse Crunch, @2110, 15-20 reps x 4 sets; rest 60 sec

C2. Bent Over Banded Row, @2112, 15-20 reps x 4 sets; rest 60 sec

D. 10 min easy cooldown walk

Saturday: Cyclical Aerobic Intervals

Each For Time @ sustained

800m run

50 Double Unders

+

Rest walk 5 min

+

400m run

75 Double Unders

+

Rest walk 3 min

+

200m run

100 Double Unders

+

Rest Walk 5 min

x 3 sets (from the top)

Sunday: Rest

At Home Workouts Without Weights: Split 2

If you have no equipment.

Monday - Bodyweight Full Body Resistance

A1. Cyclist Squat (heels elevated on book or low step), @42X0, 12-15 reps x 4 sets; 45 sec rest

A2. Reverse Scapular Push-Up, 12-15 reps x 4 sets; 45 sec rest

B1. Single Leg Hip Thrust, @30X3, 12-15 reps x 4 sets; 45 sec rest between sides

B2. Chair Dip, @30X0, 12-15 reps x 4 sets; 45 sec rest

C1. Bent Hollow Hold, 30 sec x 3 sets; 30 sec rest

C2. Side Lying Leg Raise, @30X1, 12-15 reps x 3 sets; 30 sec rest

C3. Bottom of Push-Up Hold, 30 sec x 3 sets; 30 sec rest

Tuesday - Mixed Bodyweight Aerobic

30 minutes As Many Rounds As Possible @ sustained pace

20m Bear Crawl

20 Cossack Squats

20 Jumping Jacks

20m Crab Walk

8 alternating bodyweight Turkish Get Ups

10 Inchworm + Push-Up

Wednesday - Bodyweight Full Body Resistance

A1. Hamstring Walkout, 5-8 reps x 4 sets; 45 sec rest

A2. Decline Push-Up, @20X0, 8-10 reps x 4 sets; 45 sec rest

B1. Reverse Lunges, @20X0, 24-30 reps alternating x 4 sets; 30 sec rest

B2. Prone Y Raise, @1012, 12-15 reps x 4 sets; 30 sec rest

C1. Side Plank Rotations, @2121, 8-10 reps x 3 sets; 30 sec rest between sides

C2. Wall Resisted Dead Bug, @3030, 10-12 reps alternating x 3 sets; 30 sec rest

C3. Hang (Door frame, stair), 30 sec x 3 sets; 30 sec rest

Thursday - Active Recovery

10 min Full Body CARS - Hip, Ankle, Thoracic, Shoulder, Scapular, Wrist

10 min Yoga Flow

+

30 min Walk outside if permitted

Friday - Bodyweight Full Body Resistance

A1. Single Leg Squats, @31X1, 12-16 reps alternating x 4 sets; 45 sec rest

A2. Standing Towel Row, @30X1, 8-10 reps x 4 sets; 45 sec rest

B1. Feet Elevated Hip Thrust, @30X2, 10-12 reps x 4 sets; 45 sec rest

B2. Eccentric Handstand Push-Up, @50A0, 5-8 reps x 4 sets; 45 sec rest

C1. Plank Shoulder Taps, 60 sec x 3 sets; 30 sec rest

C2. Wall Sit Marches, 60 sec x 3 sets; 30 sec rest

C3. Superman to Hollow Roll, 5 each way x 3 sets; 30 sec rest

Saturday - Cyclical Aerobic Intervals

4 sets

5 min AMRAP @ sustained pace

20m High Knees

20m Butt Kickers

20m Karaoke, left and right

20m Jog

3 minutes rest

Sunday - Rest

At Home Principles of Progression

It is possible that you may need to spend multiple weeks training at home. If that is the case, then there are some basic principles that you can follow to progress your training from week to week. 

1. Increase number of repetitions, for example, 12-15 reps to 15-20 reps

2. Increase number of sets, for example, 3 sets to 4 sets

3. Increase tempo, for example, @30X0 to @40X0

4. Increase duration of holds, for example, 30 sec to 45 sec

5. Increase complexity, for example, bent hollow hold to hollow hold

If you have suddenly found yourself with some extra downtime because of COVID-19, then please take advantage of all the free educational resources that we provide.

Our Free Fitness Coaching Blueprint course on LearnRx will teach you principles and implementation of exercise, nutrition, and behavior so that you can use this time to grow your skillset. Importantly, it will introduce you to the OPEX Method of Coaching, so that you can effectively personalize your at-home workouts to your needs. Start the free course today.