You do not require equipment to build or maintain strength. I repeat, you do not require equipment to build or maintain strength!
At this moment in time a lot of people are panicking, worried that they’ll lose strength, see a decrease in performance or essentially see their fitness decline. I’ve had messages of people asking what gear to buy when the truth is, we can get a great workout in without rushing out to buy bands, kettlebells, dumbells and the like. In fact, I’d challenge to you work on these movements FIRST.
We can currently go out and run. But as runners it’s really important to continue working on our STRENGTH also. Here are some of my go to exercises that will really develop strength whilst at home using nothing but your body.
1 - SINGLE LEG RAISES Keep your upper body tall, the leg as straight as possible and the movement controlled throughout. You can use anything as a measure to lift your leg over, but these are a great hip and quad strengthening drill.
2 – BODYWEIGHT LEG EXTENSIONS Lets keep those quads and knees strong! Bodyweight leg extensions are relatively straightforward to perform so long as you have the mobility to do them. Keep the glutes tight throughout and watch for the break in the hips.
3 – PLYO HIP THRUSTS These take your typical hip thrust and add a plyometric element to them. Generate speed and power from the glutes with this version and of course you can take the jumps out if they are too much.
4 – BEAR SHOULDER TAPS A killer on the core. Keep that tabletop position, the hips square, those taps slow and the knees about an inch off the floor. Very tough exercise when performed correctly!
5 – SINGLE ARM PLANKS Another super challenging anti rotational core exercise. Get into a press up position, bring the hips to neutral and support yourself with a single arm. Keep that bodyweight forward and the hips square throughout.
Give these a shot and stay STRONG at home throughout this lockdown period!
