Muscle is all the rage these days, and for good reason.
Most women are hoping for leaner arms and legs, a flatter stomach and a nice rounded backside. More muscle is the key to achieving those things!
More than that, muscle is the best for function and longevity. As you age you will begin to lose muscle. The less muscle you have the weaker your bones will be, you may be more prone to falls as an older adult, it even affects your immunity!
What can you do if you are a busy mom with limited time and limited equipment at home but you want to build muscle?
Save this blog, because I'm going to break down exactly how you can create your own personalized lifting workout plan using basic equipment like dumbbells or bands right at home.
I've been lifting at home for years and I want to share with you how you can lift at home and see great results!
Outline:
Set up your home gym
Creating a home gym doesn't have to be expensive or take up a lot of space. That's probably one of the big misconceptions I hear, arguing that because you don't have fancy cable pulleys or heavy barbells you can't make any progress. Wrong!
For many years all I ever had was a yoga mat and some dumbbells. Start with a pair of 5-8 pound dumbbells. As you get stronger, add a set of 10-12 pounds, and so on. Little by little you'll accumulate a substantial, well-equipped workout space.
My favorite piece of home gym equipment has been my adjustable dumbbells. They don't take up much space at all and range from 5-25 pounds. Some can range all the way up to 55 pounds!
Bands open up a whole other world of possibilities, too, and for a very affordable price. You can bring them just about anywhere for an effective workout. I would say the most difficult challenge with bands is that tracking how much weight you use for an exercise can get a little tricky. I suggest to my clients to take notes about how you used the band like what color band it was, and how much tension you put on the band.
As you set up your home gym, find a place in your house that is comfortable and easy to be in. For example, you may not want to choose the dark, cold, cluttered spot in your storage amongst the Christmas bins or the old clothes you still haven't donated. Who would want to hang out there?!
Instead, clear out a space, add comfortable lighting, maybe a plant or even a speaker to play your favorite music or a tv to watch your current favorite series.
You want your home gym to be a space you want to be in!
Stop doing random workouts.
Gone are the days where you search Pinterest for a home workout at random every time you have time to exercise, especially if you want to gain lean muscle.
Results will come when you consistently make progress with a specific set of workouts you do over and over again.
But that sounds boring!
It may not be flashy, but your lean and toned body will be ;)
Utilize progressive overload by creating a workout plan you can track and repeat, aiming for more reps, more sets, and better form. When you do that you will be building lean muscle.
The first couple times you do a workout your brain is the most challenged. Your muscles and brain have to work to learn the movements, perfect your form, breathing, bracing, etc. before you can up the weight and work on getting stronger.
When you constantly change things up your brain will be the main thing that's challenged, not your muscles.
Now, let's get really specific on how to create this kind of workout plan...
Decide how many days per week you will lift weights.
Begin setting up your workout plan by looking at your weekly routine and deciding how many days and for how long you can workout.
If you're looking to gain muscle, I recommend at least 3 days per week of weightlifting.
Plan these workout days into your schedule - like you've got a doctor's appointment you can't miss! Don't flake out on yourself and your plan.
Things will come up, especially with kids, but stick to your schedule like you would as if your job depended on it.
Set up schedule reminders on your phone calendar. Set alarms. Tell a friend you'll text them when your workout is over. Anything to keep yourself accountable.
Decide which which muscle groups for each workout day.
Now that you've decided how many days per week you can workout, decide which muscle groups you'll work on each day.
Here's a basic cheat sheet to go by:
-If you are only able to lift weights 2-3 days per week I suggest planning total body routines for each workout day, hitting all major muscle groups each week.
-If you can workout 4-5 days per week I would break up the workouts between upper body and lower body days, working separate lower or upper body muscle groups. For example, one upper body day may work the shoulders and back while the other upper body workout will focus on chest, biceps and triceps.
This way you'll be able to effectively make progress with enough rest between workouts no matter how many days per week you're able to devote to lifting.
Choose your exercises, reps, and sets.
You'll want to choose exercises that specifically work the targeted muscle group.
Without getting too far into the weeds, you will want to choose a combination of compound exercises and isolation exercises.
Think about compound exercises as those that work multiple muscle groups at the same time across 2 or more joints. These include squats, deadlifts, bench press, bent rows, and more. Compound movements are usually more difficult and take more time to learn, but are huge strength builders! Many of these movements you'll reap big benefits quickly, so if you're looking to save time and enhance your fitness they are great options.
Isolated exercises usually pinpoint one muscle at a time - exercises like bicep curls, glute kickback, or lateral raises. These aren't as difficult to learn and perform, and can be effective to grow muscle in certain areas. They can even support building strength for those more complicated compound movements.
Combining both compound and isolated exercises is a great way to build an effective workout that targets all areas of fitness like strength, function, and muscle growth.
To help you choose exercises for all the major muscle groups I've created a free template you can download, just click here.
Track, repeat, progress!
Once you've created your workout plan, it's time to execute! Wash, rinse, and repeat your weekly workout plan for at least 4 weeks in a row. When you do, you'll see progress over time, and that's where results are made!
Track how many reps, how much weight, and for how many sets you completed for every single exercise. When you repeat the workout, your goal is to beat last week's "score" by lifting one more rep, lifting a slightly heavier weight, completing another set, or increasing the challenge some other way.
This is called progressive overload. Muscle will grow and get stronger as you make this kind of progress week after week.
Remember, don't fall into the random workout trap where you switch up your workouts far too often. You'll never see results that way and you'll end up pretty frustrated after so much time wasted.
To make this all so much easier, I've created a free workout template with an exercise directory for you to plug into your workout plan. Follow this link and it'll be sent to you right away!
For a completely done and perfected workout plan where you can track your stats and your progress in one app from your phone, sign up with this link and start lifting today!
You'll get a workout plan designed by me, your trainer, with online support to go with it.
This way when you have questions you won't be left wondering what to do next.
What questions are you left with when it comes to developing your own workout plan?
Leave a comment below and let's get your questions answered.
Comments