Garage Gains: Top Tips For Strength Training At Home

“Garage gains” became a common approach to workouts when the COVID-19 pandemic struck and the majority of us had to say goodbye to our beloved gym memberships.

This was a challenge at first. However, it became clear over time that more and more individuals preferred home workouts when gym packages were abandoned after lockdowns ended.

Whether it was aerobic training, cardio-vascular or hypertrophy training people adapted and also saved a penny or two in the process.

Strength training is a style of training that has one goal in mind, which is to get stronger. This is often measured in your 1 rep max (1 RM) or “triples”, that is 3 repetitions of a given weight.

If your goals encompass getting stronger and given the growing garage gains trend. We have detailed below the tips for strength training at home.

Focus!

When it comes to working out at home, the biggest challenge is all of the distractions that threaten to cut your session short.

There are more things at home to knock you off your game than anywhere else, whether it’s family, errands, or Netflix.

To get the most out of an at-home session, keep distractions to a minimum. This could entail turning off the computer, silencing notifications on your phone, or telling housemates to leave you alone.

You’ll find that when you minimise distractions and focus on your workout, you will get more out of each and every session and achieve more in the long term.

Even turning off your phone for the duration of the session will have a stronger effect than you think.

Strength Exercises

When the goal in mind is to get stronger, you need to train your body in a specific way, factors that influence this include the length of the session and the weight, and volume of exercises (sets and reps).

For example, if your goal was to increase your muscle mass you would need to aim for a rep range of 8-10 and occasionally upward of 20.

However, the load is heavier on average with fewer reps being performed in strength training. This is the same across most of the exercises you will be performing. In some cases, you may only perform 1-3 reps.

This is best practice because it will prepare your ligaments and tendons for heavier loads in the future.

It will increase your muscle-memory neural network which ultimately influences how strong your muscles are.

Another fundamental part of strength training is to mix up your exercises with the intention to ‘shock the muscle’ which leads me to my next point.

Shock the muscle

When you work out at home on your own, it’s easy to fall into a fitness rut, repeating routines that you enjoy but don’t always challenge you or produce the results you want.

Try new techniques or new variations of basic workouts like push-ups and squats to keep your body guessing and guarantee you’re making progress towards your health and fitness goals.

When you keep your body guessing it is easier to stimulate your muscles and increase your strength capacity.

Furthermore, with no one looking, this is a great chance to work on activities you’re not sure about or haven’t tried before.

Schedule Time To Train

It’s a double-edged sword to work out at home because it’s so convenient, but this independence can make it easy to miss sessions.

To help combat this, schedule your workouts in your diary or calendar at times you know you’ll stick to in order to keep yourself dedicated and accountable.

Also, this timetable visible will make it easier for you to remember when it’s time to exercise.

Socialize

Do everything you can to be social despite being at home! Join an online fitness class and FaceTime with your pals while doing your own workout.

Set tiny challenges for each other, such as the pushup challenge. Check in on others and encourage those who you believe will benefit the most.

This will keep you and your friends accountable and provide mutual benefit to your fitness and strength goals.

Ultimately home workouts are becoming increasingly popular and for good reason. The convenience, privacy and low costs continue to make it an ideal routine.

When performing home workouts, remember to stay focused by taking extra steps to minimize distractions, keep your body guessing by mixing up your exercises and stick to a strong schedule.

Lastly, don’t let working out at home throw social elements out the window, get others involved by video call during a workout.

Share your progress on social media, and talk with others to learn more and keep yourself accountable.