How to do S&C without a Gym – Part 1
John Shields, Level 3 Coach and Tutor for Athletics Ireland
In these extraordinary times we as coaches are challenged to come up with a programme for our athletes that maintains and even adds to the strength that we have gained over the autumn and winter without having access to a gym. This article is for those who have limited equipment and want to stay fit and strong. There are, however, things that you can purchase online and will not break the bank.
There are three areas that you need to work on. Firstly, the upper body, secondly, the lower body and finally the core. It is easier to work on the upper body and the core outside the gym, the lower body is significantly harder.
With no gym you can work on the upper body through a whole series of press ups. There are normal ones, as well as elevated, rotational, military, clap press-ups and a host of others. Then there are dips which can be done on a chair, a table or any raised object. To add extra resistance, you can wear a backpack with heavy objects in it. If you can afford it you can get
medicine balls, mini bands and resistance bands online from www.lokisports.com
Examples of these exercises are as follows:
Chest Focused Press Up Variations
Press Ups
Incline Press Ups
Decline Press Ups
Rotational Press Ups
Band Resisted Press Ups
Dumbbell Press Ups
Clap Press Ups
Medicine Ball Press Ups
Triceps Focused Press Up Variations
Narrow Grip Press Ups
Narrow Grip Incline Press Ups
Decline Narrow Grip Press Ups
Band Resisted Narrow Grip Press Up
Dip Variations
Bench Dips
Bench Dips with feet elevated
Parallel Dips
Backpack Weighted Parallel Dips
It becomes more challenging to work the lower body, but it can be done. It’s not easy to replicate cleans, squats or deadlifts without a decent amount of external resistance. When doing body weight squats increase the reps significantly to achieve a similar result. Lunges, Split Squats, Single Leg Squats and step ups can be done with high reps producing good results.
An excellent hamstring exercise is a Nordic Curl. Get somebody to hold your ankles or fix them under a chair. RDL’s are another good way to challenge the hamstrings and glutes. Here you will need to do them correctly and use high reps.
For the glutes all sorts of bridges are excellent for strength development as well as work with the resistance bands.
Don’t forget the calves. They can be worked on with single leg calf raises on the stairs or a block.
Lower Body Exercises
Quad-Dominant lower body Exercises
Bodyweight Squats
Med Ball Squats
Walking Lunges
Reverse Lunge
Split Squats
Rear Leg Elevated Split Squats
Single Leg Squats
Pistol Squats
Sissy Squats
Hamstring-Dominant Exercises
Single Leg RDL
Hamstring Walkouts
Hamstring Leg Curls
Resistance Band Deadlifts or RDLs
Nordic Curl
Band Resisted Nordic Curl
Sliding Hamstring Curl
Straight Legged Bridge
Reverse Hyperextensions
Calf Exercises
Single Leg Calf Raise on the Stairs
These are simple ways without a gym to get a similar effect and at least maintain the strength you gained. In Part 2 I will talk about ways to challenge the core.
John Shields 10-04-2020
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