Hi! I can currently train once a week in my local gym, and I like to train at home with some bodyweight exercises and resistance bands. I’d like your input on my current workout schedule.
I would like to focus on basic strength (squat / push up / deadlift / pull ups) and a bit of muscle mass, with a sprinkle of some calisthenics skills, such as the handstand, currently.
-
Monday: home workout
- Pistol squats: 3 sets for each leg, with an 8kg (17?6 lbs) backpack (I can currently do sets of 8 reps)
- Decline push-ups (superset with previous exercise to save some time): 3 sets (I can do 10 decline push-ups in a row)
- Bodyweight row with a TRX band: 3 sets (currently at 16 reps)
- Abs crunch with a resistance band: 3 sets
-
Wednesday: gym workout
- Pull-ups: 3 sets (I can do sets of 4 clean pull-ups)
- Seated calf raise machine: 3 sets of 10 reps (currently at 39 kg/86lbs per leg)
- Romanian dumbell deadlift: 3 sets of 10 reps (currently lifting with a 30kg/66lbs dumbell in each hand)
-
Thursday: running/zone 2 cardio
- I run about 5km in around 30 min
I would like to use the gym to train the muscles I can’t efficiently hit at home: hamstrings, calves and lats, mainly.
What exercises am I missing? I can easily add more exercises when I’m home, such as chest flies with a resistance band, superman, etc.
If you don’t have a planned system of progressive overload, when to deload, increase and decrease weights, then this isn’t a program, it’s a list of exercises.
You’re hitting a lot of muscle groups, but I’d recommend looking into thefitness.wiki from /r/fitness or buying a 5/3/1 book (2nd edition or Forever)
Thanks for your input, maybe it was not clear, but yes I’m aware of the need to progressively overload, that’s why I wrote between parentheses my current state.
For example, concerning pistol squats, I can do sets of 8 reps, and I plan on adding reps when I can. And for deadlift, I plan on adding weight.
And I did not find a lot of resources about schedules that mix the workout locations (at home/in the gym).
Regarding exercise selection, you’re going to pretty quickly run out of ways to add weight to your at home bench and squat. I’d do pullups at home and use the gym for those three movements to continue increasing load through full range of motion. You’re also not training your hip hinge in any meaningful way, I’d switch to a traditional barbell deadlift off the ground.
Thanks for your input!
My biggest challenge at the moment is going to the gym regularly, that’s why I train everything I can at home, and the rest at the gym. Once I acquire the habit of going to the gym regularly, I will try to add more workouts and more time there.
- I would love to do pull-ups at home but I can’t. I don’t have any suitable doorframe, nor can I pierce my walls to install a bar, since I’m renting.
- For the chest progression: I’m planning on reaching ~20 deficit push-up (that means doubling my current number of reps), then I will train the chest in the gym, with dumbell bench press for instance.
- For the glutes: same thing. I’m planning on reaching around 20 pistol squats (I can do 8 reps, so that leaves me some room for progression), then I will train with some barbell squat in the gym
I indeed overlooked the hip hinge, I will do traditional deadlift instead of romanian. I’m using dumbells because I don’t lift very heavy at the moment, and using dumbells is quicker than setting up a barbell, so that means I can spend more time exercising meaningfully.
