Workout At Home – Get Back In Shape

The loneliness of the digital entrepreneur is legendary.

Working hours and hours at home in front of the computer is a tough job. Very hard. Over time, sedentary lifestyle becomes routine. You get up in the morning. You sit in front of the screen. You go for a coffee and continue working. You eat and, in the afternoon, more computer.

And now I ask you: when is there time for sports?

Maybe you’re overworked. There is no time to go to the gym, or to go for a walk, or anything at all.

No problem.

You don’t even have 20 minutes a day?

Surely yes…

In an interview with magnate Richard Branson (better said Sir, because this man is not just anyone), they asked him: “Mr. Branson, what is your secret to being so productive?”

The guy, like that, neither short nor lazy, with that flame that the English have, answered: «Sport».

Thanks to sports, Mr. Branson is a hyper-productive person. One of those who get up at 5 in the morning and have plenty of time to do a puzzle of 5,000 pieces.

That’s why today I’m going to talk to you about sports. Specifically, how to train at home to be more productive, get the most out of your day and get back in shape .

Yes. From the comfort of your home. So grab the coffee because curves are coming.

Today I want to teach you a new way of training.

Without leaving a mess in gyms, or putting up with nauseating smells, or endless queues to use a machine. Nothing of that.

The gym is you. You and your house. Or you and the park. As you prefer.

Keep reading because in this post I am going to teach you how to train at home, multiply your productivity and be a hyper-motivated entrepreneur.

And, in addition, you will only need 20 minutes .

Go for it!

WHY TRAIN AT HOME (OR WHEREVER YOU WANT)

“That’s not training” , some will tell you.

“Oh shit. That way you will never get in shape” (some voices are heard in the distance).

“You are going to be left with a body of rubble” (these are the enlightened ones).

Many people think that in order to train, get in shape and get a more defined body, you need to go to the gym.

Big mistake.

Training at home has many benefits. I’m going to tell you my favorites.

1. YOU SAVE A LOT OF TIME

Suppose you have a gym close to home. For example, about 10 minutes walk.

We are going to calculate the time we spend going to the gym by adding everything up (note, it is an estimate, we are not talking about exact sciences).

• Prepare the sports bag → 5 min.
• Go to the gym → 10 min.
• Think about what exercises to do → 5 min.
• Training → 1 hour.
• Pick up the bag and go home → 15 min.

Total: 95 minutes.

If you train at home, you can save at least 40 minutes (shower included).

This would be the plan:

• Warm-up→ 5 minutes.
• Training routine → 20 minutes.
• Stretching → 5 minutes.
• Shower→ 5 minutes.

2. YOU CAN TRAIN ANYWHERE

The power of convenience. When you train with your body weight, you can do it wherever you want.

It does not require special material. No weights, no fancy machines. It is you and your body.

Even if you are traveling, you can train in your hotel room. Or go outside and take advantage of urban furniture to train.

As you can imagine, any place is good to train.

3. IT MAKES YOU STRONGER

For me, strength is not measured by the size of the dumbbell you swing.

If you are not able to freely move your body weight, you are not in shape. You are not strong.

I have several friends who can squat 300 pounds.

And they can’t do 10 push-ups in a row. By training at home, with your body weight, you learn to master the basic exercises.

Push-ups, squats, pull-ups, dips…

4. IT’S CHEAP

How much does a gym cost you per year?

300 euros? 400? Imagine what you could do with that money.

Training at home is cheap and easy. If you want, you can buy extra material and set up a mini-gym: some rings, a pull-up bar… The investment is minimal and you can give your workouts more dynamism, and incorporate new exercises.

HOW TO START TRAINING AT HOME?

Now that you know the benefits of training at home, let’s see how to do it.

1. DEFINE A GOAL

It is useless to play sports without a clear goal.

Why do you want to get in shape?

• To make you feel better?
• Be more productive?
• Sign up for an obstacle course next year?

We all have an objective, a goal marked on fire in our head.

Define which one is yours and write it down in your “sacred training place”.

It can be in the living room, your room, the attic. It’s up to you.

It is important that you write them down and always have them in sight. That way you don’t lose direction or motivation.

2. START SMALL

It’s been a long time since you stopped doing sports. Or you’ve never been serious about it. No matter.

Before starting any activity, it is important to do it progressively .

It’s no use that today you beat yourself up, do 50 push-ups, 100 squats and run 2KMs if you leave it next week.

For example: if you haven’t done any sport for a long time (when I talk about sport I mean an activity of medium intensity, like going for a run for half an hour), for example, more than 6 months, my advice is as follows:

1. Start with a simple activity. About 10 minutes of light jogging.
2. Then incorporate more basic exercises. For example, 10 squats.
3. Continue with another simple exercise, but one that requires a little more complexity and effort. For example, 20 strides.
4. Finish with an exercise that requires more effort, such as push-ups. In this case we will do 10 push-ups.

5 EXCUSES WHY YOU DON’T TRAIN AT HOME (OR ANYWHERE)

Let’s do an exercise in sincerity. Why don’t you play sports? These are the most common excuses. Let’s see what yours is. 😉

“I HAVE NO TIME”

This is my favorite. You and we all have the same time in the day. 24 hours.

It only depends on you how you take advantage of it.

You still prefer to wander around on Facebook watching memes about Game of Thrones .

Or play a game of FIFA.

The truth is that there is always time to play sports. I’m not talking about going to the gym for 2 hours and crushing yourself.

I’m talking about training 20-30 minutes maximum. Trust me: once you pick up the habit, you won’t be able to kick it. Little word.

“I HAVE NO MONEY”

Money is not an excuse when it comes to training at home.

Now you can play sports wherever you want, at home or in the middle of the field. And they don’t charge a fee there.

“I HAVEN’T PLAYED SPORTS IN A LONG TIME”

For that very reason, it’s time to pick it up.

Sport is like learning to ride a bike or drive: you never forget.

What you should not do is start with a very demanding routine, because you lose motivation. This has to go little by little.

“I’M GOING TO GET STRONGER THAN A SUGUS CANDY”

Absolutely. It depends on many factors: training, diet, rest, etc.

Perhaps another day we will go into more detail on that subject, because it gives for another 3 articles.

“I DON’T HAVE ROOM AT HOME TO TRAIN”

You can train on the street, in a park, on sports courts, in an outdoor car park.

The street is your gym. Take advantage of your environment to train.

Use the benches, goals, baskets and other urban furniture as gym equipment.

WHY YOU SHOULD TRAIN AT HOME IN THE MORNING

Although the important thing is that you return to exercise and begin to move your skeleton, given the choice, the ideal is to do sports in the morning.

I tell you the reasons.

TESTOSTERONE IS “ON FIRE”

According to various studies, the highest testosterone level is reached first thing in the morning. That’s why they recommend training as soon as you get up (among other reasons).

If you get up, get dressed and antennae at home, you take advantage of that extra shot of testosterone, while during the day the levels are lower.

YOU WORK MORE CONCENTRATED

After a good workout, your body is “on fire”, with the post-workout high.

In my case, the most productive time is right after training. I have it verified.

I am 100% focused on what I do. At least for 60-80 minutes. From that moment on, a feeling of calm and relaxation invades me. It is the perfect time to have a coffee.

In your case, exercising before sitting in front of the computer will help you perform better on your projects and tasks.

NOTHING AND NO ONE CAN BOYCOTT YOUR TRAINING

Pipipipipipi. The alarm rings at 6 in the morning. Or 7. I don’t know, when you get up.

You wash your face, brush your teeth, get dressed and train.

Who can spoil the moment?

The tiredness, the stress of the day? No, because you just got up.

A meeting in the late afternoon? No, because it’s still morning.

An impertinent call to have a beer? No, because it’s early.

Are we going to the cinema? Either. 🙂

In short, first thing in the morning there are no plans in sight, no interruptions or issues to attend to with clients or your collaborators , so it is a perfect time to train at home.

YOU START THE DAY IN A BETTER MOOD

When you exercise, your body naturally produces dopamine.

Dopamine is a chemical that regulates, among other things, pleasure and motivation. This is a simplistic way of summarizing it.

Numerous studies have shown that as we age, dopamine production declines.

Therefore, the older, the more bitter?

That would explain a lot of things… 😀

Conclusion:

STIMULATE YOUR METABOLISM

In the world of fitness there is a term that I really like. It’s EPOC (Post Exercise Oxygen Consumption).

This theory defines that your body consumes more calories after training, even right now as I write this post. Incredible.

You get up, train and your metabolism kicks in.

And not only that.

According to a study in 2013, training fasted (ergo, first thing in the morning) burns 20% more fat than if you train after eating.

YOU SLEEP BETTER AT NIGHT

The National Sleep Foundation argues that training in the morning helps you fall asleep. In addition, the sleep is deeper and of quality.

YOU’RE GONNA GET STRONGER

As you already know, the highest levels of testosterone are reached in the morning.

Testosterone is the hormone responsible for muscle growth, so you can take advantage of that testosterone boost to train harder.

And that your body develops more muscle.

Then, if you want to take advantage of your body’s potential, training at home in the morning is the ideal solution .

MOTIVATES YOU TO EAT HEALTHIER

Many times we justify our poor diet, saying “it doesn’t matter, if I’m going to burn it off later in the gym”.

By training at home in the morning, you know that the “calorie burner” moment ends after breakfast. In order not to harm our progress, we must control these foods.

THE “REWARD” IS GREATER

When I talk about reward, I mean that feeling of well-being that invades you when you train. And you’ve given it all. That zen moment when you finish the bottle of water and you say to yourself: “What a good training”.

It is a personal opinion. I find morning training more rewarding than any other time.

THE 5 FUNDAMENTAL EXERCISES TO TRAIN AT HOME

No, I don’t want to overwhelm you with 50 exercises with their 50 variations and positions. I think it’s absurd. and ineffective.

That’s why I wanted to summarize the essence of training at home in 3 exercises. If you combine them you can achieve very powerful workouts and great results.

Let the show begin.

1. LUNGES

The foreigners call it lunges ; us, strides or lunges. As you like.

The lunges is a very good exercise to train at home that we can summarize as follows:

It’s like taking a step and with the other leg you make the movement of touching the ground with the knee, without touching it.

I explain:

In a standing position, place your feet hip-width apart.

Now take a wide step with your right leg and bring your left knee almost to the ground (at a distance of about 10 cm from the ground).

The trunk remains straight, do not arch forward, and keep your eyes straight ahead.

To know if you are doing the movement well, I advise you to do the lunges in front of a mirror.

And to make sure, check that the front leg draws a 90-degree angle with the ground.

Now return to the starting position and repeat the movement with the other leg.

2. SQUAT

Since time immemorial, the squat has been used as a natural resting position. Even today, many tribes in Central Africa and South America continue to use it.

The squat is a basic movement, but at the same time it is complex.

How to do a squat?

1. Place your feet hip-width apart, with the toes pointing slightly out.
2. Now make a movement as if you wanted to sit on a chair, slowly lowering yourself.
3. Keep your chest up, don’t lean forward or slouch.
4. Throughout the squat we make force with the abdomen. That gives us stability.
5. When you make the downward movement, be careful that your knees do not exceed the toes.

3. FLEXING

The push-up is a very complete exercise, which allows you to work biceps, triceps, pectorals, glutes, shoulders, dorsal…

Come on, almost the whole body.

Let ‘s see how to do a push-up correctly .

Lie in a horizontal position, facing the ground, and place your arms at the width of your shoulders. The elbows have to draw an angle of 45 degrees, more or less. Ideally, they should point backwards.

The palms of the hands remain semi-open, with the hands pointing slightly outwards.

As for the feet, only the toes are in contact with the ground.

The trunk remains straight, perfectly aligned. It’s like drawing a diagonal.

While you are in the position that I indicate in the photo, raise your body with force.

 

The final position would be the following:

 

As I mentioned before, the trunk remains straight, drawing a diagonal. The buttocks and abdomen remain tense.

Now we come to the last part. The downward movement in the pushup is a slower movement, not as explosive as the upward movement.

If you find it difficult to do a push-up, we have an easier variant.

incline bending

It is the simplest version of the typical push-up. You can use a chair, a table, a bench, which is at a certain height with respect to your body.

Place your arms shoulder-width apart, on the bench, or whatever. Bring your chest down, touching the bench.

If you want to add difficulty to your push-ups, there is a harder exercise.

declined flexion

It is similar to the previous exercise, with one difference. In this case, place your feet on top of the bench or other item. Now try to touch the ground with your chest.

4. CHIN UP

It is a simple exercise. Hold tightly to an object that serves as a bar (it can be the branch of a tree, the horizontal post of a goal, the crossbar of a swing…).

The grip we use is the supine type (with the knuckles pointing towards your face). Now pull hard with your arms until your nose clears the branch, post or whatever.

Congratulations. You already have your first chin up.

5. DOMINATED

To do a pull-up correctly, find a good bar and hold it tight with 2 hands (i.e. your thumb goes around the bar). Hands are shoulder width apart.

You can use several grips: the prone grip (hands are lined up side by side), the supine grip (palms facing you), and the neutral grip (one hand in front of the other).

You can alternate several grips and thus train different muscle groups.

Before doing the pull-up, take a deep breath and roll your shoulders back using your back muscles to do the pull-up. Go up until your chin is above the bar.

If you squeeze your abdomen and buttocks, the exercise is easier.

If the pull-up is too complicated an exercise, let’s see an easier alternative.

Negative pull up

The mechanics of the exercise is as follows. Hang from the bar, just as if you were doing a pull-up. Now go down slowly, until your arms are fully stretched.

If you want, you can help yourself with a chair, a stool or another element that serves as support.

Assisted pull up

Since we have mentioned the chair as a “little help” to do negative pull-ups, now we are going to take advantage of it.

In this case, we place the chair just below the bar. Now climb on top and grab the bar. Go down slowly, then go up, and try to lean on the chair as little as possible.

If you only use one foot as a point of support and help, much better. The goal is to limit the use of the chair as much as possible.

POST MARZIPAN TRAINING ROUTINE

The theory is very cool, yes. We have seen a few exercises to get in shape.

And as they say in my land, “now she comes where they kill her.”

I am going to share with you a routine so that you can start training at home as soon as you finish reading the post. If you don’t, a furious horde of shortbread and nougat will destroy the fridge of your house.

DAY 1

You have 15 minutes to do these exercises. When you finish a series, start over.

• 1km run
• 15 push-ups (if you can’t, use the incline version)
• 30 squats

DAY 2

5 sets of:

• 50 meter sprint
• 10 chin-ups
• 20 lunges
• 30″ plank

DAY 3

This is a more complex workout. You are going to work for 1 minute and rest for 30 seconds.

The training lasts 20 minutes. Let’s go with it.

You have to do the following exercises.

• 10 strides.
• 5 push-ups (if you can do them on an incline, even better)
• 10 squats

If you don’t have time to finish the series during the minute, nothing happens. You start over again once the rest time is over.

DAY 4

All the series you can do in 30 minutes.

• 500 meter run
• 20 push-ups
• 500 meter run
• 10 chin-ups

DAY 5

You have to do 6 sets of the following exercises. There is no time limit.

• 15 push-ups
• 20 squats
• 40 squats
• 10 chin-ups

DAY 6

The 300 challenge. There is no time limit. Good luck with the last training.

• 100 lunges
• 100 squats
• 50 push ups
• 50 chin ups

SOME FOODS THAT WILL HELP YOU TRAIN AT HOME

A good workout is always linked to a good diet. They are like the Siamese twins in the circus, it is not understood that one acts without the other. Well the same.

These are some of the foods that I recommend to be more productive .

COFFEE

For me, coffee is essential. You can take even the water from me, but don’t touch the coffee. 😉

Coffee improves your alertness and performance. And to explain it better, I’m going to get a little scientific with this topic.

According to a study published by Dr. Stephen Braun “the caffeine in coffee blocks adenosine receptors, a component of our brain that makes us feel sleepy.”

It also depends on your tolerance to caffeine, age, weight, the hours you have slept…

In addition, the oils contained in coffee (kahweol and cafestol) have very powerful anti-inflammatory properties that protect the brain from oxidative stress. Speaking plainly, coffee prevents the brain from getting old and wrinkled.

And not only that. Various studies have shown that coffee helps memorize faster, improves logical reasoning and reduces mental fatigue .

Also when training is the perfect ally. A cup of coffee before exercising prolongs your performance.

In short: it takes longer to tire.

DARK CHOCOLATE

For many years, dark chocolate has been the “Bart Simpson of foods.” The macarrilla, typical badass that is good, but no.

However, dark chocolate is a very beneficial food: it has many antioxidants, prevents cardiovascular diseases, lowers cholesterol levels and is good for the brain .

In addition, it contains a small dose of caffeine. Chocolate consumption is also associated with the production of phenylethylamine, which releases endorphins.

And, as you well know, endorphins mean feeling good.

WALNUTS

Walnuts are known for their Omega 3 content, and as the perfect ally against heart disease.

Among the great benefits of walnuts: they reduce oxidative stress associated with age (come on, they slow down aging), they prevent prostate cancer and diabetes.

In addition, its high content of vitamin B3 and B6 help regulate mood and appetite.

BROCCOLI

“Mom, what’s for dinner?”

BROCCOLI.

The brothers stare at each other. The faces reflect the drama of the situation. All hope is a mere illusion. Broccoli has come to stay.

It is the cursed food for many generations. The texture, a radioactive color that does not accompany, that smell of…, well, that smell…

Well, it turns out that broccoli is one of the vegetables with the highest concentration of protein and vitamins.

Broccoli is a food that helps protect the heart, detoxifies the body, protects the bones and strengthens your immune system.

EGGPLANT

By the way, most of the eggplant’s nutrients are in the purple layer. That’s where usin is found, a substance that promotes communication between brain cells and concentration .

So not only is it good for your physical training, but it will also help you work better.

READY TO TRAIN AT HOME?

With these exercises, you already have a basic routine to resume the sport and incorporate a good habit into your daily life as an entrepreneur.

Start with low repetitions and as your fitness improves increase them. But don’t beat yourself up on the first day!

Your main goal should be to acquire the habit . You will have time to train at high intensity if that is what you want in the long term.

Also, sudden beatings are not good for the body . Your heart, muscles, and joints all need training, so work your way up.

I hope that the article will help you and start training with more enthusiasm than ever.

Your turn: are you going to start playing sports? What is the main excuse you use for not moving? Do you have any questions about an exercise? I wait for you in the comments.