While many of us are stuck at home, we’re missing key daily parts of our lives. One thing we wish we had? The gym. While HIIT and some good cardio are easy to do without equipment, there’s just something about being able to do strength training. BoxUnion has the solution. They’ve engineered five simples moves you can use at home to increase strength while we don’t have access to the gym, a special BoxUnion workout for Sporteluxe. Below are the moves you can add to your current training to really level up your at-home workout. Beth Gold from BoxUnion gives us an incredible workout with no equipment at all.
Beth Gold is a personal and group fitness trainer based out of NYC with an emphasis on boxing and strength training. Currently teaching boxing class on BoxUnion Digital. Beth is also a certified personal trainer through NASM. NASM is a certified functional strength coach through CFSC as well as a pre/postnatal certified trainer through Pronatal Fitness.
This BoxUnion Workout Will Increase Your Strength In 5 Easy Moves
1) Scapula Push-Up
Scapula push-ups assist in stabilizing your shoulders which is essential in boxing and other movements we encounter in strength training. They also promote better posture (looking at you, WFH) as well as protecting against chronic neck pain. These are great to add into your dynamic warm-up or on their own after a long day sitting at a desk.
- Start in a high plank, shoulders over your wrists squeezing your glutes and core to prevent your hips from sinking.
- Keep your arms straight as you sink your chest so your shoulder blades pinch together. Do this without lowering your chest and body to the floor. The very small range of motion.
- Press back through your palms as you protract or press your shoulder blades apart.
- If you are a beginner you can do these steps with your hands against a wall before taking it down to your plank.
2) 1 1/2 Squat
My favorite version of a bodyweight squat at home to really increase your leg power without weights is the 1 1/2 squat. When coming up halfway after you have fully descended in your squat will increase time under tension which in turn makes the movement more challenging, increasing your strength. 1 1/2 squats target your quads and outer thighs.
- Start in a standard squat position, feet slightly wider than your hip. Put your hands either in front of your body or behind your head.
- Fully drop your hips all the way down as if you were sitting back into a chair, weight in your heels.
- Drive through your heels to come up only halfway, pause, and drop your hips low once more into a full squat (weight stays in your heels).
- Again, driving through your heels to a full stand, back to your starting position to complete the rep.
3) Single-Leg Hip Bridge
Hip bridges are simply a hinge motion and hinging is an essential part of functional strength. I love the hip bridge for at-home strength building. You can increase its intensity by doing one leg at a time or elevating your feet up on a couch or table (or both, cue evil laugh). Single leg hip bridges target your hamstrings, glutes, and core.
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- Laying on your back, dig one heel in the ground while extending the other leg to the ceiling. Keep your hands at your side for stability.
- As you push through your grounded heel, raise your hips off the ground. Do this without arching your back at the (think belly button to spine).
- With full control, slowly lower your hips back down and repeat.
- If you want an extra challenge you can do one or both of the following: don’t let your hips touch the ground on the way back down, elevate your grounded heel on a couch or chair.
4) Hand-Release Push-Up
Let’s face it, if we had a dollar for every push up we have done at home in the last few months we would be rich. An HRPU requires you to take the push up from the ground which will really level up your push up game. This decreases momentum and increases the range of motion, really forcing you to work the muscles already targeted in a standard push up (shoulders, chest, and core). A true “moving plank”!
- Starting in a high plank, shoulders over your wrists squeezing your glutes and core to prevent your hips from sinking.
- Lower your chest all the way down to the floor in one place (don’t let your hips sink first) by pinning your elbows back into an A shape.
- Lift your hands up off the floor to hover a few inches (right under your shoulders).
- Place your hands back on the ground, press through your palms while drawing your navel to the ceiling, squeezing your quads and glutes once more as you push back up into your high plank without sinking your hips or “snaking” your body up.
5) Hollow Hold
Add the word “hold” to any movement and you are instantly increasing time under tension and creating a strength move, aka “isometric hold”. With the hollow hold, we are targeting your entire anterior chain (that’s the front of your body: think abs, deep core, hip flexors, and quads) as well as mitigating any back pain. Hold for a minimum of 20 seconds to get that good burn.
- Starting on your back, extend your arms overhead (biceps to temples) and legs straight out.
- Lift your head, shoulder blades, arms, and legs off the floor while driving your belly button down through the floor.
- Hold for a minimum of 20 seconds to get that good burn and repeat!
- If you are just starting in your hollow hold, the option to put hands behind your head.
