Fit Tip Fridays: #55

Building Strength at Home

January 13, 2023

Fit Tip Friday #55

💪Building Strength at Home

Welcome to this week's Fit Tip Friday!I want to say a special welcome to all the new subscribers. The Layman's Fitness community has grown a lot in the last month. Ever since I started working full-time after grad school (7 years ago), I have been obsessed with finding ways to become stronger while working out in my home gym.In the early years of my marriage, my wife and I moved 5 times in 5 years. Each time we moved we would have to pack up the gym equipment that we had. This forced me to run a lean home gym operation. Which made it tricky for me as I was trying to build strength at home. I think the strength code using barbells has already been cracked. Squats, bench, and deadlifts. Rinse and repeat. However, I never really had room for barbells in any of the places we first lived (apartment life...). And honestly, training with barbells is not my personal preference (shout out to all the barbell bro's out there!). This led me to bodyweight. Then dumbbell training. And now kettlebells. I've written programs with all three of these modalities, purchased others, tweaked them, tried them all again, and sought out more. I've also spent hours and hours reading and researching different programming techniques, trying them, tweaking them again, then retesting. What I'm about to share with you is by no means a perfect program. Feel free to tweak it as you wish, as I'm sure you'll find places it can be improved.But this program is as close as I can get to a full-body strength building program without using barbells, while working out at home. And, all this without spending hours each day in the home gym.This is the program I'm doing right now in January 2023. I tested it for a few weeks at the end of 2022, tweaked it, and then have been doing my tweaked version for a few weeks. It's been grueling and rewarding.  Oh, and this program is also free. I hope it serves you well. But this is not a beginner program. Use my other 4 programs on the LF Hub if you're looking to get started with something. For complete beginners I'd recommend the 12-week program, and who have exercised regularly in the past but are looking to restart, the 5-week program is for you. 

Let's jump in! 

💪The Custom Corner

I saved this workout in a new page on the Hub called the "Custom Corner". ➡️Click here to view the Custom Corner page on the Hub. And continue reading to learn its design.Structure:

  • Equipment: I'm using 2-24kg kettlebells, a pull-up bar, and an ab-roller (optional)

    • You can definitely use 1 kettlebell, or find ways to substitute with dumbbells

  • Duration: 4 weeks

  • Workouts: 3x a week

  • Time: 40 minutes

  • Goal: To build strength while at home

  • Main Movements used: Thruster & Pull-Ups

  • Additional Tips: You can do this at home or at a local gym. For my rest days (2-3x a week), I'm doing 80-120 KB swings and 3-5 get-ups with a 32kg kettlebell. And lots of walks with my family and my dog (who is appreciative of these walks). 

This program uses a combination of step-loading and circuits. These are two of my favorite strategies, both with different goals.With step-loading you'll build serious strength over time, if you commit to it. It's a patient man's approach to building strength (diligence > hastiness from Proverbs 21:5). With circuits, you'll elevate your heart rate (for cardiovascular health), burn fat, and develop stability & muscular endurance.Enjoy!

📃Resources

Here are some of my favorite finds from the last few weeks. 

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Here's Exactly How Much Protein You NeedA few qualifiers right off the bat. Nutritional science is more complex than this headline makes you believe, and in general I'm not a fan of the marketing Men's Health uses in the fitness space. But I think they nail the main protein principles here.In general, for protein consumption: 

  • 100 to 130 grams daily: 30 grams of protein at each meal, with an additional 10-20 grams with two snacks

  • 1 gram of protein for your target bodyweight (if you want to build muscle)

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Fit for What? The Spiritual Habit of ExerciseThis DesiringGod article nails the central theme of exercise: movement. All exercise is just movement, whether it's jogging, biking, weight training, etc... And when we move, we do it for the glory of God. Some great thoughts in this article. 

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Greg Brookes - Kettlebell WorkoutsThis is a great kettlebell resource for beginners. Greg Brookes has been a kettlebell trainer for years, and his resources make kettlebell training accessible. If you are looking to start your kettlebell journey, I'd recommend checking out what Greg has been doing for years.