I wrote a post a while back called Back to Basics for Better Results, and it’s time for a second installment. If you haven’t checked that out already, I suggest you do either before or after reading this one.
This post is about going back to the basics again, and I also include a much needed rant, which you’ll see below.
I got the most amazing gifts this Christmas. In fact, it’s something I have wanted for a very long time. This Christmas I received a power rack and barbell set – the beginnings of my home gym and training facility.
Some women want diamonds – I want iron.
Having my own home gym is something I have been wanting for a while, and now it’s a reality. No more commercial gyms for me. From now on all of my training with be done in my garage, and this is where I will train all of my clients too. (Note – if you are in the Western Kentucky area, I will be accepting new clients soon. If you are interested in becoming a client, please contact me via the Contact tab at the top of this page).
Here are the toys I have in my new home gym:
- Power rack with pull-up and parallel dip bars
- Barbell and plates
- Suspension trainer
- 3 kettlebells (one 36lb and two 26lb)
- 50 pound homemade sandbag
- Ab wheel
- 40 pound weight vest
- Jump rope
Needless to say I am going back to training the basics; the very basics.
Immediately you’ll probably notice what I don’t have in my home gym that most people use every time they train – a bench and dumbbells.
Am I concerned or worried that I won’t be able to achieve great results, remain injury free, and stay “balanced” without dumbbells?
Nope.
And I know what some of you are thinking: “Oh my goodness! You don’t have a bench. You won’t be able to bench press!”
I’m well aware of that fact, and I’m not concerned in the least. There are other great exercises I’ll be able to do instead – floor presses, push-ups, and parallel bar dips. This will also be a great opportunity to focus on overhead pressing as well.
I can easily go out and purchase a bench and some dumbbells, but right now I want to keep things as simple, and basic, as possible and focus on just a few great exercises. Using nothing but my bodyweight and a barbell accomplishes that goal.
If I can’t get strong with a barbell and power rack and my own bodyweight, I can’t get strong at all. In reality I could get away with using nothing but a barbell and some weights; the power rack just provides more variety.
People think that if you don’t have access to a gym crammed full of the “latest and greatest” and “state of the art” equipment then you can’t lose fat, get stronger, build muscle, and transform your body.
Two words for my response to that theory – bull shit. In fact, if people would return to the basics and cut out the useless crap, then I guarantee they would achieve far better results, and in less time.
(Side rant – I am so thankful to go back to the bare basics of strength training. I am sick and tired of people wanting “ground breaking” exercises and the “latest and greatest” training information. Look, I can easily create some bull shit, unique exercises, training methodologies, and other useless crap that is “new and exciting”.
But is that really what is important to people nowadays? Do people really want to waste their time and money on something just because it’s different? Well, feel free to go elsewhere and do so, but I’m only going to give you information that I know WORKS and GETS REAL WORLD RESULTS. If that means sticking to the basics of strength training and nutrition, so be it.
Training hard on squats, deadlifts, push-ups and other compound exercises and eating real food may not sound sexy, but it works; THAT should be all that matters.
Rant over. Now back to the original post).
With that said, my main exercises will be:
- Squats
- Deadlifts
- Floor press
- Military press
- Chin-ups
- Parallel bar dips
- Push-ups
- Inverted rows
- Ab wheel rollouts
- Hanging knee/leg raises
I will also perform variations for these exercises as well. Example – deadlifts (sumo, conventional, from a deficit).
No bench. No dumbbells. No machines.
My training will consist 100% of barbell and bodyweight exercises.
I’m not telling you to abandon dumbbell exercises or even the good ole fashion bench press – I’m just trying to reveal the fact that you do not need a lot of equipment, or a lot of exercises for that matter, to have productive training sessions and become a Beautiful Badass.
Here’s my suggestion – look over your own training program. Do you have more than a few exercises that you focus one? Do you constantly rotate exercises? How long do you stick with a few basic exercises and get stronger on those exercises?
If you’ve reached a plateau in your training, or you want to get better results, then I suggest you go back to the basics of strength training and focus on getting stronger.
Keep things simple, improve your performance, and you will get results.
Train Hard. Eat Smart. Get Results. It’s not as hard as you may think.