Gear for Strength Training at Home

• Whatever you do, don’t delay starting a weight routine because you don’t have the ‘right gear!’
•  2 x 20 lb dumbbells,
• Depending on where you’re at, a 35-45lb kettle bell (For swings/squats/Turkish getup)
• A pullup bar (I use a doorway) and/or TRX-suspension strap (this can be made)
• Stretch bands for band pull a parts and similar warmup/therapy / corrective  (small/skinny usually orange or red)  and/or a large (usually green) for stretching hips/hamstrings etc.
• Yoga mat: Not 100% necessary but if you have bad knees, this can help if you’re doing any floor work on a hard surface. It can also help anchor you to creating a ‘gym station’ somewhere in the house where this is all organized and ready to go
• For extra work, weight vests are another thing that can help to add load to walks and for things like squats (wear a vest and then hold the weights you have )
• On a budget? Keep your eye for weights on your local buy and sell / Craigslist / Kijiji etc. as there are some older style weights that will pop up. You can also use some things around your house, like a gallon jug of water (8 pounds), to get started.
• Adding more Weight = What if you hold the weights together, tie them together or put them in a bag to bias to one side / one leg?  Often for things like squats you can group small weights together. Some other common strategies are to find things around the house/hardware store like cinder blocks, rocks
• Make it harder with variations like one leg squats, lunges, stepups can augment the weights you have by putting more stress on single limbs. Moving SLOWLY or through more range of motion can also really create challenge ( a deep squat or lunge or step up for example or a pushup with narrow hands, elbows back 5sec up / down)  * this is a deep stepup example ... trying to just barely touch the ground with the non-working leg

Book a Zoom appointment with Peter to go over strength movements or issues you are having.