Strength Training for Athletes at Home

As an athlete, professional or amateur, you may have thought about what types of strength training you can do at home. Many athletes can’t afford the luxury of spending all their waking hours in the gym. Fortunately, there are several things you can do in the comfort of your own home to continue your strength training.

Strength training at home for athletes involves intense workouts without going to your local gym. Athletes can build strength with resistance exercises that don’t require large fitness equipment.

With a few easily purchased training tools, any athlete can continue their strength training at home. Read on to find out more.

You might ask why an athlete would want to train at home.

Saves Money

Gym memberships can be costly. If you aren’t working out at the gym regularly, your fees might not be worth the money.

Saves Time

Strength training at home can save you valuable time. There’s no packing your gym bag and driving to the gym or fitness center.

Privacy

Training at home gives you complete privacy. For those who are a bit self-conscious, working out alone is a judgment-free zone.

Distraction-Free Environment

For some athletes, the gym is not only a place to work out, but it can also quickly become a social scene. At-home training eliminates running into your workout friends and becoming distracted with small talk, or worse, long conversations.

Strength Training for Athletes at Home

For athletes who want to train for strength while at home, there are an infinite number of exercises that can be performed. We’ll discuss three of the most popular – training with resistance bands, using free weights, and using your own body weight as resistance.

Strength Training at Home Using Resistance Bands

One of the methods used for strength training involves resistance bands. As their name implies, these elastic bands provide resistance against a specific targeted muscle group or groups of muscles. This strength training tool is inexpensive and doesn’t take up much space in your home. Resistance bands come in different lengths and widths to provide different levels of resistance.

Listed below are some strength training exercises athletes can do at home using these flexible bands. Note that we’ll focus on the types of exercises using flexible bands with handles.

Bicep Curl

1. Stand with both feet on the resistance band and with your feet shoulder-width apart.
2. Hold a handle in each hand, with your arms extended to your sides, and with your palms outward.
3. Engage your core, and with control, slowly bend your elbows and curl your arms upward until they’re at shoulder height.
4. Slowly move your arms back until they’re again fully extended at your sides.
5. Repeat.

Upright Row

1. Standing with your feet shoulder-width apart, stand on the resistance band.
2. Hold a handle in each hand, arms at the side of your body, palms facing inward.
3. While keeping your back straight, engage your core, and slowly lift your hands to shoulder height. Your elbows will be extended to your sides.
4. While squeezing your shoulder blades together, pause for a moment.
5. Lower your hands back to the starting position.
6. Repeat.

Thrusters

1. Stand on the resistance band with your feet shoulder distance apart, holding a handle in each hand.
2. Bring your hands to shoulder height, palms forward. Ensure the bands are behind your arms. Your elbows will be pointing outward.
3. Keeping your arms upright, dip down into a squatting position. Bend your knees as far as you can but no further than parallel with the floor.
4. Push through your heels, and stand back upright.
5. Once you are nearly upright, drive your arms upward until they are fully extended.
6. With control, lower your hands to your shoulders.
7. Repeat.

Kneeling Superman

1. Start on your hands and knees while holding a handle in each hand.
2. Hook the resistance band around the sole of your right foot.
3. Lift your right foot as high as you can off the ground while raising your left arm, holding it parallel to the floor.
4. Return your arm and leg to the starting position.
5. Now follow the same movements using your left foot and right arm.
6. Repeat.

Strength Training at Home Using Free Weights

Training with free weights at home is a common strength training method. Slowly increasing the weight and increasing the repetitions is an excellent way to build muscle strength. Most athletes have at least some free weights at home. If that’s not the case with you, we recommended purchasing a basic set of dumbbells.

We’ll cover some exercises that athletes can do at home without needing a full set of weights and other equipment. These exercises will only require dumbbells, which are easy to store in your home.

Floor Press

1. Lay down flat on the floor with your knees bent.
2. With a dumbbell in each hand, push your arms upward until they are fully extended.
3. Once your arms are fully extended, slowly and with control, lower them until your triceps are back on the floor.
4. Repeat.

Renegade Row

1. Begin with a dumbbell in both hands while in a pushup position. Your feet can be a little wider than shoulder distance apart.
2. Starting with your right arm, lift up the dumbbell until it reaches the side of your body.
3. With control, lower it until it is back resting on the floor.
4. Do the same movement with your left arm.
5. Repeat.

Hammer Bent-Over Row

1. With your feet slightly apart, pick up a dumbbell in each hand and with your palms facing inward.
2. Bend slightly forward with bent knees and pull the dumbbells up towards your chest.
3. Hold them for a brief moment before slowly bringing them back down to the start position.
4. Repeat.

Dumbbell Swing

1. Stand with your feet shoulder distance apart with dumbbells in each hand and your palms facing inward.
2. Keeping your back straight, bend your knees slightly while pushing your hips back, and swing the dumbbells between your legs.
3. Once the dumbbells have swung behind you, switch the momentum forward and thrust them upward until they reach chest level.
4. With control, let the weights swing back down and between your legs again.
5. Repeat.

Strength Training at Home Using Your Body Weight

Requiring nothing but your own body weight, athletes can train for strength at home performing body strengthening exercises. The obvious benefit of this type of training is that there’s nothing to buy and no need for large and expensive weight training equipment. These types of exercises can be done literally anywhere at any time.

Listed below are several types of exercises that are good for strength training for athletes at home:

• Sit-ups
• Pushups
• Planks
• Crunches
• Lunges
• Pullups

In addition to these well-known body weight exercises, here are some other exercises along with the steps on how to do them properly.

Overhead Crunch

1. Lay on the floor with your knees bent and your arms extended on the floor behind your head.
2. Engage your core and crunch forward while lifting your arms until your shoulders are off the ground.
3. Slowly and with control, lay back down until your shoulders and arms are on the ground.
4. Repeat.

Spider Crawl

1. Assume a pushup position.
2. Lift your right foot off of the ground and bring your right knee towards your right elbow, touching them if possible.
3. With control, return your leg back and assume a pushup position.
4. Follow the same movements with your left leg.
5. Repeat.

Single-Leg Glute Bridge

1. Lay on your back with knees bent and arms by your side with palms down.
2. Raise your right leg straight up.
3. Push your hips up off the ground as high as you can.
4. Slowly return your hips to the ground.
5. Follow the same movements using your left leg.
6. Repeat.

Chest Flick Pushup

1. Start from a pushup position.
2. Lower your body until your chest almost touches the floor.
3. Push your body up forcefully. When you’re nearly all the way up, tap your chest quickly with both hands.
4. Place your hands back down on the ground and land in the starting position.
5. Repeat.

Athletes Can Strength Train Just as Hard at Home as in the Gym

If you’re an athlete that doesn’t have access to a gym or simply wants to strength train while at home, you have plenty of options. With the use of common dumbbells, resistance bands, and even the weight of your own body, you can train just as hard as you can at the gym. In-home training can also save you money and keep you more focused on your workout. All that’s left to do is make a start and get into a consistent routine.