Troy M Anderson - Hardcore at Home: Welcome to the Big Time

This article comes from Figure Athlete, T-Nation's site directed at women with a serious desire to be fit, lean, and strong. This is good stuff, and it's not for absolute beginners. This might be tough for some men.

Hardcore at Home: Welcome to the Big Time
by Troy M Anderson

It all starts somewhere. Some of us started out in dirty, cramped, ill-equip high school weight rooms, some started out with their own Jane Fonda starter kick — leg warmers and all, and others started out with a piece of resistance band or pair of pretty purple neoprene-covered dumbbells.

Regardless of how or where we all started, everyone reading this has ended up at a place as great as Figure Athlete. For me, T-nation was such a place somewhere around ten years ago. The good thing is that you're here.

Of course in the beginning, things were probably slightly overwhelming; you may've read a couple of articles or lurked around a forum thread, but you couldn't quite find exactly what you were looking for.

You aren't a complete beginner who breaks a sweat walking around the block and uses cans of soup for her resistance workouts anymore. You've been working out at home learning how to squat, row, and press, and you know there has be something more to workouts than 10-pound dumbbells and DVDs

You're ready to make the jump, but there's just one catch, hiccup, road block: You need to train at home because of any of the following:

• Your career
• Your kids
• Your complete and utter disdain for commercial gyms
• Your other commitments and priorities

If what I just wrote comes close to explaining where you're coming from, then welcome to the Big Time: Your very first "Hardcore at Home" workout.

Despite what many experts might want you to believe, you can produce some astounding results with a very minimal home set-up. You don't need anything close to the "two-car garage" set-up I happen to have.

Before we get in to the meat and potatoes of this program, I need to share with you the three basic premises and principles that underlie the program.

1. The first and foremost goal here is to give you the top quality results you deserve.

2. This will not be your typical watered down home workout; no pink dumbbells here.

3. We'll keep the "tools" to a minimum while keeping them cost effective and usable long-term.

The Ingredient List

• 1 pair 30-pound dumbbells
• 1 pair 12-15-pound dumbbells
• 1 8-pound medicine ball
• 1 exercise/yoga mat
• 1 10-12" step
• 1 jump rope

You may have already accumulated at least some of this stuff, but if you haven't, then I suggest going the fiscal conservative route — a.k.a. Play It Again Sports and Craigslist.com. You should be able to easily gather up all of this equipment for just around $100 or so; not too bad of an investment for some core fitness tools that will last a long time!

Program Expectations

Time: You can expect to spend 30-45 minutes training during each session. This will equal somewhere between 3-6% of your total available time each week after sleep and work.

Effort: This is a very important variable in the home workout equations since this will likely be the first time you'll be using a larger weight. Focus on what you're doing. Be in the moment, not just going through the motions to "get it done."

Compliance: It's been said before, and it will be said again — a program can only be as good as your compliance to it.

Comfort Zone: Moving into "real" lifting is going to push you. Embrace and overcome the challenge!

Now, onto the stuff you've been itching for.

Program Outline

Three Lifting Days: The basic programming here will consist of full body lifting. Each day will include pressing, rowing, core integration, and a compound lower body movement.

Two Conditioning Days: These will be short, sweet, and intense interval training days with a low technical demand but a high metabolic demand.

Unlimited Auxiliary NEPA: A.k.a. 20-60 minute walks. This will give you an opportunity to clear your mind by getting out of the house and away from any evening time temptation that might be lurking.

Read the whole program.

Tags: fitness, Health, weight training, Figure Athlete, T-Nation, Hardcore at Home, Troy M Anderson, strength, working out