During this unprecedented time, gyms are closed for the first time ever. Most gyms are even open on Christmas. But for a couple of months now, most of the world has been in lockdown. For many people who have health and fitness goals, this can become a source of anxiety; fearing that they won’t be able to make progress. That’s why we’re here.

Home workouts have been on the rise, and according to Google Trends, have become one of the most googled topics of 2020 globally. Here at House Gym, we’re at the forefront of the conversation, because we provide home workout set ups that ensure you’re able to get an effective workout from the comfort of your home.

But are home workouts actually effective?

This is probably a question you have asked if you’re stuck at home without gym access. Can you even get a sweat on just using your bodyweight? What if you only have resistance bands? What if you’re used to benching PRs, can you still increase your strength? The answer is absolutely. Functional home training is one of the most popular forms of exercise and can help you get fit, lean and muscular - whatever your goal may be. Using just your bodyweight and resistance bands works to build functional strength - a key precursor to physical fitness.

Bodyweight training with resistance bands is more functional than weight lifting, on the basis that you’re working through movement patterns rather than isolating muscles in an unnatural way - for example, rather than doing heavy bicep curls you’re doing chin ups. This has a plethora of benefits ranging from a reduced risk of injury, increased balance and flexibility, improvements in strength and cardiovascular fitness. Functional training helps you perform better in all physical activity by strengthening key movement patterns.

Doing home workouts with just your bodyweight and some resistance bands can be extremely effective. A study published by the Journal of Orthopedic and Sports Physical Therapy compared closed kinetic chain (CKC) versus open kinetic chain (OKC) exercises. CKC exercises are exercises either using bodyweight or resistance bands, in which your body moves through space rather than an external object. The study found that CKC resulted in a 31 percent increase in strength after the six week intervention, compared to the OKC exercise group who only increased their strength by 13 percent. The hypothesis that was confirmed in the study, was that due to increased muscle fiber activation in bodyweight training, strength and muscle is gained more efficiently.

Another interesting study examined how effective resistance bands are compared to weights. The researchers found that elastic resistance bands significantly increased muscle activation, based on the fact they are an unstable CKC resistance modality, causing your body to work harder to move itself through the movement.

Believe us when we say that home workouts are the new standard workout. There are so many benefits - decreased time commitment, less gym anxiety for beginners, it’s cheaper, you don’t have to work around opening hours, you can do it in the privacy of your home and go at your own pace. Here at House Gym, we provide the resistance bands, the community and the guidance to get you all set up with your own home gym, or should we say House Gym.

Let’s get started.