With me and my wife's new baby girl Reese having arrived on April 8, you could say I'm pretty much stuck at home these days. Sure, I run out to get diapers, Chinese food for dinner and for the weekly grocery shopping trip, but other than that I'm gladly hanging around the house with little Reese and Melissa (my wife), trying my best to be a good dad. Being on virtual house arrest like I am, getting to the gym is a challenge. Honestly, I'd rather not drive 10-15 minutes each way to the gym, work out for 45-60 minutes and be gone for 90 minutes or so total.
My solution, of course, is training at home. And fortunately, it doesn't take much equipment to get the job done. A pair of adjustable dumbbells (I own a pair of Powerblocks; PowerBlock.com) and a bench does the trick, and they take up a bare minimum of space in my garage.
Lately, I've been splitting up my training with upper body (chest, back and shoulders) one day, legs the next and arms another day. I'll typically do the upper body and leg workouts twice each week (upper body Monday and Thursday, legs Tuesday and Friday) and do arms just once (usually Saturday). Here's the upper body workout I did recently - again, with nothing more than my Powerblocks and bench - and it was a killer. It consisted of two different three-exercise circuits, where I did four circuits through of the first trio of moves before moving onto the second trio. Next time you're trapped at home with no ability, or desire, to commute to the gym, give this punishing Powerblock chest/back/shoulders routine a try.
Exercise Reps
Circuit
1 Circuit
2 Circuit
3 Circuit
4
Dumbbell Military Press 12 10 8 6
Dumbbell Bent-Over Row 12 10 8 6
Dumbbell Incline Press 12 10 8 6
Minimal rest between exercises, and resting 2-3 minutes
between circuits (each circuit consisting of the above three exercises).
Increase weight on each exercise every circuit.
Exercise Reps
Circuit
1 Circuit
2 Circuit
3 Circuit
4
Dumbbell Push-Ups* to failure to failure to failure to failure
One-Arm Dumbbell Row 15 12 10 8
Dumbbell Lateral Raise 15 12 10 8
Minimal rest between exercises, and resting 2-3 minutes
between circuits. Increase weight on each circuit if possible (push-ups done
with only bodyweight each time).
*Hands on the handles of the Powerblocks sitting on the floor, rather than hands on the floor.
