Easing Back into a Workout Routine

For many, the changes that 2020 brought to daily life have also abruptly halted their workout routine. But now, as many people work to establish their new normal, routines are being set into motion. Whether you are ready to be back on the gym floor, join a fitness class, or set up a new home studio, experts say it’s best to ease back into your workout rather than go full force.

Your body is probably not the same.

When you forgo your workouts for a few months or are not as consistent, you can expect a few changes in your body.

You may notice you don’t feel as strong, and you may even get winded sooner. This is due to decreases in muscle mass, blood flow, and oxygen.

The good news is that it doesn’t mean your once-conditioned body is gone forever. You can get there again, and if you do it wisely, you can avoid injury or burnout.

Start slow and steady

It’s probably true that the first workout will be the hardest, but your muscle memory will kick in and get you through. Start by scheduling 20-minute sessions, two or three times per week, and then increasing the length and number of sessions as the weeks progress. And don’t forget to drink water! Your muscles will need to soak up that extra hydration.

Choose your workout wisely

Flexibility

Flexibility is a great place to start because it’s a perfect way to get your body ready for the demands of a new workout routine. You can gently increase your blood flow and circulation while stretching your body into a broader range of motion and joint mobility. Try these light stretching and yoga poses found right on our SMART MAT products.

SMART MAT ROUTINE

Seated Supine Twist
Butterfly
Hip Bridge

Cardio

After a couple of stretching or yoga sessions, try to incorporate some light cardiorespiratory workouts. Depending on your fitness level prior to your break, your definition of light work may look slightly different from your fellow fitness enthusiast. Try some light cycling, hiking, or lower-impact HIIT training to start.

Low-Impact HIIT

Usually, when we think of HIIT training, it can involve a lot of jumping and full range movement throughout all three motion planes. As you ease back into your fitness routine, skip or modify the plyometrics for now, and keep the range of motion smaller as your body adjusts.

Equipment needed: SMART MEDICINE BALL

HIIT WORKOUT:

Try this routine:

Jump to Wide Squat with Hold, Walk Legs Back In.
SMART Med Ball Walking Burpee
Duck walk with a backward shuffle
Side Knee Repeater

30 seconds each. 4 rounds. Repeat! ((Be sure to switch up those legs for the knee repeaters each round.))

Strength

If your time away from your fitness routine involved a lot of sitting, your posterior chain muscles are probably weaker than when you were working out consistently. When getting back to strength training, your first priority should be to improve your posture, develop core strength, and start to activate your hamstring and glute muscles.

Squats and lunges with light or even just bodyweight are great exercises to start with to build up those legs. SMART STRAPS can be a perfect transition tool for getting back to a strength routine and can make for an amazing full-body workout. And, get comfortable with the SMART Stability Ball routine because this may be your most versatile ticket to regaining your core.

SMART STABILITY BALL CORE WORKOUT:

If you need a routine to get you started, try this one. Then, mix it up by following the rest of the exercises printed right on the product.

Stability Ball Supine Leg Twists: While laying on your back, place the ball between your legs at calf level, holding upright. With arms at your sides on the floor, move your right leg toward the left side of your body and your left leg toward the right side of your body while keeping the ball still between your legs. Now do the opposite direction. Repeat.

Stability Ball Hamstring Roll-Ins: Keeping your hips up, push your heels into the ball, and drag your ball back toward your body. Squeeze your backside and hamstrings, and slowly extend.

Stability Ball Stir Up: Push your forearms into the ball. Move the ball in a circular motion while keeping your body still and aligned while in plank position.

Take the time to recover

Even if you were never one to stretch post-exercise, it’s time to put that in your routine now. Take advantage of your warmed body by following a stretching routine, and you’ll avoid muscle tightening and spasms. Foam rolling with our SMART Recovery Foam Roller is also an excellent recovery tool for post-workout. A session can help you restore blood flow to the muscles and help relax the fascia, which leads to a faster recovery.

Get Started with SMART STRAPS

Our portable Bodyweight Training System is available now!

It can be intimidating to get started into bodyweight training using straps, but our SMART STRAPS product line is truly a game-changer for the novice user. As with our other self-guided products, our SMART STRAPS have some of the basic exercises printed directly on the straps for easy reference.

What to expect from a SMART STRAP bodyweight training session

The SMART Straps Body Weight Training System adds a different dimension to standard strength training by using a series of bodyweight exercises that utilize heavy-duty straps to leverage gravity and resistance.

It can improve muscular strength and endurance while even improving joint mobility and flexibility. Because you are constantly working on stability, the exercises engage your core and improve your balance, which can cover a lot of ground in your fitness routine.

The bodyweight training system that grows with you – from beginner to expert athlete

Don’t be fooled by the simple appearance of a strap-based bodyweight training system. This amplified version of your regular bodyweight moves can make for a very challenging workout. The remarkable piece is that you are in control of the range of motion, and you can easily modify the work up or down based on your training level.

The perfect addition to an at-home workout space

With more people designing at-home space for workouts, this system is perfect. It doesn’t take up much space, easily secures to your door frame, and can be put away for easy storage. If you have a space dedicated to fitness, consider installing our ceiling/wall mount, which is designed to give you a place to secure your straps when the door mount isn’t ideal.

SMART STRAPS also makes for the perfect on-the-go bodyweight training tool. Toss them in your workout bag and bring them to the park to create an on-the-spot, outdoor functional training system. They can easily be secured to park equipment or even a sturdy tree.

Securing the Straps

They say a picture (or video in this case!) is worth 1,000 words. Here are three, short videos that we have put together that showcase the easiest ways to secure our SMART Straps on your door, workout bar, sturdy branch, or park equipment, as well as show you how easy it is to adjust the length of each strap to make a perfect fit for your body.

Door mount

Workout Bar, Sturdy Branch, Park Equipment

Adjusting the Straps

Basic Moves to get you started

PUSH Workout: Chest Press

Hold our SMART STRAP handles directly in front of your body. Ground your stance, brace your core, and lean your body weight into the handles. Be sure the rest of your body is in alignment, and then push your body back without locking your elbows. Repeat.

PULL Workout: Row

Ease back and lean while holding the SMART STRAP handles. Align your body and pull your shoulders down and back from your ears. Maintaining a plank alignment, pull your chest to your hands. In a slow, controlled movement, gently lower down.

6 Resistance Exercises You Can Do Anywhere

Barbells and dumbbells are a great strength and resistance training tool, but it can be hard to dedicate a whole room for weights in your home. Plus, a set of free weights is not easy to cart along to an outdoor workout setting.

Instead, consider investing in a collection of sleeved tubing. Similar to free weights, the SMART Guard Sleeved Tubing is offered in a range of resistance levels, from highly flexible to ultra-duty strength. They can be the ultimate grab-and-go solution for fitness fanatics who like to squeeze in a workout at a moment’s notice.

SMART Guard Sleeved Tubing is a high-quality fitness cable that is sturdy enough to sustain even the toughest workouts. Used for many years in rehab settings, the fitness industry is embracing how versatile fitness cables can be. In fact, fitness cables can completely replace weights while giving an effective functional strength and conditioning workout.

In fact, fitness cables can completely replace weights while giving an effective functional strength and conditioning workout. Click To Tweet

Three Benefits of using SMART Guard Sleeved Tubing

Allow For Fluid Motion
Limit Inflammation
Mimic Functional Movement

If you’re new to fitness cables, it can be challenging to figure out how to transition your resistance training over from free weights. Here are 6, do-anywhere, total-body exercises to point you in the right direction and improve your functional strength & conditioning. Remember to start with a lighter version and slowly work your way up for more resistance.

1. Overhead Squat

Start in a standing position with your feet shoulder-width apart, standing on the middle part of the sleeved tubing, and extend your arms over your head. Loop SMART Guard Sleeved Tubing around your forearms and slowly lower your hips back and down, keeping your knees directly over the balls of your feet. Continue until your hips are parallel to your knees before slowly returning to start. Use slow, controlled movements for proper squat form.

2. Deadlift

Start with your feet shoulder-width apart, looping the SMART Guard Sleeved Tubing under each foot. Bend at the hips, keep your back aligned and keep your knees slightly bent. Next, grab the middle of the sleeved tubing and stand. Then, lower down slowly until your hands drop just below your knees.

3. Glute Bridge

Lie faceup placing your feet flat on the floor, arms palms-down alongside your body. Bend your knees to a 90-degree angle. Wrap the SMART Guard Sleeved Tubing around your thighs just above the knee and hold a handle in each hand. Raise your hips, pushing through your heels, until your shoulders, hips, and knees align while holding the resistance of the sleeved tubing tight. Contract your glutes through the movement and then slowly return to start.

4. Bent-over row

Stand shoulder-width apart over the center of the sleeved tubing. Bend your knees slightly, hinge at your waist, and keep your hips back. Hold the band handles with your hands facing the outside of your knees. Pull the band up toward your hips and squeeze your shoulder blades together with elbows at a 90-degree angle.

5 Upright Row

Position feet over the center of the band and stand shoulder-width apart. Hold the handles with your palms facing each other right at the thigh level. Pull the sleeved tubing straight up the front of your body all the way to shoulder level, leading the way with your elbows. Slowly lower back down to the starting position.

6. Russian Twist

Wrapping the center of the band around the bottom of your feet while sitting on the floor with your legs extended. Hold the ends in each hand. Bend your knees slightly and keep your feet on the floor and ease back to a 45-degree angle. Rotate the band to one side, bringing your hand across your body and down toward your hip. Keep your spine aligned. Return to start. Rotate the opposite direction. Repeat.

Pre-Season At-Home Workouts for Fall Sports

Get Ready For Fall Sports

It looks like the fall sports season is moving forward in many schools across the nation and that means that official practice is less than two weeks away.

In recent years, student-athletes had opportunities to keep on top of off-season training and conditioning through sport-specific camps. This year, however, many of the camps simply were not available, and these athletes may be coming into their fall sports season a bit more de-conditioned than usual.

Without the coaches giving them a workout plan and motivation to push them through, student athletes may feel a little unprepared for the upcoming year, but at a loss of where to start leveling up their conditioning. Before athletes can dive into sport-specific speed, skill, and power training, it is beneficial to focus on regaining full-body strength. Having a strong foundation is prudent for skill improvement, injury prevention, and improving overall fitness.

To help, we’ve put together a few at-home strength and conditioning pre-season workouts for your student so they can come into their first practice ready to rock.

Although these exercises are great for the traditional fall sports starts of volleyball, football, soccer, cross country, golf, and hockey, these conditioning exercises could be used across any sport to build up cardiovascular endurance, strength, coordination and balance.

The Workout:

Structure: Interval based.

Timing: 30 seconds for each exercise working straight through all 4 moves for a total of 2 minutes. Rest for 60 seconds.

Repeat: Do the interval 5 times for a 15-minute workout. Add a second interval session for a 30-minute workout.

Equipment Needed for Intervals:

SMART Medicine Ball

Equipment for extra workouts:

SMART Weighted Jump Rope

Kettlebell Sandbag

SMART Modular Acceleration Ladder

SMART Resistance Training Bundle

Interval 1

Bump and Shuffle with SMART Medicine Ball

Put your body into wide squat position and hold the SMART Medicine Ball in both hands in front of you at hip level. Keeping your upper body aligned, shuffle to your left, stop, and then raise the medicine ball over your head, hands above your shoulders.

Broad Jump SMART Medicine Ball Burpees with a Zig Zag Return

Start in a wide squat position and hold a SMART Medicine Ball in your hands at hip position. Jump forward as far as you can while raising the medicine ball in the air. Next, put the medicine ball on the ground and hop your legs back into plank position, while holding yourself steady on the ball. Jump forward and return to standing position. Then, zig zag backwards until you reach start position, touching the medicine ball to the hip of the grounded leg, and alternating as you go.

Skaters with Pendulum SMART Medicine Ball Side Swings

Start in standing position, feet under hips, holding the SMART Medicine Ball in front of you. Leap onto one foot and swing the medicine ball in the same direction as the leap. Leap to the other foot, with the medicine ball following, allowing the ball swing to mimic a pendulum.

V-Up SMART Medicine Ball Kick Touches

In a seating position, raise your legs up into the air, making a “V” with your body, while keeping your upper body aligned and holding a SMART Medicine Ball over your legs. Scissor your legs up, one at a time, and touch the medicine ball to your leg.

Interval 2

Side Shuffle with 180 Rotational Turns and SMART Medicine Ball Chest Press

Start in wide leg position, knees bent, holding SMART Medicine Ball at chest position. Shuffle to the side and press the ball straight out and back. Holding the medicine ball to your chest, jump your body in a complete 180 turn, sticking the landing. Press the ball straight out and back again. Return the 180, and shuffle back. Repeat.

Explosive Jump Squat with Overhead Press with SMART Medicine Ball

Starting with feet outside of hips, hold the SMART Medicine Ball at chest level. Push your bottom back and down, knees behind toes. Explode up in a jump and push the medicine ball straight up in the air. Land softly, repeat.

High Knees with Rotational SMART Medicine Ball Knee Touches

Standing with feet outside of hips and holding a SMART Medicine Ball just below chest level, bring one knee up, and then the other, rotating the upper body to tap the medicine ball on each elevated knee. Repeat.

Sumo Squat Drop with Heel lift.

Push your bottom back and hold the SMART Medicine Ball at chest level. Touch the medicine ball to the ground (or close) while you are holding the squat. Return the medicine ball to the chest while maintaining the low, wide squat. Lift one heel, then the other. Repeat sequence.

Also Try:

Hill Sprints with Kettlebell Sandbags

Agility Ladder Heisman

Resistance Band Runs

Squats with SMART Strength Band

Weighted Jump Rope

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Meet the Writer!

Linda Shober

Linda Shober is a Certified Fitness Instructor and burpee lover! She is NETA Certified, Les Mills BODYPUMP Certified, PiYO Live Certified, and SH1FT/L1FT Certified.

Squats with SMART Strength Band

Weighted Jump Rope

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Join Our Newsletter!

Learn about the latest news and tips from our Fitness Experts AND receive exclusive deals.

Sign Me Up!

Check Out Our Best Selling Products!

Meet the Writer!

Linda Shober

Linda Shober is a Certified Fitness Instructor and burpee lover! She is NETA Certified, Les Mills BODYPUMP Certified, PiYO Live Certified, and SH1FT/L1FT Certified.

Strength Training Without Weights

While there is no denying that traditional weights (barbells, dumbells, free weights) are the first thing that comes to mind for a weight training session, you can do plenty of strength exercises without them.

Many people are finding ways to creatively build their own resistance training programs with modified equipment, while access to their regular gym and/or equipment may not be fully available right now.

Bodyweight exercises, along with some key, easy-to-store, equipment (fitness cables, SMART Strength Bands, SMART Medicine balls, and weighted SMART Sticks) are making up the perfect at-home strength training toolbox.

How can you build strength without weights?

Create Tension

In order to build muscle and increase strength, you will need to place your muscles under tension by using significant resistance.

Time under tension is a term commonly used in strength, conditioning, and bodybuilding and refers to how long a muscle is under strain during a set.

Muscle tension created through resistance training stimulates the growth of new muscle proteins and can lead to gains. According to ACE, muscles that are exposed to that tension long enough can build up various metabolites (e.g., lactate, hydrogen ion, inorganic phosphate, and creatine), and it is this process that creates metabolic stress in muscle tissue triggering hypertrophic growth. In other words, muscles must experience a load that they are not used to, and they must experience that load for a certain duration.

Time under tension includes making mindful movements and focusing on motor control. One way to increase your time under tension without weights is to vary the tempo during the different muscle action phases.

Progressive Loads

Successful weight training should, of course, include progressive loads, meaning you challenge yourself by increasing the weight load. In order to build muscle without using weights, you will need to continually challenge your muscles by increasing the difficulty of the bodyweight exercises, the pull of the tension, or the tempo (speed) of the exercise, just as you would progress to heavier weights in the gym. The idea is to place gradual, increased demands on the body, making it an effective way to build muscle without weights.

Ready? Here’s a place to start:

Your SMART STRENGTH Toolbox:

Sample workout

Lower Body

Front squat with SMART Strength Band

With your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width, stand on the band. Wrap the band over your shoulders and behind your head. Loop your thumbs under the band at the shoulders to control tension and keep the band from pushing your head forward. Sit back and down, keeping your knees behind your toes and lowering your bottom to knee height, or parallel. Return to stand. Repeat 8-12 reps.

Standing adductor with Mini Flat Band

Loop the mini band around both of your ankles and stand with feet under hips. Lift leg to the side, out and away from the body, while keeping your other leg on the ground. Return to start position. Repeat 12-15 reps and then switch sides.

Front/Back Lunges with Weighted SMART Stick

Position the SMART Stick behind your head on the upper part of your shoulders (avoid the neck). Standing tall with your feet under your hips, step one foot back with a wide stride and then lead your knee toward the ground into a 90-degree lunge angle. Return to start position. Next, step forward with a wide forward stride. Bend your knee into a 90-degree angle position while keeping your upper body aligned. Repeat 8-12 reps on each side.

Upper Body

Standing Bicep Curl with Fitness Cable

Place your feet shoulder-width apart and stand with your feet on the middle of the cable. Hold a SMART Quick Flip Handle in each hand, palms out, and pull your arms toward your shoulders into a bicep curl position. Slowly lower and repeat. 12-15 reps.

Push-up with SMART Strength Band

Your push-ups will never be the same after this! Start in plank position and wrap the SMART Strength Band across your upper back, looping the ends of the bands through your thumbs. Place your hands on the floor and push your body up until your arms fully extend. Lower back down. Try to start with 5 reps and build up to 20.

Overhead Triceps Extensions

In a standing position, position your feet hip-distance apart. Hold your SMART Medicine Ball behind your head, elbows pulled in, and facing front. Raise the ball straight up, so your hands are directly above your shoulders. Slowly lower and repeat. 12-15 reps.

Move Your Body: The Power of Play in Exercise

Is Play Important?

It’s a given that a structured training plan is the best path to achieve a particular fitness goal or skill. But that training may not offer enough creative movement throughout the day and may even hinder our ability to move within our full range of motion.

For many adults, most movement comes from doing their daily workout. We’re lucky to get a 60-minute workout session in before our responsibilities beg for attention.

Make Time for Play

As a kid, you are naturally moving your body all day playing tag, riding bikes, swimming in ponds. You probably weren’t thinking about fitness goals, just plain fun.

This exploration of movement, which we lived by throughout childhood, can fall off the radar at some point, but it doesn’t cease to be important. Studies suggest that active play can be just as important for adults as it is for children because it challenges our bodies in new ways, and provides an opportunity for stress relief and social connections. In fact, you can gain more freedom in how you move your body when you start engaging in different movements and positions.

Studies suggest that active play can be just as important for adults as it is for children because it challenges our bodies in new ways, and provides an opportunity for stress relief and social connections. Click To Tweet

With small gatherings gearing back up, and plenty of backyard family BBQ’s on the weekend calendar, we’ve come up with a few fun ideas that bridge the gap between fitness and fun.

Resistance Band Cone Touch

Pair up in groups of two. Wrap the resistance band around the waist of person 1 while person 2 holds the handles. Person 1 stands on the start line, directly in front of person 2, each facing the same direction. Place a cone within the pull range of the band. Make as many paired-up teams as you have people, bands, and cones. At the word “GO,” person 1 runs to the cone, touches the top, and runs backward to the start line. Repeat 5 times in a row. Next, person 1 and 2 swap places as quickly as possible and completes 5 cone touches. The paired team who finishes first WINS!

Medicine Ball Hot Potato

Gather your group into a circle and choose a SMART Medicine Ball with a weight that all players can handle. Put on your favorite music and assign a “DJ.” The “DJ” will be prepared to randomly pause the music throughout the game at their own discretion.

The goal of the game is not to be holding the ball when the “DJ” stops the music. Players will toss the medicine ball as if it’s a “hot potato” as quickly as possible to another player in the circle. If a player is holding the ball when the music stops, they are out. Players are also out when they drop the ball. The last one standing in the circle is the WINNER!

This game is excellent for hand-eye coordination, with an extra dose of challenge because the weighted ball.

Medicine Ball Relay Runs

Gather a group of people and have them stagger locations evenly in a very large circle (think all the way around the house, or around half of a football field). The starting person will hold the SMART Medicine ball. Assign a person to be the “timer” and have them start a stopwatch at the word “GO.” Once the stopwatch has started, the starting person runs as fast as they can to the next person in line and hands off the ball. Then, that person runs to the next person and hands them the ball, and so on until the final person runs back to the starting person’s position to complete the relay. Once the final person has crossed the starting person’s position line, the “timer” presses stop on the stopwatch. Now you have a base time. Repeat over and over to see if you can beat the time!

Request a Quote

Your body is probably not the same.

Start slow and steady

Choose your workout wisely

Flexibility

Cardio

Strength

Take the time to recover

Our portable Bodyweight Training System is available now!

What to expect from a SMART STRAP bodyweight training session

The bodyweight training system that grows with you – from beginner to expert athlete

The perfect addition to an at-home workout space

Securing the Straps

Basic Moves to get you started

Get Ready For Fall Sports

The Workout:

Structure: Interval based.

Interval 1

Interval 2

Also Try:

Let’s Connect!

Search This Site

Join Us on Pinterest!

Check Out Our Favorite Posts

Join Our Newsletter!

Check Out Our Best Selling Products!

Fitness Cables

Smart Mat 16mm

Smart Stability Balls

Smart Recovery Foam Roller

Read More from Our Fitness Experts!

Easing Back into a Workout Routine

Get Started with SMART STRAPS

6 Resistance Exercises You Can Do Anywhere

Meet the Writer!

Linda Shober

Let’s Connect!

Search This Site

Join Us on Pinterest!

Check Out Our Favorite Posts

Join Our Newsletter!

Check Out Our Best Selling Products!

Fitness Cables

Smart Mat 16mm

Smart Stability Balls

Smart Recovery Foam Roller

Read More from Our Fitness Experts!

Easing Back into a Workout Routine

Get Started with SMART STRAPS

6 Resistance Exercises You Can Do Anywhere

Meet the Writer!

Linda Shober

How can you build strength without weights?

Create Tension

Progressive Loads

Ready? Here’s a place to start:

Sample workout

Lower Body

Upper Body

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