Picture this…
You’re at the local shopping centre. It’s 4:57pm on the eve of a lockdown and all of the shops are about to close, your arms are full of toilet paper, puzzles, hand sanitiser & face masks. As you make your way to the checkouts something catches the corner of your eye. The holy grail of any store… The fitness equipment section.
You only have a small space to dedicate to a gym in your lockdown bunker & only 1 hand to grab something with. What 1 item do you pick up for the ultimate lockdown bunker gym.
~ $20 left in your bank account
Resistance Band.
Bang for your buck, a solid resistance band is a great addition to your home gym. Main reason being you can get a great workout using nothing but your body weight (squat, push up, dip, lunge, hinge) and can progress through movements & increase load by playing with unilateral movements, adding tempo, and isometric work. One of the only short comings however is the ability to perform any quality pulling motions (unless you have a pull up bar or something similar available). A band will be a highly portable, low cost way to not only add some pulling variations into your home workout (pull aparts, rows, curls) You can even use it to add some extra resistance /load to your general bodyweight movements.
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~ $200 left in your bank account
Kettlebell.
You have obviously heard of the Door Gym, you know “you got a door, you’ve got a gym.” Think of a kettlebell as a more compact version of this. It is one of the most versatile pieces of equipment in any gym. There is a way to load just about any movement pattern using a kettlebell, with a little creativity and know how they can be used for strength, power & conditioning. Incorporate this in with some bodyweight movements and you can have yourself a great full body workout. And it takes up about the same amount space as a bowl of cereal, also a great blunt instrument for fending off would be zombies.
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~$2000 left in your bank account
Concept 2 Rower.
While yes this might not be so easy to carry out in the midst of the chaos, but it will definitely be worthwhile, as mentioned earlier for some basic strength and movement, your bodyweight is perfectly capable of providing a sufficient challenge. And always remember rule #1 of Zombieland…Cardio. As far as cardiovascular equipment goes a concept 2 rower is about as good as it gets, full body, low impact, and they are virtually indestructible with almost no maintenance. And if you decide for some ludicrous reason you don’t want to keep it in in a year or so, they tend to hold their value extremely well (just be sure to let me know first, I’ll happily take it off your hands).
Regardless of what type of training you generally enjoy, keeping moving while being confined to being in your home will be important for physical health & mental wellbeing. The aim needed be to break world records. But just moving with some purpose for at least 30 minutes a day. These are the best options I believe will suit different budgets and most fitness goals.
If you need any guidance with programs you can do with minimal equipment check out our online training programs.