Ask the
Want to run further, lift heavier or nail your first pull-up? Each month, we put your questions to our team of the finest fitness brains to give you the tools you need to make good on your goals
Q I can’t af ford a gym membership. How can I get strong from home?
Sophie Lait says: Good news: research shows that forking out for a gym membership isn’t always necessary. One study* compared the BMI, cardiovascular health and strength of participants who went to the gym for 12 months with those who trained at home for a year and found no difference in the results.
There are even benefits to swapping the gym for your living room. Recent research* found that isometric exercises – holding static positions such as the plank – could reduce blood pressure by 80% more than aerobic exercise done at the gym on cardio machines. Your joints will be under less stress, too.
In a study comparing the results of a set of twins – one doing bodyweight training and the other doing weighted training – the twin who did body-weight workouts ended the study injury-free and with greater improvements in VO₂ max than the weightlifter, who also noted more aches and pains.
Naturally, what you do depends on why you’re doing it. However, regardless of your goal, knowledge is confidence – and the more you know, the more you can do. The Women’s Health Collective is a great place to start, with monthly training plans, weekly workout videos and endless training tips. Teaming up with friends and family can also help; even if you don’t train together, holding each other accountable will mean you remain consistent, which will help you see results sooner.
And you don’t even need to invest in any kit. A study published in the Journal Of Strength And Conditioning pitted a press-up regime against a bench-press programme for four weeks and found no difference in strength gain between the two groups. But while your body is resistance enough, progressive overload is key. When using your body weight, a good way to achieve this is by increasing time under tension; go slower on the eccentric motion (the downward part, such as the lowe
