Do you have a spare room on the ground floor or a garage you could use?
If you do then this article is for you. It covers what you need, the cost implications and how to make your perfect crossfit home gym. Before starting any gym project it is essential that you already have the skills you need in order to workout safely at home. We would recommend you visit your local box and do a few sessions there learning all the basics & how to lift safely. Once you are confident with all the basics then it’s time to build your perfect box at home.
Below I will show a list of essentials for your new box/gym at home:
To have to successful home box gym you will need:
A safe working space you can use that is not dangerous
Speed ropes are an essential for warming up and doing double unders
You will need an Olympic bar & plates. Preferably bumper plates as they will last longer, protect to floor or lifting platform. The bar should weight 20kg.
A chin up bar, or similar. Better than this would be olympic rings and something you can hang them on
Kettlebells are a great addition to any home gym find a weight that is challenging
Having a medicine ball will be great for wall ball squats
Rubber flooring is a good idea, not only to reduce noise while dropping weights it will also protect your floor and offer a softer surface for your joints
You will also need a box usually 24″ high to do your plyometric jumps
A decent set of dumbells taking you from low weight upto your max
So over the past month we’ve been looking to find the #1 Speed Rope UK.
After being sent several different speed ropes in all price categories from many different manufacturers, we have finally made our decision and can now tell you the winner of the #1 Speed Rope UK.
This wasn’t an easy decision and there were many factors that contributed to the decision of said result. Here at www.bestskippingrope.co.uk our team of 4 fitness professionals put all these speed ropes through their paces before coming to a unanimous decision. That’s not to say that it wasn’t tough.
Our team of 4 testers/athletes have over 40 years of fitness experience in the industry and are all members of a crossfit box, so they all know their stuff when it comes to choosing the #1 crossfit speed rope uk. They weren’t just looking for the cheapest or most expensive with the fanciest packaging & crazy claims. They were looking for a certain number of attributes that checked the boxes on their score cards.
Being the #1 Speed rope uk is not something to take lightly.
So what were they looking for I hear you ask?
Build Quality – Was the #1 Speed Rope UK well put together. Did it have a solid construction. Could it last. No one wants to spend their hard earned money on a speed rope thats’s only going to last five minutes.
Comfortable – Were the rope & handles build with comfort in mind. Were the handles ergonomically designed. Could you use the rope for long periods of time working at your max.
Value – Was the speed rope good value for money based on the the build quality.
Transition – Did the speed rope spin nicely over your head, was it easy to perform multiple double unders. Was it using ball bearings for the smooth fast effortless spin.
Price – Was the product well priced?
Warranty – Did the best speed rope uk come with a manufacturers warranty?
All of these factors were decided and you can view the results here on the speed rope reviews page.
Will a speed rope make me better at double unders?
Are you that person that has been religiously going to park or to you box drilling single unders until your calfs are burning and you can’t do anymore, all within the hope that you can eventually get to double unders?
Well our advice is stop doing these single unders, man up and start trying the doubles.
When attempting a double under the contact time of your feet touching the floor is only slightly less than when you are performing a single under or a normal jump. What’s this got to do with anything i hear you ask? Well one thing that you do do, is you jump twice as high when performing a double under.
My point is that although we are performing the same movement during a double under as when we are doing a single under, we use recruit the muscle and use them in a very different way. What makes this happen is something call the stretch shortening cycle as know as the SSC. In layman’s terms this basically mean that your muscles when they contract are doing so more forcefully after being stretched by a load ie your higher jump.
When we look at this again it seems that the SSC is an integral part of the double under. This leads me onto my next point which is if you are trying to learn a double under the only way you can do this is by practice. You need to teach your body a new jumping pattern as a jump for a double under is completely different to that of a single under. So scaling back in this instance will not work.
My WOD says i need to do 50 DUs?
In this instance it would be better to attempt 10 x sets of 5 DUs than going back to singles until you can perform numerous DUs unbroken.
So to summarise if you want to be able to do a double under you need to teach your body how to do them, you need to be patient and stick with it. Also have in a speed rope will improve your chances.
If the answer is ‘Yes’ to this question are allowed to read on. Ok we get it, you hate going to the gym, you hate going running or jogging and you don’t have your own personal trainer or hundreds of pounds to spend on fancy equipment. Well my friend you are in luck. Below is a list of the best exercises to help you tone up, lose weight and get fit this summer.
Bodyweight exercises have been proven to be successful countless times. So if your goal is build muscle & burn fat, improve your athletic performance and increase your speed and power these are the excises for you. Just on a side note if we can make some of these moves explosive these will really help you with your endurance & athleticism.
Before committing to any form of exercise it is essential that you are physically fit and have checked everything out with your GP.
Have you heard about plyometric training?
“Plyometrics, also known as “jump training” or “plyos”, are exercises based around having muscles exert maximum force in as short a time as possible, with the goal of increasing both speed and power. This training focuses on learning to move from a muscle extension to a contraction in a rapid or “explosive” way, for example with specialized repeated jumping. Plyometrics are primarily used by athletes, especially martial artists and high jumpers,to improve performance, and are used in the fitness field to a much lesser degree.”
Many of our top 5 exercises to get fit this summer use plyometrics, making them explosive and you know what that means fat busting!
So lets get in to the top 5
1. The push up – This mainly works the upper body and chest.
Start by lying on the floor with your face looking at it. Place your hands either side of your body slightly wider than should width apart. By pushing up from your hands lift your body off the floor. Ensure than when you do this hold your stomach muscles or core nice and tight. I was always taught to bring my tummy button in as close as i can and squeeze my contract my butt cheeks. Once your arms have extended lower yourself back down to the floor & repeat.
2. Air Squat – Predominantly working your legs
Begin by putting your feet slightly wider than should width apart. Put your weight in your heels, and pull your core muscle in tight and your shoulders back. Bend your knees and make the action as if you going to sit down on a chair. When squatting down your knees should not be going infront of your toes and your cores muscle engaged and shoulders are still back. If you need additional balance simply put your arms in front of you.
3. Sprint Drills – All Body workout
Simply find a flat piece of land or slightly hilly if you’re feeling adventurous approx 40-60m long. Mark out your start and stop lines, then sprint from one position to the other. When I say sprint, I mean really go for it, pump those arms and legs, shoulders back core pulled in tight and eyes looking at to the finish line. When you get there give yourself a pat on the back walk to the start then repeat.
Using a speed rope is a great way to get fit this summer and also very cheap. You can buy speed rope online for less than £15.00. What we want to do here is skip as fast as we can for 2 minutes then break for 30 seconds then go again. If you’re that good and can do double unders use them during this workout.
5. The Burpee – All Body Workout
Everyone hates burpees, and guess what they don’t like you very much either. You must remenber that this exercise turns your body into a fat burning machine. Begin standing up straight then oving into a squat poistion and place your hands in front of you. Immediately move your feet behind you and lower your chest towards the ground with your arms by your side. Then push up from there by bowing your chest up then snap you fee back up to the start position as quickly as you can. From here jump as high as you can. If none of this makes sense please ensure you watch the attached video.
So we’ve done our bit, now it’s your turn. Get out there have fun and put together some killer workout sets using the exercies above. Ensure you have ample rest and recovery between workout days to get the most out of your training.
