Below is a workout consisting of my five go-to exercises for an at home workout to help combat daily stress. These exercises are great for issues that many people face from ADLs (activities of daily living), such as sitting for hours at a time (tight chest and hip flexors, weak traps and glutes), handling physical and emotional stress (raising shoulders towards our ears, causing tight upper traps) and inefficiency in movement.
Being a personal trainer for four years now, I’ve learned to work on the basics of movement with people to help them understand their body, and how to properly move. Additionally, I have helped people truly thrive by educating them on how they can apply the principles we go over in sessions to their lives outside of the gym. Setting the foundation and working on an individual’s weak-points is what I call finding the chinks in armor and making them strong points.
I’ve made this simple, feel good, and easy to follow workout for anyone short on time and looking to maximize their time. Take your time to perform the movements correctly and you will be challenged. You can perform this in your home, traveling and at the gym. For the average gym goer, this is great to use as a full body warm-up to have more muscle recruitment before the rest of your workout.
This workout will leave you feeling great, strengthen weak muscles and get you on the path to looking good for the summer. You’ll feel sore in places you didn’t know muscles existed. Do the below exercises as a circuit. Perform 2-3 sets by the number of reps indicated under each exercise.. Rest for one minute and 30 seconds and repeat the circuit.
Raphael Velazquez “go-to” Home Reset workout
Sets: 2-3 sets
Reps: Mentioned above exercise directions
Rest: 1:30. Repeat Circuit.
1.VELAband Squats:
Muscles used: Quads, Glutes & core
Benefits: Strengthen lower body
The VELAband squats are great for adding resistance to bodyweight squats, more engagement of the glutes and correct your form. Mastering the squat and building strength will help with lower body pain and stronger legs.
Reps: 10-15
Directions:
- Place that VELAband between your legs by your knees
- Stand with your feet shoulder width apart
- Dig your feet into the ground, take a deep breath (diaphragmatic breath) into your stomach and drop your hips towards the ground
- Once your hips and knees are parallel to the ground, drive your feet into the ground, breath out and stand tall
- Squeeze your quad, glutes and core at the top
- Repeat until the desire reps.
2. Band Pull Aparts:
Muscles used: Upper Back Muscles (Trapezius & Rhomboids), Shoulder Girdle
Benefits: Upper Back Muscle engagement and shoulder stability
Reps: 12-20
I’ve used the band pull apart in most of my clients programs to help engage the upper back muscles (Trapezius). Many people have bad posture from working at their desk, being unaware of poor posture and that leads to a tight chest and weak upper back muscles. The first step is to loosen up the chest with a lacrosse ball and then strengthening the upper back and shoulder complex! Cue the band pull apart.
Directions:
1) Stand tall, feet shoulder-width apart and head tall (ears in line with your shoulders)
2) Grab the band shoulder width apart (You do not want a band with a ton of tension, the anterior and later head of the deltoids (front and side head of the shoulder) will compensate and do most of the work as opposed to the traps and shoulder girdle)
3) Slightly bend your elbows and squeeze your shoulder blades together as you pull the bands apart (Band should be below the chest when pulling apart)
4) Hold for two seconds and return back to the starting position.
5) Repeat until desired reps are complete.
3. Isometric hip bridge hold with adduction:
Equipment needed: Yoga mat & foam roller
Muscles used: Glutes, hamstrings, adductors & core
Benefits: Strengthen Posterior chain (glutes and hamstrings), adductors and core
Reps(Timed): 20-45 seconds (based on experience)
From all the sitting down we do daily our glues tend to “shut off”, the hamstrings barely get any love and most people have really weak adductors (inner thigh muscles). This is a recipe for tight and weak lower back. Cue the isometric hip bridge hold with adduction. Its great for an overall view of strengthening the posterior chain of muscles.
Directions:
- Lay on your back, shoulders away form your ears, elbows bent & knees bent
- Place a foam roller between your legs (midpoint of the thighs)
- Tilt your pelvis towards your belly button
- Take a deep breath into your stomach (diaphragmatic Breath)
- Drive your triceps and feet into the ground and lift your hips up
- Squeeze your glutes at the top and press your thighs together towards the foam roller.
- Hold for 20-45 seconds and create as much tension as you can (vary on experience and strength)
- Relax and bring your hips back to the ground.
4. RKC Plank:
Muscles used: Core, Glutes & quads
Benefits: Help strengthen the core and teach body how to create tension as a unit
Reps(Timed): 5, 5-8 second holds
Directions:
- Lay on your stomach with your elbows directly below your shoulders
- Lift your hips up to bring yourself to a plank position
- Squeeze your glutes, quads, core and pull your elbows towards your toes to create full body tension
- Hold for 5-8 seconds.
- Relax by bringing your body back to the ground.
- Repeat until the desired amount of reps are completed.
There you have it! After your workout, grab your favorite protein and recover well. Hydration is key, so make sure to drink a good amount of water throughout the day.
To grab a VELAband, I am providing all FEVER readings a 15% discount. Just place “FEVER” at checkout and get ready to improve your lower body strength!
I would love to hear your thoughts on the workout. For more information or questions on anything related to fitness or a shout out, email me at raphy@thevelaproject.com.
