Strength & Conditioning on a Budget
Looking to make some changes to your physique-changes in strength, muscle, and power? Have you always wanted your own home gym but thought it was too expensive to do so? Not only can I help you achieve this in 90 days, but I can help you look and feel better also. You don’t need a fancy gym membership with all the frills and televisions everywhere you look. I’m going to help you with your conditioning on a budget. Those are merely a distraction anyway from you focusing on what you came to do anyway-train hard. What you’re doing isn’t for everyone, and that’s what sets you apart from the rest.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and is not meant to treat or diagnose any condition. It is recommended that you speak with your doctor before starting any exercise program, changing your daily nutrition, or adding any supplements to your regimen.
Conditioning On a Budget — Equipment You’ll Need
Like I mentioned above, you don’t need a fancy gym membership for conditioning on a budget — in fact, I can save you a lot of time and money. For less than $1,000 (which equates to about 2 years worth of a gym membership depending where you go) you can build yourself a nice home gym that will suit you well. I would recommend looking into adjustable dumbbells. There are several brands out there that range from 2.5 pounds to anywhere from 50-to-120 pounds depending on the set. These adjustable dumbbells will not only save you a lot of money, but also a lot of space.
Related Article: An Interview with Strength and Conditioning Coach, Travis Reust
The last thing you need to look for is an adjustable bench for your conditioning on a budget. Look for one that adjusts from a decline position to an inclined position and has about 6-10 different position adjustments to give you a good array of decline and incline positions as well as a flat position. The bench should be of good quality and doesn’t wobble when sitting/laying on it. In terms of cardio equipment, one can easily use the great outdoors to do your cardio. Walking, jogging, running-all of which is sufficient for cardio.
It would also be wise to pick up a plyometrics ladder and some cones. These are compact and can be used to work on footwork and agility as well as be a great form of cardio.
Strength and Conditioning Recovery
Before getting into the workout I need to touch on something that many people don’t realize. Most people underestimate how important rest is to your progress. Many believe that muscle growth takes place while working out, when really it takes place during rest. You stimulate the muscle when weight lifting, but at that particular time you are simply breaking down the muscle fibers. It’s after your workouts that is most crucial. Feeding and resting of your body also needs to be considered.
Getting between 8-10 hours of sleep a night will give you the proper amount of time for your body to start rebuilding the tears in the muscle fibers you created during your workout. When these fibers recover and rebuild, they come back bigger and stronger (which causes size and strength gains). So one needs to understand that stimulating the muscle is not the only part of the equation, it is the re-feed and rest which can make or break your progress.
Strength Conditioning on a Budget Workout
So what workout will help you get the best and quickest results toward your goal? Having a 4-day split with 3 strategically placed rest days is ideal. I laid the training program out so that you will have 2 heavy days and 2 moderate days (for the first 2 months). Between each grouping will be 1-2 rest days depending on the time of the week. Each workout will take you no more than 45-60 minutes.
The first 2 months of the conditioning on a budget program will consist of hitting each muscle group twice a week. Those 2 months, as mentioned, will have both heavy and moderate days. In the third month everything will be changed up and you will be pounding 2 muscle groups per day and will be training in the 8-12 rep range to specifically work on hypertrophy and make the muscles grow. Strength will be increasing the first 2 months of the program which will allow you to load a heavier weight for your exercises on that particular month of training and still reach the higher rep range. Each workout will start off with 5 minutes of cardio to warm up the muscles and then at the end of each workout you will finish with 5 minutes of cardio to cool down.
Conditioning on a budget program layout for the first 2 months of training:
- Sunday: Off
- Monday: Day 1 Workout—Heavy
- Tuesday: Day 2 Workout—Moderate
- Wednesday: Off
- Thursday: Day 3 Workout—Moderate
- Friday: Day 4 Workout—Heavy
- Saturday: Off
Conditioning on a budget program layout for the third month of training:
- Sunday: Off
- Monday: Day 1 Workout
- Tuesday: Day 2 Workout
- Wednesday: Off
- Thursday: Day 3 Workout
- Friday: Day 4 Workout
- Saturday: Off
The workout split I have put together combines muscle building and power/strength protocols to help you achieve your goals. You can easily follow this conditioning on a budget plan.
You will find on Day 1 and Day 4 you are doing heavy lifting with more weight and less reps and on Day 2 and Day 3 you are doing moderate weight with more reps. The way this protocol is set up allows you to recover properly before grinding it out with the heavy weights again and stimulating the muscle, forcing it to adapt and grow.
Each workout strives to get you stronger-whether it be adding a little more weight or by doing a couple more reps. Always try and better your previous workout. Keep your total sets per workout to around 12-16. The rest periods between sets should be no more than 1 minute on moderate days and no more than 2 minutes on heavy days. You will start the week off with a heavy day and then you don’t have another heavy day until the last workout of the week. After that you allow yourself two full days to rest and recover before hitting it hard by going heavy again.
On your heavy days you will use a weight you can handle but one which only allows you to perform 4-6 reps. By utilizing the protocol calling for 4-6 reps you focus more on the strength/power aspect of the training program. Then on your moderate days you will use a weight that is challenging enough but allows you to complete 8-10 reps. By utilizing the protocol calling for 8-10 reps you focus more on the hypertrophy (muscle building) aspect of the training program. The tempo should be 2-3 seconds on the eccentric portion of the exercise (when the muscle is being stretched) and 1-2 seconds on the concentric portion of the exercise (when the muscle is contracting). Each workout begins with larger muscle groups and finishes with the smaller muscle groups.
Cardio or plyometrics can be done after your workouts or you can do it on your off days. 30 minutes of cardio/plyometrics 3 times a week is enough right now to allow you to put on some lean mass while still keeping your body fat in check. Abs can also be done 3 times a week either after your workouts or on your off days.
Month 1
Day 1: Heavy
- Chest Press: 4 sets of 4-6 reps
- One-Arm Bent-Over Row: 4 sets of 4-6 reps
- Seated Shoulder Press: 4 sets of 4-6 reps
- Standing Biceps Curl: 2 sets of 4-6 reps
- Lying Triceps Extension: 2 sets of 4-6 reps
Day 2: Moderate
- Squat Jump: 3 sets of 10 reps
- Stiff-Leg Deadlift: 3 sets of 10 reps
- Bodyweight Walking Lunge: 3 sets of 10 reps
- Seated Calf Raise: 3 sets of 10 reps
Day 3: Moderate
- Incline Chest Press: 3 sets of 8-10 reps
- Double-Arm Bent-Over Row: 3 sets of 8-10 reps
- Shoulder Side Lateral: 2 sets of 8-10 reps
- Overhead One-Arm Triceps Extension: 2 sets of 8-10 reps
- Hammer Curl: 2 sets of 8-10 reps
Day 4: Heavy
- Squat: 4 sets of 4-6 reps
- Deadlift: 4 sets of 4-6 reps
- Stationary Lunge: 4 sets of 4-6 reps
- Standing Calf Raise: 4 sets of 4-6 reps
Month 2
Day 1: Heavy
- Sumo Squat: 5 sets of 4-6 reps
- Stiff-Legged Deadlift: 5 sets of 4-6 reps
- Standing Calf Raise: 5 sets of 4-6 reps
Day 2: Moderate
- Push Up With Clap: 3 sets of 8-10 reps
- Lying Pull-over: 3 sets of 8-10 reps
- Side Lateral Raise: 2 sets of 8-10 reps
- Dumbbell Front Raise: 2 sets of 8-10 reps
- Triceps Kick-back: 2 sets of 8-10 reps
- Concentration Curl: 2 sets of 8-10 reps
Day 3: Moderate
- Dumbbell Step-Up: 4 sets of 8-10 reps
- Walking Lunge: 4 sets of 8-10 reps
- One-Leg Lateral Jump Over Cone: 4 sets of 8-10 reps
Day 4: Heavy
- Incline Chest Press: 4 sets of 4-6 reps
- Lying Two-Arm Row: 4 sets of 4-6 reps
- Arnold Press: 4 sets of 4-6 reps
- Decline Triceps Extension: 2 sets of 4-6 reps
- Biceps Curl: 2 sets of 4-6 reps
Month 3
Day 1: Chest/Back
- Incline Chest Press: 3 sets of 8-12 reps
- Chest Press: 3 sets of 8-12 reps
- Dumbbell Flyes: 2 sets of 8-12 reps
- Two-Arm Bent-Over Row: 3 sets of 8-12 reps
- Lying Pull-over: 2 sets of 8-12 reps
Day 2: Shoulders/Calves
- Standing Dumbbell Press: 2 sets of 8-12 reps
- Side Lateral: 2 sets of 8-12 reps
- Front Raises: 2 sets of 8-12 reps
- Bent-Over Rear Lateral: 2 sets of 8-12 reps
- Standing Calf Raise: 4 sets of 8-12 reps
- Seated Calf Raise: 4 sets of 8-12 reps
Day 3: Legs
- Squat: 5 sets of 8-12 reps
- Deadlift: 5 sets of 8-12 reps
- Walking Lunge: 3 sets of 8-12 reps
- Squat Jump: 3 sets of 8-12 reps
Day 4: Arms
- Biceps Curl: 3 sets of 8-12 reps
- Hammer Curl: 3 sets of 8-12 reps
- Concentration Curl: 2 sets of 8-12 reps
- Lying Triceps Extension: 3 sets of 8-12 reps
- Two-Arm Overhead Extension: 3 sets of 8-12 reps
- Triceps Kick-back: 2 sets of 8-12 reps
*Disclosure: This article may contain affiliate links or ads, which means we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you if you make a purchase through these links. These commissions help support the operation and maintenance of our website, allowing us to continue producing free valuable content. Your support is genuinely appreciated, whether you choose to use our links or not. Thank you for being a part of our community and enjoying our content.
PLEASE CONSIDER SHARING THIS ON YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA TO HELP OTHERS LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS TOPIC.
