You might think that you’re limited by equipment in your home gym, but all it takes is a little imagination and you can create exciting workouts with minimal equipment. King of gym creativity Gareth Sapstead has shared his top 10 hacks to hype up your home gym. 

Below, we’ve got some of Gareth’s favourite tips and tricks to make your workouts more effective and do more with the equipment you might already have.

1 - Wrist Roller Alternative

A Wrist Roller is a really good piece of equipment for working your wrist extensors and forearms. But if you don’t have access to one of these you can makeshift your own. Using a squat rack with a barbell set at chest height, wrap a thick resistance band around the end of the bar and thread it through itself to secure in place. Wrap the resistance band around a dumbbell and leave it to hang at the bottom, now you have your own wrist roller.

Stand behind the barbell, gripping onto it with your arms fully extended in front of you and slowly twist the bar towards your body to reel the dumbbell up towards the barbell. Once you get to the top, control the movement all the way back down.

2 - Rear Foot Elevated Split Squat Using a Power Rack

A Single Leg Split Squat Stand is a gamechanger for rear foot elevated split squats and optimises positioning and comfort when doing them. If you don’t have access to one, place a barbell in a rack, setting up in the same position as a pad on a split squat stand. Place a bar pad on the barbell and place the rear foot on the pad. From here you can perform your split squats (aka the most hated exercise in the world).

3 - Hack Squat Without a Machine

Hack squats are one of the best exercises for working your quads, but if you’re at home and don’t have access to a hack squat machine you can mimic the movement using a smooth Foam Roller. Place the roller behind your lower back and wedge it in place using a wall. Hold dumbbells either side of your body and set yourself into a squat position with your toes pointing forward. Push your back into the foam roller as you roll up and down into your hack squat.

4 - The Quickest Way to Unload a Bar

When unloading your barbell, grab a small plate and place it on the floor. Roll your bumper plate onto the small plate and carefully slide it off the barbell. Once you’ve taken the weights off one side, pick the bar up until it’s vertical and lift it off the other plates.

5 - Hip Thrust Foot Position

It can be difficult to find the right foot position when doing heavy barbell hip thrusts. To start, get yourself into position without the weight and do some bodyweight hip thrusts, ensuring that you feel the burn in your glutes. Your shins should be vertical when the hips are extended. Once you’ve done your bodyweight thrusts, use a marker such as a protein shaker and put it where your feet are placed. Then, roll the bar on and place your feet where the shaker is positioned, and you’ll keep maximising glute contractions in your hip thrust.

6 - Seated Row Machine Alternative

If you don’t have a Seated Row Machine at home you can create your own as long as you’ve got a sturdy object to wrap a resistance band around such as a squat rack. Secure the resistance band around the rack and at the other end link a row attachment using a carabiner. Sit tall with a soft bend in your knees and make sure you’re far enough away that you can feel the resistance. Pull the band towards your stomach and squeeze your shoulder blades at the top of the movement to engage your back muscles as much as possible.

7 - Limited Space Loaded Carry

If you’ve not got a lot of space in the gym, then you can perform an alternate version of a loaded carry. Secure a resistance band around a squat rack or another secure surface and step inside the resistance band, facing away from the rack. Walk forwards and grab your weight, whether it’s dumbbells, a sandbag or a strongman bag, get into a Zercher position and march on the spot. With the resistance band constantly pulling against you this is a real lung burner.

8 - Bent Over Row with Extended ROM

To increase the range of motion during a bent over row you can use your Gymnastic Rings. Place them on the barbell about level with the inside edge of the knurling grip. Stand up and get into your bent over row position with a bend in your knees and hinge at the hips. Pull the bar towards your stomach in a rowing motion using the rings.

9 - Belt Squat with Resistance Bands

This may look odd, but a belt squat is a fantastic way to target the quads with very limited equipment. Secure a lifting belt around your waist and loop a heavy resistance band through the middle. Step on both ends of the resistance band so that it’s secured with your feet, the band should look like a pyramid. From here, complete your squats by resisting the weight of the band.

10 - Atlas Stone Loading Without the Stones

Want to get into strongman style conditioning but don’t have any atlas stones? That’s not a problem, we’ve got you covered. Set up a barbell on a squat rack about armpit height, you can adjust this if you want to make the exercise easier or harder. Place a weight on the floor, this can be a Sandbag for Strongman Training or Strongman Training Ball. Pick up the ball, throw it over the bar, dip under the bar and repeat on the other side. You can keep it lighter for a conditioning workout or use a heavier weight and less reps to work on strength. 

Whatever your training goal and no matter how much equipment you have, there are always ways to spice up your home workouts. Have you been inspired by any of these gym hacks? Give them a go and see how you can get creative with your own training.

Written by guest author Eryn Barber.

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Tags: Exercise Type > Conditioning ; Exercise Type > Strength ; Misc > Gym Planning ; Misc > Mirafit Ambassadors