Transformation through a home workout

Part I

After almost 2 months of being cooped up at home and with the uncertainty of whether sports centers will reopen in June, the question arises: can one improve and achieve a transformation through home training?

I would like to approach this question from several perspectives, as the answer can vary considerably depending on the individual and the context. Let me explain: if you are someone who has not trained before and is just starting, with home training being your first experience, we get one answer. If you are someone who has previously trained at a gym or in a park for 6-12 months, we get another answer. If you have been training for more than 12 months, we get yet another different answer.

As you can see, once again, in this sector, the answers remain IT DEPENDS, and even if I wanted to give you the key to finding the holy grail of training, I cannot. Before I start talking about training and delving into it, I will provide a small index of how we will address this topic:

1. Physiological variables that influence progress
2. Training variables that influence progress
3. Environmental variables that influence progress
4. Conclusions

I will tell you upfront that if your idea is for me to tell you in this article whether you will achieve a result or not, the answer is YES. But to achieve this result, I always advocate for having prior knowledge that allows you to lay the foundation and then build your result.

Physiological variables that influence progress

It should be noted that, as in any field, we can divide individuals into 3 categories:

1. BEGINNERS: Individuals with no experience in the field of training.
2. INTERMEDIATE: Individuals with less than 12 months of training experience.
3. ADVANCED: Individuals with more than 12 months of training experience.

With this last group, we are aware that if you have been training for more than 3 years, you would be considered an EXPERT, and the stimulus you need to subject your muscles to in order to achieve adaptation is far beyond what home training with elastic bands can provide.

Let's do a quick review of basic physiology. What does science tell us about stimuli? You must understand that with any stimulus, and regardless of the group you belong to, the muscle goes through 3 phases: alarm phase, resistance phase, and adaptation phase (supercompensation) or fatigue (overtraining).

It is important that you know these 3 phases in detail because it will define your transformation through home training.

Alarm phase:

In the alarm phase, your muscle detects a stimulus or resistance it needs to adapt to as a response to a state of survival. In the case of a beginner with a 4kg dumbbell, without prior training for an exercise like a bicep curl, their muscle will detect a high stimulus. An intermediate individual will need a load of about 6-8kg to feel the same stimulus, and an advanced individual will need a load of 12-14kg to adapt to another stimulus (weights are approximate, and cases are generalized; evidently, it will depend on genetics and the individual's adaptive response to stimuli, but the example is to contextualize the general situation).

Resistance phase:

In the Resistance Phase, your muscle will enter a set of physiological and chemical processes to adapt as quickly as possible to this stimulus or resistance in case this phenomenon, which we will call muscular stress, repeats itself.

Adaptation phase:

If the stimulus is high enough to cause this stress to our muscle, but not so exaggerated as to injure us, then we move on to the Adaptation Phase. But if the stimulus is too high and our muscle is unable to adapt, a Fatigue Phase would occur, and it could lead to injury or overtraining.

Before you think that the only way to stimulate your muscle towards this adaptation phase, which is what we are always looking for, is through loads (weights), you are mistaken. When I talk about stimuli or resistance, a range of possible options opens up. This would lead us to investigate what "other factors" can intervene in this adaptation to guarantee a transformation through home training; let's talk about that.

Training variables that influence progress

Understanding that we are looking for a STIMULUS/RESISTANCE to achieve a positive adaptation that ultimately results in an outcome, which is an increase in muscle mass, let's see what tools we have at our disposal to cause this stimulus:

• Training volume: Refers to the total number of sets and repetitions we do in a single workout.
• Intensity: Refers to the load with which we work out.
• Frequency: Refers to how often we repeat a workout or muscle group in the same week.
• Density: Refers to the rest between exercises and sets.

Let's say the equation would be: V + I + F + D = E+ = Result. Each of these variables is related to each other, and there must be a balance for the stimulus (E) to be positive (E+) and not negative (E-) since we are looking for a result. When I talk about balance, I mean that if the training Volume is very high, the Intensity must adjust to this volume (it can be very high or not), the Frequency will depend on how high the volume is, and the Density will depend on the goal we are pursuing. In other words, I will give two very clear examples so you can see the difference between the equation for a Powerlifter and a Bodybuilder.

Powerlifter:

• High training volume + High intensity + High frequency + Very high density = E+

In this case, Powerlifters seek to lift very heavy loads (Intensity) and since they don't vary exercises (their exercises are Bench Press, Deadlift, Squat), they perform a very high Volume in sets for these 3 exercises, the Frequency is 3-4 times per week (depends on the programming), and the Density is very high since they rest 3-5 minutes to recover ATP stores.

Bodybuilder:

• Bodybuilder: High volume + Medium intensity + Low frequency + Low density = E+

In the case of a bodybuilder, the training volume is high and is distributed among different muscle groups, the intensity (load) will be medium since they work with loads that they can move for 8-12 repetitions, the frequency is low since one or two muscle groups are worked each day per week, and the density is low with rests of 45-60".

What's next?

As you can see, depending on the objective, you will have one equation or another. In the case of Powerlifters, their positive stimulus (E+) will be gaining strength, and in the case of bodybuilders, their E+ will be gaining hypertrophy. And this brings us to the main question: Can one progress and achieve a transformation through home training? And if you've been paying attention so far, you might infer that there are variables in this equation that are altered by confinement. We will talk about this in the next article.