The gyms may have closed but that’s no reason to stop the progress you’ve made so far. Achieving your goal is still possible from home so whether you’re cutting or gaining at the moment, here’s what you should do:

 Tips and advice from Reflex PT Tom Mcdonough

GAINING PHASE:

If you’re looking to gain, you’re currently in a good spot and should keep following your plan. With a surplus of calories you are eating enough to maintain your muscle and also offer your body enough calories to have a strong immune system, which should keep your mind at ease. You should definitely aim to get some good-quality training in at home to help stimulate each muscle group like you would at the gym.

HOME TRAINING FOR GAINING:

- Train each body part with added resistance and as hard as possible a minimum of once per week similar to how you would at the gym. 4 - 5 training sessions per week is ideal at home.

- Aim for 10k steps per day with a nice long walk and by keeping active around the house.

Products to help you gain:

I recommend Instant Whey Pro, Creapure Creatine and ISO PRO 2:1 if you struggle to eat enough calories.

CUTTING PHASE:

As long as you are willing to train at home then you can 100% continue to cut. Resistance training and eating adequate protein is what stops you from losing muscle in a deficit so making sure you keep on point with your nutrition is key.

You may need to get outside your comfort zone with different cardio like road running or circuits at home, which is possibly a bit different to the normal gym area cardio but it will actually do you good and will likely see good fat loss results introducing new cardio techniques.

Training each muscle group properly with resistance or tough bodyweight training is essential to make sure you’re maintaining muscle mass. When in a calorie deficit your body and immune system will run a little lower than if you were in a surplus or maintenance amount of calories so if you do begin to get unwell it is a good idea to increase calories to a maintenance amount.

HOME TRAINING FOR CUTTING:

- Train each body part with added resistance and as hard as possible a minimum of once per week similar to how you would at the gym.

- Perform cardio as often as required (this is depending on where you are in your fat loss phase)

- Aim for 10k steps per day with a nice long walk and by keeping active around the house to keep healthy.

Products to help you cut:

I recommend Instant Whey Pro, Thermo Fusion & Creapure Creatine

TAKE HOME MESSAGE:

You can 100% continue to progress towards your goals. If you are an experienced lifter the goal should be to maintain your muscle as the top priority and keep body composition in a good place. If you are a beginner you can 100% build new muscle at home and also drop body fat.

FOCUS POINTS:

• High-protein diet
• Multiple sources of fruits and vegetables each day
• Keep active around the house & garden as much as possible with daily walks on top.
• Consistently take good-quality vitamins and minerals. I recommend: Nexgen multivitamin, Zinc Matrix, Vitamin D3 & Omega 3
• Good-quality sleep 7+ hours per night

Following this will help you stay fit, healthy and by having a goal to work towards should keep you focused and in a good mental place.