If you’ve ever wondered how the pros train their chest before a big competition, this video should be able to help.
As part of a quarantine video series designed to help people who are new to training at home, IFBB pro Cristiano Marinho has teamed up with Muscle & Health TV on a YouTube special that should give people some guidance. Marinho placed third at the IFBB Elite Pro Championships in 2019 and is a regular on the IFBB pro stage.
As you can tell from the video, his home chest workout is a fairly straight forward series of push-ups and weightlifting done on his home patio. It’s useful for those of us who don’t have any fancy gym equipment at home since all he uses in the video is a simple yoga mat and a low bench. It is fairly easy to get a workout in with simple materials if you get a little imaginative with it; Marinho has talked about how this is one of his favorite chest workouts, but he obviously doesn’t need complex gym equipment to do it and never has.
This could be a great opportunity to get back to the basics of working out and really evaluate what you do and don’t need to be using in the gym. A lot of us think expensive equipment = the best equipment, but that really has more to do with branding than anything. The truth is, all of the most famous warriors and athletes throughout history were training with simple tools that we all have lying around the house. So, if you don’t have a $4,000 Peloton sitting at home, don’t despair. You can get in an IFBB-pro level chest workout and the only tool you need is yourself.
It’s unlikely we’ll see Marinho return to the IFBB pro stage anytime soon for the simple fact that all the competitions have been cancelled or postponed for the foreseeable future. However, that hasn’t stopped him from working out in quarantine, and it shouldn’t stop you. A little self-determination can go a long way in this situation. Marinho has realized that this is an opportunity to take his fitness further rather than treat it as something that would set him back. We’ve made several other home workouts available that should help you get motivated with your new stay-at-home fitness journey. Obviously, there’s no right way to do it, since everyone’s fitness goals and level of expertise are different. Find a video that works with your situation and stick to it. Before you know it, you’ll be back in the real gym. And who knows? If you end up loving working out at home, you might stick to doing that, and save yourself a lot of money on expensive memberships you don’t even need. You will definitely be able to keep up with your fitness in a way that’s affordable and appealing to your lifestyle and needs.
