As lockdown life rolls on, I know that it’s essential for me to try and move my body every day if possible. If only to shake up my endorphins so I feel alive once in a while and to stop myself from merging with the sofa or my bed! I know for a lot of people it can be hard to get their work out on without a gym to go to; there’s not enough space, you don’t have the equipment, your family or flatmates are always getting in your way or you just don’t know what to do with yourself.

Over the last 12 weeks, I’ve been following the nobs (as in no bullsh*t) home guide 1.0 which is a weight training plan you can do at home with work outs that make you feel like you’ve been to the gym. I had done the nobs gym guide 1.0 before – read about it here – and liked that so I knew that the home guide would be a nice way to structure my lockdown exercise, especially in the winter when I can’t (/don’t want to) do anything outside! So here’s my review…

First of all, if you haven’t really done weight training and that scares you – do not worry! It’s a great way to exercise and can really help with all sorts of fitness goals, not just for those who want to look hench and build muscle. The guide gives instructions and a video example of each exercise to help you know what you’re doing and to check you’re doing it right. The good thing about weight training is that it’s really beneficial exercise without being cardio – you’re not jumping about or getting out of breath necessarily, which can be great for those who need lower intensity exercise or who in a flat and don’t want to bother their neighbours below by banging about! The difficulty of the exercises it totally up to you and how heavy the thing is that you’re lifting, which you can up the more confident you get.

When it comes to equipment, the website suggests that you have two sets of dumbbells but, honestly, I only needed to use one set of 5kg dumbbells. I got mine here for about £45 but the price varies depending on how heavy they are. To be fair, there are loads of things you can use instead of buying dumbbells like tins of soup, big bottles of water, a backpack or tote bag full of heavy things – get creative!

For me, the hardest thing about doing a home work out is deciding what the hell you’re actually supposed to do with yourself. If you can’t decide which combination of exercises you’re going to do, it can be so hard to get started and if you don’t plan enough then you stop early because you ran out of ideas and that was probably enough, right?! The best thing to me is having so many work outs planned out for you and you just follow along until they’re finished.
Using the app is so easy, I think it’s really helpful and motivational to be able to tick off your exercises as you go. You know what you have to work towards in a certain session and it’s satisfying to tick it off and be done!

The guide starts off gently and builds up across the 12 weeks as you build up your strength and knowledge of the different exercises. For the first four weeks, there are 3 work outs, then it bumps up to 4 times a week. The exercises change and rotate across the different work outs but there’s not billions of different things so you can become familiar with what you’re doing. Personally, I found some of it a bit repetitive but there’s only so much you can do with weight training, especially without proper gym equipment. Each week you get a good balance of muscle groups so you’re always training your whole body.

The guide is great value for money at £45 for 44 work outs and a nutrition guide – plus you can always do the guide again and again if you want to. There’s a Facebook group where you can speak to other nobs, encourage one another and get support – I didn’t do this but I know having an exercise community can be super helpful for some people. That said, I do follow nobs and its creator Lucy Mountain on Instagram for the good vibes and the no bs fitness content which is great for setting a healthy mindset about fitness and nutrition and to take off some of the damn pressure!

So, yeah, I would definitely recommend nobs home guide 1.0 as it has kept me entertained for the last 3 months and I feel so strong and healthy!