# Gym-less workouts?



## Basti (Feb 28, 2014)

Anyone do this? 

So I'm going to start getting fit, buffing up, and all that but I can't afford a gym membership, therefore I'm planning to embark on a DIY mission to unlock as much of my unused physical potential as possible. 
Luckily enough when I quit rugby 4-5 years ago I somehow managed not to go all flabby, but I miss being...well.."ripped" and most of all I want to get all the psychological benefits of being healthy, liking the way I look and all that. 

My plan is to do some exercises and stretches at home (push ups, planks, crunches...?). Also I'm going to look around for monkey bars to do pull-ups (including different grips and widths), this is London so there's bound to be something suitable nearby. 

What I'm missing is a structure, an informed and intelligent way to go about it. Any advice?


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## MFB (Feb 28, 2014)

If you can, find a bucket and fill it with sand, or rocks, or hell even buy some cat litter and you could use that as a DIY kettle-bell. Obviously the handle would kind of suck to work with but hey it's cheaper than an actual kettle-bell right?

Push-ups
Sit-ups
Pull-ups
Squats
Lat Raises
Bent Rows
Lunges
Planks
Dips
Shrugs

There's a big list of stuff you can do at home, most of which is upper-body but it beats nothing.

I just snagged a weight bench from my parents and plan on buying a stationary bike for the house so that way I can do upper-stuff at home and do leg stuff at the gym (half the battle is driving myself in the cold right now)


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## TylerRay (Feb 28, 2014)

Plyometrics-Jumping excercises. Shit will tear up your legs(in a good way)


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## Konfyouzd (Feb 28, 2014)

I "prison lift" in my basement...

Essentially I just emulate a lot of workouts I'd do with a straight (45lb) bar like bench and the like using dumbbells at home on my multi-position bench.

Crunches and pushups are also super good workouts...

But at home I do incline/decline/flat dumbbell press, lawnmower pulls, side bends, and a bunch of other exercises I wish I knew the names of using just dumbbells to keep my strength up on days when I just can't make it to the gym.

When I do crunches it's a combo of a leg lift and a traditional crunch... 

I lay out almost completely flat except that I only let my shoulder blades touch and I hover my legs JUST over the ground. Then I do a crunch... Then I lay back out into the original position and the entire set is done that way. 

20 - 30 of those HURTS me... 

I try to do about 3 - 5 sets of anything I do at home. Most of the time it's lower resistance than what I do in the gym simply bc I can't afford all those weights.


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## asher (Feb 28, 2014)

TylerRay said:


> Plyometrics-Jumping excercises. Shit will tear up your legs(in a good way)



Plyos are the shit, and that's only partially because I'm a fencer


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## Basti (Feb 28, 2014)

Oh awesome, thanks guys! Is there any particular order in which I should work on different areas? 

Also...how important is running/jogging?


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## bcolville (Feb 28, 2014)

Working out at home is nice and easy. But are there really no affordable gyms over there? You can get a membership here for 10$ a month


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## Basti (Feb 28, 2014)

bcolville said:


> Working out at home is nice and easy. But are there really no affordable gyms over there? You can get a membership here for 10$ a month



No :/ i don't see any real way for me to fund a gym membership at the moment (insanely big prices).

However, i figured there could be advantages to this such as:
- Less effort (admittedly this may defeat the purpose) BUT this also means that i will be able to exercise more regularly and freely
- It will begin and end with my own body - this means i'll get to know it better, i can focus on balance, self control, meditation, relaxation...

those are big pluses for me, i mean i believe it could work


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## MFB (Feb 28, 2014)

Basti said:


> Oh awesome, thanks guys! Is there any particular order in which I should work on different areas?
> 
> Also...how important is running/jogging?



It's good for warming up with since it gets the blood flowing, but for actual weight loss it doesn't do much unless you do a lot of it; same for biking which I do a lot of now (upped from my normal 3 miles to 8.5/10 minutes or so of cardio to a full half-hour).

For weight stuff, generally switch off what you do day-to-day. Same thing every day and your body is going to get used to it and you won't see as much in terms of results. Target specific muscle groups of exercises for routines, then the next day hit the ones you didn't last time. Give some time to rest here and there if you do really big days or find yourself targeting the same group multiple days in a row.


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## Mexi (Feb 28, 2014)

DIY or not, get a kettle bell. affordable and helps incorporate core workouts and wayyyy better than pushups


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## gunshow86de (Mar 1, 2014)

I wouldn't normally advocate _for_ Crossfit......... however, their body weight workouts are pretty good.

Of the "classic" Crossfit workouts;

Chelsea:
5 pull-ups
10 push-ups
15 air squats

perform each minute, on the minute, for 30 minutes total

Barbara:
20 pull-ups
30 push-ups
40 sit-ups
50 squats

5 rounds for time, 3 minutes rest between rounds

Angie:
100 pull-ups
100 push-ups
100 sit-ups
100 squats

for time


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## Basti (Mar 1, 2014)

Wow that looks intense, thanks man  I'll probably end up selecting a good tree for pull-ups  how we don't have an elevated bar that can sustain a man's weight is beyond me


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## kung_fu (Mar 1, 2014)

I've been working out exclusively with GSP's Rushvit video series lately. I think it's worth looking into, as it combines pushups, situps, planks, squats, isometrics, plyometrics, and most of the standard exercises also mentioned in this thread. With the exercises being rapid-fire, one after the other, it's quite an excellent cardiovascular workout as well. It's mostly bodyweight stuff and dumbbell (max 30 lbs). Supplement this with a home lifting regimen and you've got a pretty decent total body, gym-free workout program.


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## Basti (Mar 1, 2014)

Thanks man, i'll check that out


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## Kidneythief (Mar 3, 2014)

Well if you can't afford a gym-membership you can always try calisthenics workouts I guess.

I recently "jumped the bandwagon" and doing "Convict Conditioning" by Paul Wade. I'm still at the beginning of it, but kinda like it. Never was really a gym-goer type anyway.

Also look up Al Kavadlo, Frank Medrano, and there are some other popular people up around youtube and internet with videos, and books and with tons of information.


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## TylerEstes (Mar 5, 2014)

Basti said:


> Oh awesome, thanks guys! Is there any particular order in which I should work on different areas?
> 
> Also...how important is running/jogging?



I lost 70 lbs over the summer/fall and I didn't run once 

I wouldn't say it's important. I just did 3 shitloads of scissor kicks and crunches and stuff.


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## BeforeTheTrial (Mar 5, 2014)

Check out the at home workouts by Beachbody, p90x, insanity, t25, all really good at home work outs.


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## 777timesgod (Mar 9, 2014)

Mexi said:


> DIY or not, get a kettle bell. affordable and helps incorporate core workouts and wayyyy better than pushups



A used one as well is a good option. Perhaps even a weight set which you can use for different excersises.


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## dudeskin (Mar 29, 2014)

no need for a gym.
not saying you shouldnt if you can, but i cant and its not stopped me so far.

look up calisthenics, youtube a guy with a channel called "fortress" i think, follow his master the basics and stick to it. thats all youll need.

its fun too.


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## theycallmetc (Mar 30, 2014)

I quit going to the gym because I was getting bored and I wanted to dedicate more time and money to rock climbing (buy new shoes and gear and pay one membership instead of two).

So basically I'm doing mostly bodyweight stuff. Right now I'm making it up as I go, but here's a rough outline of what I'm doing. You might find some parts of it useful.

Two upper body sessions and two lower body sessions per week. I used to do a push pull split at the gym, but I find the upper/lower split to be alright for calisthenics.

Upper body sessions involve lots of bar work, since that has a secondary benefit of working my grip for rock climbing. 

Upper body:

Pull ups in all variations and holds (close, shoulder width, wide, frenchies, asymmetric loading), dips (both parallel bar and pull up bar), push ups (diamond, shoulder, wide, Spiderman pushups, Alligator crawls, side to side, incline one arm pushups, assisted handstand pushups and pike push ups). 

My goal is basically to work towards muscle ups and one armed pull ups. You can look up Bar Brothers, Barstarz, Hannibal for King, Frank Medrano, etc to get an idea of what you can work towards with just a pullup bar, parallel bars and a LOT of drive.

Core:

Hanging leg raises, hanging knee raises, hanging wipers, crunches, planks, laying leg raises, side planks, laying wipers.

Legs:

Squats, pistol squats, Bulgarian split squats, lunges, calf raises, one leg calf raises, jumping squats, box jump squats, etc.

These days I'm mostly picking 3-4 exercises a session and doing pyramid sets. I can definitely get enough of an upper body workout but I'm having trouble getting a good leg workout without resorting to jumping exercises (which I don't want to abuse because they're hell on your knees), so pistol squats are my best friends right now. 

I also jump rope or run twice a week, do yoga once a week and climb 2-3 times a week. I'm not aiming to build mass, I probably eat slightly above maintenance because I don't want to lose weight either (I used to eat at maintenance and box and lost a lot of weight...wasn't happy about that at all).


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## TRENCHLORD (Mar 30, 2014)

^^^ Looks great!

One thing you do have to watch for with a program like that is neuro-fatigue, as in just wearing out.
All that bodyweight kind of stuff can really require a high number of reps and time under tension (I say time under load just because TUL sounds better than TUT, unless you put KING in front of it).

Rock climbing must already put much stress on the wrist and hands, so if you do it often I'd think you wouldn't want to overwork them, although if you can't climb real often then it would be good to keep yourself strong with good strength-endurance.


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## Manurack (Mar 30, 2014)

bcolville said:


> Working out at home is nice and easy. But are there really no affordable gyms over there? You can get a membership here for 10$ a month



*JUST $10 A MONTH?!?!?!*
I live in BC and in this town I've paid $65 for a one month pass.
A 3 month pass is also $140. The only advantage I have is the Complex is less than a 5 minute walk away.

I like this thread. I can learn a few things. Thanks for starting it!


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## Vrollin (Mar 30, 2014)

Couple of my favs include,

Death by burpees - Every minute start a new set, start at one, increase by one each minute, (first minute one burpee, second min 2 burpees, 3rd three and so on) will ruin you quick, doesnt seem like much on paper, but give it a go! My best so far is 12 minutes, didnt even start the 13th set.

Also find yourself a sporting ground, divide it into quarters or 8ths, and pick 4 or 8 exercises, run around and at each point do 25 or an exercise untill you have done 100 of each exercize. So that will get you 4 laps plus 100 reps of 4-8 exercises. Good stuff and best of all free!


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## theycallmetc (Mar 30, 2014)

TRENCHLORD said:


> Rock climbing must already put much stress on the wrist and hands, so if you do it often I'd think you wouldn't want to overwork them, although if you can't climb real often then it would be good to keep yourself strong with good strength-endurance.



I'm only a month in this routine of sorts and what's really worked for me is sleeping well and doing all my bar work as far from my climbing days as possible. So on or around climbing days I'm only doing lower body stuff or core work that doesn't involve me hanging. Of course climbing uses legs and core a lot, but doing some squats won't kill my bouldering as much as doing pull ups will.

I'm trying not to climb too much as well because before this year I hadn't taken it seriously (would only go once every couple of months) and even though muscles adapt quickly, tendons and ligaments don't. As I can start climbing more and more I'll cut down on the calisthenics and/or cardio! Gotta take care of those hands, can't play guitar otherwise!


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## dudeskin (Mar 30, 2014)

Get yourself over to madbarz.com dude. All the info you need. 
Bodyweight workouts can easily be low reps for by doing different difficulties of moves. 
Eg, push-ups turn into endurance quite early on so then you mix it up with something like diamond push-ups or inclined to up the difficulty meaning you gain more strength and mass rather than building staying power. 
Explosives are great too.


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## TRENCHLORD (Mar 30, 2014)

dudeskin said:


> Get yourself over to madbarz.com dude. All the info you need.
> Bodyweight workouts can easily be low reps for by doing different difficulties of moves.
> Eg, push-ups turn into endurance quite early on so then you mix it up with something like diamond push-ups or inclined to up the difficulty meaning you gain more strength and mass rather than building staying power.
> Explosives are great too.


 

Yes. Good ideas.

Using a backpack with small weights can really amp up moves like pullups and dips.


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## straightshreddd (Mar 30, 2014)

HASfit Free Workouts on Demand - Best Exercise Routines - Diet Plans - Fitness Plans At Home or In Gym for Men and Women Work Out

Came across this website recently when looking for some cardio workouts.

Their youtube channel has tons upon tons of useful vids. And they have completely free 30 day plans and what not. They cover all types of exercise from strength training, cardio, and body weight training to body building, powerlifting, etc. They also cover nutrition and stuff. Super informative and very geared towards regular, everyday people rather than being overly technical and complicated.

Check it out, yo.


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## geese_com (Apr 2, 2014)

I have this link as a bookmark on my computer for times when I just want to do a quick workout at home.

100 No Equipment Workouts:
100 no-equipment workouts - Imgur


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## MFB (Apr 2, 2014)

geese_com said:


> I have this link as a bookmark on my computer for times when I just want to do a quick workout at home.
> 
> 100 No Equipment Workouts:
> 100 no-equipment workouts - Imgur



Definitely saving this. I knew a good majority of these (albiet named differently) but there some new ones in there as well.


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## Basti (Jun 23, 2015)

Cheers guys, some really helpful stuff here. Also grateful not to have been pelted with "just find a gym fggt" 

Came across this by the way. For someone as inactive as I've been this is quite intense


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## OmegaSlayer (Aug 1, 2015)

Push ups are becoming my nightmare.
As I can do around 200 crunches in 5 series with 90-120 seconds of rest between series, I can't get to go past 50-60 push-ups, with max 20 push-ups in a row.
I followed the same plan I used to bring the crunches up to 200 in 5 weeks, and my abs are becoming well ripped, still with push-ups it's not working.
Sometimes it just seem I get worse.
It's really bumming me out.
I see the shoulders, pectoral and arms getting more rip, but it seems like there's not enough strength, and more than that, my wrists ache a lot, which makes me quite unease, as I'm scared it will harm and affect my guitar playing...and between ripped body and guitar playing I do really prefer playing.
Still...bummed a lot.


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (Aug 4, 2015)

Advocare's CU24 DVD, only 24 minutes long.CU24

Lots of squats, pushups, and overall calisthenics. Low impact, no equipment needed.

2 discs with 3 workouts each. We do disc 1, Melt-1, Shred-1, Sculpt-1 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, then disc 2, Melt-2, Shred-2, Sculpt-3 on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, rest on Sunday.

It's helped me, along with cutting sugar & flour, trim off 15 lbs, get stronger, sleep better, overall more strengthened, and this is the best I've felt at 49 years old, after breaking my back & severely straining my neck in 1989.


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## Harry (Aug 5, 2015)

OmegaSlayer said:


> I see the shoulders, pectoral and arms getting more rip, but it seems like there's not enough strength, and more than that, my wrists ache a lot, which makes me quite unease, as I'm scared it will harm and affect my guitar playing...and between ripped body and guitar playing I do really prefer playing.
> Still...bummed a lot.



Get off the ground my friend.
Go to a playground or exercise park if in your area that has parallel bars.






Something like that. Of course, if you don't have a park near you, you can just buy some or make your own if you have the skills and tools.
You can keep your wrists quite straight on the bars and as an added bonus, the neutral grip is also much easier on the shoulders and elbows.
Make sure to tuck your elbows in as you descend to reduce the strain on the elbows and shoulders.
This is how I do my all pushups these days. As a guitarist, you will find your wrists will really begin to thank when you stop putting all that unnecessary pressure on them.

Also, instead of just adding more reps, add more weight (investing in a weight vest is a good idea) if you really want to build strength. Alternate between bodyweight and weighted, for e.g, one day a week do bodyweight and 2-3 days later, do weighted, as you may find doing only weighted pushups will significantly eat into your ability to recover well.


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## Basti (Aug 5, 2015)

I have a playground right by me but there's a pair of shoes dangling on a telephone pole so yeah, maybe not...

Caved in and subscribed to the uni gym because the fact that I'm paying for it is motivation enough


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## troyguitar (Aug 5, 2015)

I do pushups on my fists to avoid hurting my wrists. Works pretty well IMO but I'm probably the weakest person here since I don't do very many of them.


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## OmegaSlayer (Aug 6, 2015)

Past Saturday I was able to do 5 series, 16, 17, 14, 14, 20 reps with 120 seconds of rest between them.
This Monday I could barely do 4 series 14, 14, 10, 10 reps with 60 seconds of rest between...that was something I could do past Monday...so...derp. 
So I decided to take a week of rest but I felt that my chest and pectorals have strengthened.

The same program, which you can find at http://www.hundredpushups.com/ applied to crunches brought me to the end of week 5 with 8 series of crunches, 20, 20, 24, 24, 20, 20, 22, 50 reps with 45 seconds of rest between them.

So in 5 weeks I was able to proceed accordingly to the program with crunches, but I was only able to "beat" week 1 of push-ups.


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## Skyblue (Aug 6, 2015)

geese_com said:


> I have this link as a bookmark on my computer for times when I just want to do a quick workout at home.
> 
> 100 No Equipment Workouts:
> 100 no-equipment workouts - Imgur



Question to you all- How do I know which workout to pick? (not necessarily from that link, though it definitely looks useful) 

I'm aiming towards getting in shape, not really getting buff or anything- but just getting toned up and all. All these exercises look great but I'm totally lost as to which one should I pick. 
Also, how many days a week should one workout? Every day? Day on day off?

Any help would be appreciated.


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## OmegaSlayer (Aug 6, 2015)

Skyblue said:


> Question to you all- How do I know which workout to pick? (not necessarily from that link, though it definitely looks useful)
> 
> I'm aiming towards getting in shape, not really getting buff or anything- but just getting toned up and all. All these exercises look great but I'm totally lost as to which one should I pick.
> Also, how many days a week should one workout? Every day? Day on day off?
> ...



Look, I did the first one, the one with 10 exercises (starting with high knees and jumping jacks) 1 minute of rep, than 1 minute of rest...
Point is, after a 20-ish of minutes I collapsed and was about to faint, true story and not joking at all, I had to get a hot shower, lay on the floor for half an hour and could get back to breathing properly.
That's ABSOLUTELY something NOT for n00bs.
I don't recommend them at all if you aren't in a GREAT ATHLETIC shape already.


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## matt till (Aug 6, 2015)

OmegaSlayer said:


> That's ABSOLUTELY something NOT for n00bs.
> I don't recommend them at all if you aren't in a GREAT ATHLETIC shape already.



hm... thinking maybe cutting each exercise by half or so (30 seconds) and keeping the 1 minute rest may work? I never worked out myself in my life other than middle school physical education

I downloaded the .pdf. Stress last year and this year so far resulted in weight loss and since I'm not active and skating like I was in high school I need to find something to get me going again.


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## OmegaSlayer (Aug 6, 2015)

matt till said:


> hm... thinking maybe cutting each exercise by half or so (30 seconds) and keeping the 1 minute rest may work? I never worked out myself in my life other than middle school physical education



I tried that too and I'm not still ready after almost 3 months of daily workouts.


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