Toning without weights?

shaydon80

I've been at this "weight loss" thing for the last year and a half and have been relatively successful, losing a total of about 85lbs. I'm about 5-10 lbs from my final goal weight and am looking to tone up a little more. the problem is that I HATE weight training and I don't have a gym membership.

Do you think it's possible to tone up without using weights? For example with pilates or body weight resistance exercises?

ummommyme

Absolutely, strength training is not just weights. Look at those in the army, body weight will do it. You could do bodyrock workouts or Zwow.

hesn92

sure. there are ways to increase resistance with push ups and other body weight exercises... eventually, though, I think you will have to add weight in to continue to see results. But I'm no expert. I personally find body weight exercises a lot less fun than using weights, though.

Katie3784

I recommend pilates to every single woman I talk to about fitness. I had been lifting and doing cardio for a year after I had my son, but it wasn't until I started pilates that the weight just fell off. I don't know what it is about pilates, but it works! It tones your tummy, butt, and thighs really well. As far as getting your arms in shape, all I know is that lifting weights at home has worked wonders for me. I don't particularly like it, but I do it because it works. On the other hand, I actually enjoy pilates a lot. I do dvds at home on a mat.

eso2012

Pilates is AMAZING. I used to lift weights and that was hardly as effective - or enjoyable - than regular pilates. You do need to learn it properly though, and based on the books and DVDs I have used, I think it is a must to start with a class. In no time you will be performing seemingly easy movements in the right form and be surprised how quickly you see some toned muscles. Not bulk, but well-defined muscles. Give it a shot, I am a total believer and hope to get my certificate in the near future as well.

eso2012

BTW, overall I love body weight training - like TRX and Pilates - than weight lifting. But it is really about what motivates you. I remember feeling very powerful when I lifted weight, and that really got me going then.

chrisdavey

pilates/yoga is awesome to do...on rest days from resistance training. (this includes weights or bw exercises)

carolynmittens

here's a few unbelievably effective/insane/painful body weight workouts

http://www.bodyrock.tv/2010/06/12/suicidal-sweat-workout/

http://www.bodyrock.tv/2010/06/14/tone-trim-and-tight-workout/

http://www.bodyrock.tv/2010/06/11/fat-fighter-workout/

http://www.bodyrock.tv/2010/06/16/hottie-body-workout/

http://www.bodyrock.tv/2010/06/09/booty-firm-up-workout/

http://www.bodyrock.tv/2010/06/08/sexy-pain-train-workout/

thiscanbedone

You can also check out callanetics. Google it and if you are interested add me :flowerforyou:

Heather2784

Definitely! I was a gymnastic when I was younger and had a rock solid body, complete with 6-pack too. Never touched a set of weights. Lunges, squats, sit-up-s, v-ups. push-ups, etc. There's a million things you can do at home right in your own living room to tone up in no time.

Amber86queenbee

here's a few unbelievably effective/insane/painful body weight workouts

http://www.bodyrock.tv/2010/06/12/suicidal-sweat-workout/

http://www.bodyrock.tv/2010/06/14/tone-trim-and-tight-workout/

http://www.bodyrock.tv/2010/06/11/fat-fighter-workout/

http://www.bodyrock.tv/2010/06/16/hottie-body-workout/

http://www.bodyrock.tv/2010/06/09/booty-firm-up-workout/

http://www.bodyrock.tv/2010/06/08/sexy-pain-train-workout/

Thanks for all the links!

ConsMom

I recommend pilates to every single woman I talk to about fitness. I had been lifting and doing cardio for a year after I had my son, but it wasn't until I started pilates that the weight just fell off. I don't know what it is about pilates, but it works! It tones your tummy, butt, and thighs really well. As far as getting your arms in shape, all I know is that lifting weights at home has worked wonders for me. I don't particularly like it, but I do it because it works. On the other hand, I actually enjoy pilates a lot. I do dvds at home on a mat.

What is your favorite Pilates dvd? Can you recommend one you like for someone who never tried it before?

weightloss12345678

I know for a fact videos such as Insanity will definitely tone you up........... no gym required!!!

epcooper

I recommend pilates to every single woman I talk to about fitness. I had been lifting and doing cardio for a year after I had my son, but it wasn't until I started pilates that the weight just fell off. I don't know what it is about pilates, but it works! It tones your tummy, butt, and thighs really well. As far as getting your arms in shape, all I know is that lifting weights at home has worked wonders for me. I don't particularly like it, but I do it because it works. On the other hand, I actually enjoy pilates a lot. I do dvds at home on a mat.

What is your favorite Pilates dvd? Can you recommend one you like for someone who never tried it before?

^^^^ yes, please!!

ellen_v

I recommend POP Pilates videos on youtube, they really do help. I'm just getting back into them after a motivation lapse, but when I did them regularly for a few months, my abs were so defined, so were my arms and legs. They are short, ranging from single song to 30 minutes so you can mix and match them to target different body areas. She is very enthusiastic and actually does the exercises with you, instead of just saying "now do 20 of these", so it's very motivating. Some of them are so difficult though, I did a couple this morning and it reminded me how horribly unfit I now am!

TinkrBelz

Yes, in fact most of my muscles are from calisthenics that I add to my Zumba classes that I teach. The only weights I lift are 8lb dumb bells for some arms things. I love lifting weights, I just do not have time to do both.

jacksonpt

What exactly do you mean by "toning"? This is one of those words that gets thrown around a lot, but I'm not sure people really know what it means.

In most cases, toning refers to reducing body fat enough to reveal the muscle previously hidden by said body fat. So, the basis of toning is still fat loss, which happens primarily in the kitchen.

ysamatar

Bump!

shaydon80

Thanks for all the input!

ConsMom

I recommend POP Pilates videos on youtube, they really do help.

Thank you for your recommendation! I just looked it up and plan to try one tomorrow!

crisanderson27

This works:

Some of you have been curious about my workout that I used to lose the initial 35+lbs at home. Well, it was 100% bodyweight based, no weights. I'll lay it out here:

This is your basic 5 x 5 template. (To clarify, 5x5 is 5 reps x 5 sets. The idea is to work at a difficulty level where you could only do maybe 7-8 reps on the first set, and are struggling to finish 5 reps on the last set). You would do strength training 3 times a week, say Monday-Wednesday-Friday with the weekends off. These are done "lazy circuits" style, with about 1 minute rest between each set (I use a FT7 HRM and keep my heart rate over 140). The explanations of the exercises you'll use for each group are farther below.

Workout A
1A. Knee dominant - 5 x 5
1B. Horizontal push - 5 x 5
1C. Horizontal pull - 5 x 5
2A. Ab - flexion - 3 x 5
2B. Ab - static 3 x 30 seconds

Workout B
1A. Knee dominant - 5 x 5
1B. Vertical push - 5 x 5
1C. Hip dominant - 5 x 5
1D. Vertical pull - 5 x 5
2A. Ab - rotation - 3 x 5
2B. Grip and neck training - 3 x varies

Exercise Progressions - with regular weight training you can just add weight to the bar. With bodyweight progression is mostly about changing your leverage. These are just a few examples, I'm sure we could come up with dozens more if needed. You can always add resistance in the form of a weighted vest or backpack or resistance bands.

Explanations of exercise in order of difficulty (easy-hard)
1. Knee Dominant -- squats, lunges, step-ups, bulgarian split squats, unilateral bent leg deadlift, partial one leg squat, one leg squat, box or stair pistols, full pistols.
2. Horizontal Push -- pushups, decline pushups, resistance pushups, side to side pushups, stair one arm pushups, negative one arm pushups, full one arm pushups.
3. Horizontal Pull -- body row, resistance body row, negative one hand row, incline one hand row, full one hand row.
4. Ab - flexion -- crunches, situps, resistance or incline situps, reverse situp, resistance or incline reverse situps, hanging knee or leg raise, hanging pikes, rollout from knees, rollout from feet, dragon flag. Also included are oblique moves like side lying crunches with or without resistance and side lying two leg raise.
5. Abs- static -- 4 point prone bridge, 3 point prone bridge, 2 point prone bridge, 4 point supine bridge, 3 point supine bridge.
6. Vertical Push -- pike pushup, hindu pushup, divebomber pushup, decline pike pushup, decline hindu pushup, decline divebomber pushup, one arm pike pushup, negative handstand pushup, handstand pushup with head touching floor, full handstand pushup.
7. Hip Dominant -- supine hip extension, good morning, one leg stiff leg deadlift, split one leg good morning, one leg supine hip extension, hyperextension, one leg hyperextension, natural glute-ham raise.
8. Vertical Pull -- jumping or assisted pullups, pullups, resistance pullups, side to side pullups, negative one hand pullups, one hand pullups. All these can refer to chinups or neutral grip pullups as well.
9. Ab - rotation -- twist crunches or situps, resistance or incline twist crunches or situps, russian twists, lying windshield wipers, standing rope rotations, hanging windshield wipers.
10. Grip and Neck Training -- for grip you can use handgrippers, deadhangs from a pullup bar (especially a fatbar or gripping a towel). For neck nothing beats wrestlers bridges. If you are involved in a striking martial art or sport, finger and fist pushups are very important also.

None of these lists have to end here. If you get strong enough you can always add resistance to your full range of motion one limb exercise. Or if you can do more than 5 one hand pushups do decline one hand pushups, or start working on one hand hindu and then eventually one hand dive bombers, and so on.

The nice thing about this routine is it scales dramatically depending on your fitness level. If you can't do even ONE regular pull up, you can scale it down and do assisted pull ups (legs on a chair), or ballistic pullups (where you jump to provide the initial momentum). It's actually easier to do properly when you're very unfit...because once you're healthy and strong...you're going to be searching for challenging enough exercises to only allow you 5 reps max by the finish of the 5 sets.

In three months it took me from this:



To this:

newking

That routine looks awesome. I have been looking into lifting but can't afford weights or a new gym membership right now.

ConsMom

I've been at this "weight loss" thing for the last year and a half and have been relatively successful, losing a total of about 85lbs. I'm about 5-10 lbs from my final goal weight and am looking to tone up a little more. the problem is that I HATE weight training and I don't have a gym membership.


I was just wondering if you have done any of the above suggestions and if you are seeing or feeling any difference?

Koshkaxo

Bump!

Awe my first bump post haha

andyxbear

*Bump*

waldo56

For sure.

Take a look at the male gymnasts at the Olympics later this month. Most of those guys have hardly ever even touched a weight.

There is a lot of stuff out there with bodyweight. Spend some time using your search engine.

I'm currently bulking with mostly bodyweight, my routine consists of:

4 workouts a week, 2 legs, 2 upper body. 4 different workouts to keep it interesting.

Upper Body Dynamic (3 sets each):
Warmup
One Arm Pushups
Assisted One Arm Chinups
Handstand Pushups
Tuck Front Lever Rows
Dragon Flags
Finishing set of DB Curls, DB Flys, Chinups, and Pushups (only 1-2 sets)

Upper Body Static (3 sets each):
Warmup
Wall Handstand for time
L-sit
Front Lever Progression
Back Lever Progression
Planche Lean
Frog Stand
Finishing set of Chinups, Pushups (only 1 set)

Leg Power:
Warmup
3 sets BW pistols, light jogging between sets (I try to sub shrimp squats for pistols, but I'm not too good at them yet)
3-5 125M Hill Sprints (max effort after first warmup sprint, with adequate recovery time between each)
3 sets Walking Lunges, light jogging between sets

Leg Strength:
Warmup
4 sets weighted pistols
4 sets hand assist glute ham raises
4 sets falling tower (w/ 10 sec stall at bottom)
4 sets weight curl-hold (hold a DB in feet straight out for time)
4 sets one leg straight bridge for time
1-2 sets holding a deep yoga/martial arts stance for time

My warmup consists of L-sit chinups, pushups, various planks, and shoulder/wrist mobility exercises on upper body days, BW squats, various lunges, stretching, very slow kicking on leg days.

crisanderson27

For those of you who don't comprehend....^^^^^^ is one hell of a workout.

lizziebeth1028

What exactly do you mean by "toning"? This is one of those words that gets thrown around a lot, but I'm not sure people really know what it means.

In most cases, toning refers to reducing body fat enough to reveal the muscle previously hidden by said body fat. So, the basis of toning is still fat loss, which happens primarily in the kitchen.

(rolling my eyes) don't start, we all know what she means.

jess_1993

Bump

waldo56

For those of you who don't comprehend....^^^^^^ is one hell of a workout.

Favorite are tuck front lever rows. They are just fun to do. I use the hammer grip on my pullup bar for them. For those who don't know what they are - dead hang from a pullup bar, with straight arms rotate up and pull your knees to your chest, rotating your hips up to shoulder level. Your back should be parallel to the ground. While holding that position (which is tough on the abs and the lats), do rows for reps.

I'm looking forward to getting to tuck planche pushups (soon hopefully), which are basically the same thing in the other direction. Start in a dip station, rotate your hips up to shoulder level with your knees tucked to your chest, hold that position and do pushups for reps.

You stack a static hold and dynamic movement in the same primary muscle group with them. Awesome exercises.

JenAiMarres

absolutely! i only lifted weights for about a month. i actually didnt like how i started to look. my whole album is basically JM RI 30 results and I never even used hand weights.