Gym Rats Stay Away!!!!!!!

flywithabowtie

J/K!!!

Ok, I'm not very excited about going to the gym & hanging out with all the muscle overloads that frequent my gym. I did a search and saw a lot of posts that mentioned people who have used body weight exercises & circuits to improve their look. My question is it possible to keep dropping weight & changing my look by just doing body weight exercises? Or at some point will I need to include weights in my routine.

phjorg

resistance is resistance. either by weights, or by body. the difference is it's very easy to continually add weight to your movements using free weights. it's basically impossible to do the same with body weight. so you have to learn entirely new progressively harder movements when you want to advance to the next level.

but your choice. either work.

JJordon

Body weight works great to get into shape, it probably won't make you an adonis or venus, but it'll get you close with the right diet, if you ask me. The popular Insanity program is based on this concept and it works wonders.

Cr01502

You can drop weight and look good doing bodyweight exercises.

However at some point true strength training is going to need to involve lifting more than your bodyweight.

That being said doing one arm hand stand pushups and pistol squats take a phenomenal amount of strength.

Look into Convict Conditioning and You Are Your Own Gym

Edit typo.

kreza98

You shouldn't let other people in your gym bother you. They probably are not thinking about anything other than their own workouts. That said, if your gym is falling short of what you need, you can get by easily at home by setting up your own gear. I would think at the bare minimum you should be investing in some dumbells or similar, body weight exercises will only take you so far.

taunto

You can do amazing body transformation with body weights alone but this will require more time and dedication than by using weights. Heres the workout many boxers use and boxers rarely use weights and even rarely use heavy weights. You can easily do this at home

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/taunto/view/at-home-workout-routine-265940

ETA: Don't be intimated by the big gym rats btw. They're nice people and will likely help you if you ask them nicely

casy84

I think you should go to the gym. The big guys started the same as you, use them for inspiration and maybe tips. They weren't born with a 6 pack, they just worked for it and you can do this too if you really want. There is no shame in being the noob as long as you're willing to learn.

jdad1

if you lift 5 pounds it is good. If you lift 10 pounds it is better. You choose.

flywithabowtie

My problem isnt that I'm worried about what other people think. I have done weight training a few times before, but in brief spurts. I usually get detered because of time restraints. I go to the gym with about 45mins of time to workout. Some days the gym is fairly empty & I could get my workout completed & other days, I would go in & there would be a dozen people just doing weight training, so I would only get a couple of exercises done before I had to leave. Unless I'm goin to the gym at the *kitten*-crack of dawn, most days I dont have the time to wait for machines to come open. Plus if I am able to do body weight workouts @ home that will give me an extra 45mins of exercise time because I dont have to drive to & from the gym.

scookiemonster

Depends on what you're looking for.

I've made major changes to my body composition and built a lot of lean muscle by just doing body weight exercises and cardio. I never lift a weight other than myself, and I have muscles I didn't even know I could have.

On the other hand, I'm just looking to built lean muscle and tighten up my body. If you want really big, popping "man muscles," you'll likely need to use bigger weights to achieve that. It depends on your goals.

tommctech

I started off at about 360lbs and I have limited time to spend at the gym as well (around an hour or so, sometimes more sometimes less). On top of that I go after work when everyone and their mother go. I thought I would be intimidated at first as well, but lets face it...
1) do you really care what people you don't know think?
2) if your answer to number 1 is yes, why would anyone think less of you for putting in the effort to make the change?

When I get to the gym is when the initial after work rush comes in and of course every machine I need to use or all of the benches are taken. Not sure how your gym is laid out, but at mine the cardio is in the back and I have a good view of the weights and machines. I just hop on the elliptical or treadmill and start with cardio. As soon as I see something i need free up I jump in.

After spending a few weeks there, you start to pick up on the patterns and you can start to plan your time better. For example at my gym for some reason on Wednesdays the benches are usually free. Idk why, but they are. That's the day i work on arms because its a lot of dumbbells. On Tuesdays I can usually do chest workouts. The key for me is to be flexible. Also I picked up a cheap pair of vinyl weight dumbbells from kmart. On the days when i know the timing is bad, I just do that workout at home. All you need is the dumbbells and a place to sit and lay. You can even go this route first and get comfortable with the exercises and then start a gym routine.

TL:DR - If weight training is something that you really want to do, you CAN and will find a way to make it work for you.

Mummyadams

Why not look into getting a TRX resistance band? It uses only your body weight and you can make it as hard as you like.