strength without the gym

so i have been reading on here more and more about strength training whether it be low weight or high weights.

i would really like to incorporate some strength into my weekly stuff.. but i don't belong to a gym, and have no access to higher weights. and i don't plan on joining a gym.

i know in the past my PA had suggested the gladiator workout for strength. She suggested this when i was running but had hit a plateau and wasn't losing anymore weight.

i do have some weights here, as in regular grab a weight during the video weights and they are only 2lbs.

any suggestions

Replies

  • wellbert
    wellbert Posts: 3,924 Member
    You are your own gym app.
  • jackaroo21
    jackaroo21 Posts: 127 Member
    use your own body weight and do pushups, squats, dips. Buy some dumbells and you can do even more.
  • waldo56
    waldo56 Posts: 1,861 Member
  • Bamacraft
    Bamacraft Posts: 175 Member
    If you want to gain strength you will need to eventually increase from just body weight (push ups, body squats etc). Dummbells are great and you can usually get a deal on cragslist or yard sales. Here is a workout that you can try. this website also offers some other good routines as well. Nevermind the title, you can gain strength and lose fat with this routine. Fat loss will ultimatley boil down to your diet, especially the closer to your goal or target. its sometimes hard to find the right mix of your caloric intake and gaining strength so dont let that worry you too much until you get 6 weeks or so of heavier lifting done. Beginners can usually gain strength even though on a caloric defecit but eventually will peak until you up the calories as well as shock your muscles with new exercises. If you dont know what the exercise is, they are linked to an example in link below. you will have to browse to find Db only exercises since many assume you have access to a gym. but atleast is a starting point to research.

    2lbs is too light for what i consider strength training but you mentioned PA so i am assuming you had/have an injury? Not knowing your conditioning i would at least get some 5s, 8s, 12s 15s & 20s. Thats what i use for my bootcamp ladies. 5s & 8s for shoulder extensions/OH DB press,12s for some upright rows , 15s or 20s for squats/step ups and DB press, 12s for power cleans and good mornings, 8s for plank side rows, probably 8s or 12s for curls and 8s for tricep kick backs or skull crushers. Go to wal-mart or somewhere and grab some dumbbells and try them out for 2-3 reps and gauge it that way or get a free one week pass to a gym. you will want slightly heavier than you may like (somewhat heavy) but light enough to initially do 3 sets of 10 reps for each exercise and remember, never work the same body group 2 days in a row. I'm rambling so i will stop. By tomorrow you will probably have plenty more suggestions so it will be real clear by then..lol

    http://www.muscleandstrength.com/workouts/
  • FullOfWin
    FullOfWin Posts: 1,414 Member
    You can keep gaining with bodyweight. It's just that most people (including myself) don't know how to. Waldo56 can tell you though.

    It is just a lot easier to add resistance by "adding 5lbs to the bar" vs "manipulate the leverage to add resistance by putting your foot over here" or "doing this crazy exercise you've never seen or heard of"
  • cttnjss
    cttnjss Posts: 5 Member
    no, no injuries. we were just talking about exercising and although at that point i had completed C25k, I hadn't been losing any weight. I was at the time watching what i ate.

    her suggestion was up my calories and try the gladiator workout. I could try that again, i believe it is all body weight stuff, but i would have to look back at it. has anyone done that one.

    i will look at the sites, thank you for the help.
  • Justkritter
    Justkritter Posts: 143 Member
    I don't go to the gym but I can still work with strength at home.Dumbbells are cheap and you can get them online. Additional plates are also cheap. If you can't purchase dumbbells then you have your body. You can still do push-ups, squats, dips etc.
  • Derpes
    Derpes Posts: 2,033 Member
    Do burpees.
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,966 Member
    I'm going to try the you are your own gym... I can't do the real gym right now. Hopefully after a while I can buy some equipment for a home gym... It's a lot easier to just add 5 pounds to the bar lol.
  • krommama
    krommama Posts: 32 Member
    The author of the book You Are Your Own Gym, also the creator of the app, released a book geared toward women called Body By You. Check your library to see if they have it, or Amazon sells it for just over $10. It's bodyweight exercises, and really gets you working!
  • alyssamiller77
    alyssamiller77 Posts: 891 Member
    Do a google search for Body Weight Exercises. There are tons of options out there that you can find. I also have an Android app on my phone from JEFIT. Their app and related website has a great database of exercises, organized by body part, and many of them are body weight only. You can get a stability ball and a pull-up bar for pretty cheap as well which might open up more options for you.
  • waldo56
    waldo56 Posts: 1,861 Member
    You can keep gaining with bodyweight. It's just that most people (including myself) don't know how to. Waldo56 can tell you though.

    It is just a lot easier to add resistance by "adding 5lbs to the bar" vs "manipulate the leverage to add resistance by putting your foot over here" or "doing this crazy exercise you've never seen or heard of"

    Yes.

    However you will probably eventually need some resistance in the legs. I feel I could (and do) build good bulk by using concepts like rest-pause work (myo-reps/dogcrapp style training) with pistols, but pure BW strength starts getting tough beyond pistols (and glute ham raises, but I have a hard time training them more than 1x a week, can't really use them as a primary exercise). Shrimp squats are harder, but lack the ROM that pistols have. Loaded pistols...that's where its at.

    The body and a pullup bar (or rings) is all you need in the upper body. Perhaps a pair of strong chairs and/or a set of homemade parallettes as well. You are capable of altering leverages to mimic iron equivalents several multiples of your bodyweight. Most people are not genetically gifted enough to ever be strong enough to do the hardest exercises (and there are theoretical exercises that noone alive is known to be strong enough to do), which means there is plenty of resistance to reach any strength/physique goals you may have.