Lifting without gym equipment

ande1560
ande1560 Posts: 12
in Fitness and Exercise
Hey guys,
I'm pretty new here and I'm almost done with my first round of Insanity, which I'm absolutely loving. I'm a college student who just came back from spring break at home where I also just began lifting with my brothers. We have a weight set in the basement and my brothers taught me the correct form of a few bicep, chest, back, and tricep exercises.

Unfortunately, I do not have a gym pass for my school's gym (they charge us $80 a semester and it's always full) and I'm a little shy, especially as a lifting noob, to go and get a pass somewhere else. I live in a house and we have water buckets that actually are a good heavy weight for me to do a few reps when I fill them halfway, but have any of you guys ever gotten creative with other household objects?

Curious for ideas. Obviously I don't lift a ton of weight, but I would really love to further tone my arms, chest, and back if possible. Insanity has me doing lots of push-ups and I've love something a little different!

Replies

  • jaz050465
    jaz050465 Posts: 3,508 Member
    Look at body weight exercises buoy can get 'you are your own gym' as a book or an app.
  • psych0kitty
    psych0kitty Posts: 313
    For my "dumbell" rows, I started with a 5 lb bag of flour in a plastic grocery bag (handles!) and now I'm at a 10 lb bag of evaporated cane juice in the same plastic bag. But that's part of a whole body weight routine.

    You can also use milk jugs filled with different amounts of water or sand or luggage filled with books as simple examples.
  • Reza151
    Reza151 Posts: 517 Member
    I've seen exercises in magazines that say you can substitute water bottles. When I first started out, I squatted with Harry Potter books
  • NormInv
    NormInv Posts: 3,303 Member
    For upper body, you can try doing push ups. You can do a variety of pushups to work not just the chest but also the arms.

    - regular stance pushups
    - wide pushups
    - military style push ups - will work your triceps
    - decline push ups
    - incline pushups
    - chair dips to work triceps
    - side leaning tri-rise to work triceps

    In addition to that you can buy a set of dumbbells from walmart that would probably cost you $20. You will probably get used to them soon but I think the above should get you through 6 months.

    Look for used adjustable weights on ebay. You can probably get those for $100 used. They will last you or years.
  • matt2442
    matt2442 Posts: 1,259 Member
    bodylastics resistance bands go up to 142 lbs of resistance...you could get in some good lifting routines with that
  • Mummyadams
    Mummyadams Posts: 1,125 Member
    Have you looked into TRX type training? Uses only body weight. Google it - it's very versatile and you only need the TRX bands - no other weights or equipment.
  • samb330
    samb330 Posts: 328 Member
    bump
  • ande1560
    ande1560 Posts: 12
    Thank you for all the ideas! :) It's late here, but I'll check them out tomorrow after class.
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
    nerdfitness.com
    you are your own gym

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