Strength training without a gym

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  • sanderdejonge
    sanderdejonge Posts: 415 Member
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    You might want to do the following exercise then:
    http://mattforney.com/2013/05/28/why-fat-girls-dont-deserve-to-be-loved/

    Al you need is, well, your very own body.

    It's a full body exercise designed primarily for surfers, but also other water sports like swimming. I myself swim 4 to 5 times a week and during the summer I surf as well. I found this exercise to be very challenging! (you can hit up the pace as you improve).

    You and I both know swimmers and surfers generally have a great body.
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
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    You might want to do the following exercise then:
    http://mattforney.com/2013/05/28/why-fat-girls-dont-deserve-to-be-loved/

    Al you use is your very own body.

    It's a full body exercise designed primarily for surfers, but also other water sports like swimming. I myself swim 4 to 5 times a week and during the summer I surf as well. I found this exercise to be very challenging! (you can hit up the pace as you improve).

    You and I both know swimmers and surfers generally have a great body.

    Did you post the right link?
  • maybeazure
    maybeazure Posts: 301 Member
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    I can't figure out why 30 Day Shred "wouldn't count" as strength training. Sure the weights aren't that heavy, but all of the body weight exercises should definitely count. I think that the beauty of it is that it combines both strength and cardio.

    I find strength training boring too, and I even have a gym membership. But I try to do push-ups or bridges or some other body weight exercise whenever I get a few minutes. I figure it's better than nothing.
  • danibu98
    danibu98 Posts: 281 Member
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    You might want to do the following exercise then:
    http://mattforney.com/2013/05/28/why-fat-girls-dont-deserve-to-be-loved/

    Al you use is your very own body.

    It's a full body exercise designed primarily for surfers, but also other water sports like swimming. I myself swim 4 to 5 times a week and during the summer I surf as well. I found this exercise to be very challenging! (you can hit up the pace as you improve).

    You and I both know swimmers and surfers generally have a great body.

    Did you post the right link?

    I don't think he did, and that's too bad. That link was one that I wish I had never looked at.
  • rick_po
    rick_po Posts: 449 Member
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    Strength training REQUIRES progression. If you aren't making the exercise harder over time, you're not doing strength training.

    If you're using weights, that means lifting heavier and heavier weights. If you're using the same 2 pound weights week after week, there is no progression, and therefore no strength improvement.

    If you're doing body weight exercises, then it's more complicated. There are ways to make body weight exercises harder - more reps, changing angles, doing one-legged or one-armed versions, using longer lever arms ... things like that. A critical part of a body weight strength program is spelling out the progressions. Like, going from wall pushups, to incline pushups, to regular pushups, to decline pushups, to one-armed pushups. The books people have mentioned are very helpful, because it's not always obvious what a good progression is for some exercises.

    You can get some small strength gains doing various cardio DVDs, but the progressions are small, and they typically progress very slowly. Then adding a 2-pound dumbbell will make you a tiny amount stronger still. But you're only tapping one percent of your potential this way. Get on a structured strength program and work hard on the progressions. It's not uncommon for people to double their strength in a couple months.
  • helpfit101
    helpfit101 Posts: 347 Member
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    If you hate it nothing we say or do will help you continue doing it for any amount of time.

    Just forget about doing it if you hate it. It's not necessary.
  • 2essie
    2essie Posts: 2,864 Member
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  • Imanido
    Imanido Posts: 186 Member
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    I got a pair of adjustable dumbbells, an exercise ball and stretch bands, to work at home. You've got plenty of exercise programs at Bodybuilding.com to choose from, they have very clear videos for each exercise and advise on nutrition. Even without a gym is easy to find alternatives online for each exercise that requires additional equipment.
  • helpfit101
    helpfit101 Posts: 347 Member
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    You might want to do the following exercise then:
    http://mattforney.com/2013/05/28/why-fat-girls-dont-deserve-to-be-loved/

    Al you use is your very own body.

    It's a full body exercise designed primarily for surfers, but also other water sports like swimming. I myself swim 4 to 5 times a week and during the summer I surf as well. I found this exercise to be very challenging! (you can hit up the pace as you improve).

    You and I both know swimmers and surfers generally have a great body.

    Did you post the right link?

    I don't think he did, and that's too bad. That link was one that I wish I had never looked at.

    Hahaha laughing my *kitten* off.
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
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    I meant that many people on MFP have told me that her stuff doesn't count as strength training because of the light dumbbells and such, but maybe they don't know that bodyweight stuff is incorporated?

    There are a lot of people on here for whom LIFT HEAVY is the answer, now what's the question... It even came up in a thread a couple of weeks ago when someone was asking about improving middle distance run times, and someone came up with that response.

    Bodyweight exercises will have an effect, however it's complementary at that level to your CV work. As you're a runner the main benefits that you're going to get from some form of strength training is improved stability around your hips, better strength balance in your lower legs to reduce the risk of knee and lower leg injury, and maintenance of upper body strength to complement the CV benefits of the running.

    With that in mind it's worth categorising the exercises, those that are lower body specific and those that are upper.

    For both of those you can get a maintenance level effect just with bodyweight, and you might want to incorporate that into your runs, subject to the availability of apparatus or opportunity. Many parks here in the UK have trim trails with stances that can be used for pull ups, dips, inclined sit ups etc so it's simple to run out, do some bodyweight work then run back.

    there are a few fairly low cost investments that you can make to improve the effect of bodyweight work, but you can start without them; resistance bands and dumbells as has already been observed upthread,
  • yogicarl
    yogicarl Posts: 1,260 Member
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    ... and I'm the guy on here for whom DO YOGA is the answer, now what's the question! However, I do think that a daily yoga session would give you the strength, suppleness and so much more that I think you may be looking for. With a good yoga teacher and practise you will increase flexibility while increasing stability in your joints if running is your main focus.

    - and yes, bodyweight exercises, providing you are choosing progressive movements so you are challenging yourself slightly each time.
  • FitFabFlirty92
    FitFabFlirty92 Posts: 384 Member
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    ... and I'm the guy on here for whom DO YOGA is the answer, now what's the question! However, I do think that a daily yoga session would give you the strength, suppleness and so much more that I think you may be looking for. With a good yoga teacher and practise you will increase flexibility while increasing stability in your joints if running is your main focus.

    - and yes, bodyweight exercises, providing you are choosing progressive movements so you are challenging yourself slightly each time.

    I'm so glad you said this, I actually love yoga!!! :) At the moment, I'm using yoga DVDs (Rodney Yee, Rainbeau Mars) as a part of my practice, but ideally I would like to join a yoga studio in my neighborhood once I start working and have some money. I've heard very good things about the strength gains from doing yoga consistently.
  • leviclampitt
    leviclampitt Posts: 67
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    "If I need more, how do I get it without a gym membership and fancy equipment? "

    The key is intensity and learning proper progression.

    My guess, you can probably get by without equipment for a long time by just doing different variations of pushups, squats, lunges, chinup hangs, planks, ab rollouts (or hand walkouts if you dont have a roller), thrusts, and many others.

    That said, you will want to invest in external weight eventually. Your legs will need resistance much sooner than your upper body will.

    In the end, the most important thing will be if you can stick to it or not. You don't need to make any outrageous time commitments (20 min is enough), but you will need to find a way to make it more stimulating (aka do things that make you nervous or excited). Finding your Challenge - that is the key.

    Hope that helps.
  • Naomi0504
    Naomi0504 Posts: 964 Member
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    Have you looked into Chalean Extreme? I did that last summer/fall, you can use resistance bands or dumbbells. It's a pretty decent program. I don't go to the gym either, I just do lifting/strength at home.
  • Cheeky_and_Geeky
    Cheeky_and_Geeky Posts: 984 Member
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    Youtube:
    Jillian Michaels Yoga Meltdown, and Fitness Blender strength training with no equipment. I only use body weight & have had fantastic results thus far. No, I don't have 6 pack abs, but I have a pretty flat tummy & I'm happy with that!

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