OT: Home Workout Thoughts
I spent the last several months of quarantine dieting and have now reached a weight I'm comfortable with. My new goal is to lift and add some muscle, but
- Going to the gym is impossible for me right now
- A traditional "home gym" setup with bench, squat rack, etc is out of the question. (I live with my S/O and space is at a premium for us.)
Those both really limit my options. Googling for home workout ideas seems to center on, like, lots of bodyweight exercises, but that doesn't seem to hit the goal for me (a substitute for traditional lifting, to the extent that's possible.)
Does anyone have thoughts or advice here? A lot of you seem to know what you're doing.
I got great results from P-90X a decade plus ago. Good mix of body weight and dumbbells.
p90x is great but not sure OP would be able to do everything without a bench. Probably could do most of it with some modifications
Agreed on p90x and I'm actually restarting it now a decade later since the gym is also out for me. I would always prefer free weights but I was able to get a handy set of bands where you could combine up to 3 at once. Buying 3 bands and the special handles set me back $50 and then I had 25 different "weight" combinations I could use which was good enough to do all the workouts (with minor modification).
One note though, if you're trying to pack on muscle it's probably not the best (too many reps too little weight). But in terms of balance between strength and cardio, for an at home workout, I haven't seen anything better yet. If you just want cardio try insanity. No equipment required for that one.
I've restarted it a few times. The furthest I've gotten since the initial go through is around 6 weeks. 6 days a week and 1-1.5 hours of tough workouts is tough to get through unless you are very motivated.
Shakeweight?
I recommend the Big Jim.
I set of good dip bars and a TRX would be a good start.
Squat stands, a barbell, a vertical barbell holder, and 300 lbs of weights with a weight tree really don't take up much room. I don't actually know how much room you have, but I use squat stands instead of a rack in my garage. They can be moved and stacked and have a small footprint. Vertical barbell holder is great if your ceiling is tall enough.
I use a doorway pullup bar and weighted vests (instead of the belt with a weight hanging) for pullups, and it works great and then goes in the closet when I am done. Virtually no footprint.
Some dumbbells can go a long way, from turkish get ups to swings to overhead pressing to cleans and power cleans and rows. Small footprint.
I'm in a space predicament as well and the Rogue SML-1 does the trick just fine. I prowled on FB Marketplace hard looking for equipment after my gym closed. Early June I hit the jackpot - the stand, a Rep Fitness bench, Ohio bar & 260 lbs of (no longer) pristine Rogue bumpers, all for a very reasonable price. Eventually I'm gonna trade that Ohio bar because I like a center knurl.
I hate gyms, I've tried to find ways around them...
I've been using a resistance band system for a long time now. It's called a gorilla bow. I bought the heavy band accessories set with it too for a much harder workout than with the bands that comes with the bow. It's totally mobile and you really only need a smaller 8'x8' area to use it. The website has a lot of workout plans and suggestions to go with the bow. Personally, I do three sets of 14 exercises a 2-3 times a week.
I also put up a heavy bag and I like to go for a run around the neighborhood or do a jump rope workout in the garage.
You got it. I like the resistance bands and run around the neighborhood ideas. Another good one is do sets of push ups. Isometric type workouts fits the bill of resistance. They are either cheap, free and also involve many groups of muscle in one fell swoop. Saves a lot of time to boot.
Depends on your home workout goals. Also dumbbells, weights sets or outrageously expensive right now.
Space is an issue videos or streaming is the best with a few dumbbells. P90X, Insanity are good if you don't have a lot of dumbbells. Checkout beachbody on demand they usually have a free trial so you can give their programs a shot. There are others as well.
I use this door mount unit and keep it in the laundry/workshop in the basement. I make it a deal that I stop and do 25 push-ups and 10 pull-ups every time I enter the room.
Athlean-X has some good home stuff. I would start there, especially if you're a novice. You don't need anything fancy to make good progress, and you really want to make sure you get the technique right from the start (video yourself, helps a ton).
Seconded. I transitioned to this from a 5-3-1 lifting program when the gym closed. I began to run a lot more too (just 20 miles a week). I am quite happy with "the look" - sure I can't move nearly as much weight as before, but with the cut I got from cardio, and maintaining enough muscle from these full body circuits (which aren't easy btw), I am pretty pleased with where I am
I would think this would be a good start, because you can do this right now (actually you will need a pull up bar, which I would source ASAP if you don't have a means to do pull ups). And then after a couple months, see where you're at and where you would like to supplement with additional resistance training gear
Nice. I've had to run a bit more of a body-building type program (usually train for strength instead of size) with the equipment I have at home, lost about 25lbs and definitely appreciate the improvement in looks as well, haha.
I ran a version of 5-3-1 for about a year, had good results. I had just started Strong First - Reload when COVID hit, so I'm looking forward to running that when I can consistently get to the gym - only able to go once per week as it's 35 mins from home but right next to my office and I'm still working at home.
Think I'm going to go with this. Thanks much, everything else felt like it was just JV lifting with serious deficiencies.
Can't wait until the gym actually opens up.
You're very welcome my friend. Work out, eat well, sleep well, and you'll be rocking and rolling. Best of luck!
Push ups, sit-ups, jogging. You don't need anything else to live a happy, healthy life.
You are..... not wrong.
You can indeed do everything you want and get great results from body weight exercises. Pressing the hell out of pushups for a good 30-45 minutes can give great results for chest, for example. Some of the programs above are great. P-90X, Cross-Fit, and I do like Athlean-X. (And you can get a lot from just watching the youtube videos - you don't have to buy anything.)
My advice, though: Just get a cheap bench (that can rise to shoulder press orientation) and some dumbbells, and supplement the rest with body weight exercises. There is so much you can do with a simple bench and dumbbells, that its really the best "machine" for your buck. And doesn't take too much space. Dumbbells an just be increments of like 20 lbs. Starting with 10, 30, 50, etc. Store them on or under the bench. I'd say that's really all you need, then just YouTube it to see all you can do. That should last you for at least 6 months of solid variety in your workout.
It would be much better balancing it out with something else, instead of abs, more abs and psoas (from planking in a push-up), and chest. Not much for your back there. Even just some dumbbells or kettlebells doing rows, and something for your lower back and glutes would be nice.
I'm a big gym rat, but I won't go to a physical gym until there's a vaccine. There is too much evidence that the virus hangs in the air in aerosolized form for me to go to the gym, and gyms are the perfect atmosphere to create aerosols as lifters exert themselves.
I went with a resistance band system and I've been pretty happy with it. In my case, I got an Elevtab. I know there are others like the Tikaton and the Gorilla Bow. A resistance band system combined with something like SelectTech dumbells would take up no space and would allow someone to do a lot of exercises. If you can add a small foldable bench, even better. It's definitely not a perfect substitute for a real gym (especially heavy squats and deadlifts), but it's something.
I'm not sure how much money you have to spend on equipment but if space is an issue, PRx Performance has equipment solutions for that problem. I have a buddy who bought their rack and loves it.
I know there's this stigma that bodyweight exercises don't build muscle but that's completely false. Resistance is resistance! You could get years of muscle building/training in with just a pull-up and dip bar (could get both for under $100). IMO these compound exercises that focus on moving your weight through space are actually more effective than gym weights/machines.
Then do it all over again wearing a backpack loaded with 30+ lbs of books ;)
And if you have kids, have them sit on your back while you do pushups, or sit on your feet while you do leg extensions.
Heck yeah! Weighted calisthenics is the shit.
I think this is a lot more true for upper body lifts vs. lower body. You can only do so much strength work with bodyweight squats, jumps, etc. -- to really get strong, you're going to want some form of external resistance.
August 5th, 2020 at 11:52 AM ^
Pistol squats!
Great thread setting up a home gym myself with all your reasons and have been thinking on this as well!
Just bought a Bodyblade that my physical therapist turned me on to (helps with core strength) while I was dealing with a hernidated disc.
Therapists like the Blade because of the limited degrees of freedom. I much prefer an Oates Shoulder Tube.
I was going to make an OT post about treadmills, but this seems like as good a spot as any to ask the question.
With gyms in Michigan closed for the foreseeable future, I am considering getting a treadmill. Because of my work schedule I have to run in the morning, but with increased traffic (more people going back to work) and the daylight hours starting to recede, I am a bit concerned about running on busy streets at 5:30am.
Now, I would prefer not to buy a treadmill, but I see no signs that gyms are going to open here anytime soon.
So, for those of you that have treadmills, any suggestions for a reasonably priced model ($1500 or below)? I don't need any of the bells and whistles (programs, interactive WiFi runs, etc.) just a basic treadmill.
I purchased one from Costco just as the lockdown was starting to hit. Was only about $600 if I recall and I'm happy to have it now for the reasons you mention. It might not last forever, but it's already been well worth the investment. I haven't checked lately, but I would be concerned that there is a shortage now like there is for many home fitness items (I can't get adjustable weight dumb bells to save my life).
I have some suggestions:
For explicitly home only workouts, a boxing workout is pretty effective. Do one 3-minute round of boxing and 1-2 minute of jump rope. Do this for how ever many rounds you feel is necessary with 1-2 minute breaks in between depending on your fitness level. My wife has above average fitness but nothing special and she is pretty beat after 5 rounds for reference.
If you are okay going to a park or local high school I have two other suggestions.
For the park: My brother found something called a bear crawl workout with some bunny hops. I've been doing that twice a week without my gym and I actually thing my upper body, core, and back are stronger than when I got to the gym. But, I also live in Pittsburgh so we use a mix of hills and flat ground.
For the high school: A couple dumbells and if you're at an advanced level, ankle weights, you can get a pretty good workout in using the steps for a stairs workout and various push up forms for the upper body.
ankle weights are horrible for your knees.
Check out a company called goruck - they make uber-tough ruck sacks (book bags) And sandbags. The founder is an ex Army Ranger and their stuff is built to special forces standards and designed to hold/carry weight. Their gear is expensive, but tough and comes with a lifetime warranty.
Throw some weight in your rucksack and walk/run. For extra fun you can do squats, pushups, lunges, presses, etc.
They also put on a crossfit style workout of the day subscription service that really kicks your ass. If you’re looking to get fit/change things up i highly recommend it.
Is there a reason I couldn't just fill up a goruck with ~200 lb of paving stones and use it as a substitute for a barbell & weights? feel like it would get me there w/ squats, deadlifts, and all accessory work that doesn't need a bench.
A sandbag would probably work for that, but i think the largest size they make is 120. You can always add more but I don’t think 200 pounds of anything would fit (maybe 160 or so).
you could probably load up 60-80 in the ruck itself and then 120+ in the sandbag to get to 200 but I’ve never tried that much. At some point I’d worry about the straps/handles failing (but if they do they’ll fix it for free)
Not weights but cardio - finally decided to pull the trigger on a Peloton in December and have really enjoyed it. That said, it was pricey. They do have 0% financing so instead of paying for a gym membership (at the time that we would've had to cancel anyway) we went with the bike. Need to incorporate some weight/resistance training here soon as for a complete workout regime one should not rely on cardio alone.
+1 on the Peloton. Just got mine three weeks ago, my wife tried and tried to talk me into it, I finally gave up and let her order it, as usual she was right. The 0% financing makes it completely reasonable to buy and the monthly bike payment and monthly subscription is probably 60% of what we both were paying for our gym memberships.
Love putting my Peloton bike in the most striking area of my ultra-modern $3 million house
— Clue Heywood (@ClueHeywood) January 28, 2019
It's all about what gets you to workout. Yep, don't mind the $111 a month especially during all of this craziness going on since you can't get to the gym anyway.
Don't underestimate bodyweight workouts. It depends on your fitnes level, but for the average joe who lives a sedentary lifestyle, hasn't worked out in years and let themselves go, bodyweight is more than enough at least to get started. You can keep it simple with squats, lunges, pushups and planks and you will be plenty sore. As you progress you can add some dumbbells/TRX or go the P90x route.
Now if you have some more advanced goals and want to get big and push around a lot of weight, then there is no replacement for weights. That's why I built a power rack in my basement. But most people don't have those kinds of goals.
They're a little scarce at the moment, but try getting yourself a kettlebell. You can get a ton of work done with basic swings*, overhead presses, weighted Bulgarian squats, etc. There are tons of videos online that can help you figure out kettlebell size, movement selection, technique, etc. I have a 45-lb bell, an 88-lb bell, a dip/pull-up stand, a chain belt, and some bands, and i'm honestly not sure if I'll ever go back to commercial gyms.
*YMMV, but I strongly recommend "Russian" over "American" swings
Jump rope! Ross Enamait is great for some low-tech DIY home workouts. Jumping rope plus pull ups and push ups and maybe grab a kettlebell and you're sorted. Also, sandbags. When I used to travel a lot for work I'd often do one of his routines in my hotel room. One I remember is the "deck of cards" workout: assign an exercise to each suit and then work your way through the deck as fast as possible, using the value of the card to determine reps. So like, clubs are push ups, diamonds are pogo hops, hearts are squats, spades are bicycle crunches. Draw 3 of clubs, do three push ups. Draw 6 of spades, do 6 bicycle crunches. Etc.
For bodyweight stuff, check out GMB.io. I got into calisthenics a couple years ago, decided I wanted to learn how to do a cartwheel and handstand and stuff. Had fun with that for a while, GMB's tutorials and routines are great.
One word of caution is that you should be careful about adding volume for exercises that are new or that you're returning to after a while. I started a pull-up program a couple of months ago and within three weeks had made huge progress and also developed tendinosis in my left elbow. I knew better, too. Stupid.
FWIW all I do now is run 30-35 miles per week. I've lost 10-12 pounds without meaning to (low/mid 170s to low 160s). I freaking love it.
No thoughts! Eat hamburgers! Drink Beer! Be happy! Go Blue!
You forgot bourbon ??
Look into TRX or AtleanX. Both can be done at home in relatively limited space(or in the case of some of the AthleanX stuff, outside).
Does anyone have thoughts or advice here?
In this video Jeff Nippard breaks down exactly how to design complete at-home full body workouts. He also gives some nutritional advice for either losing fat or building muscle while training from home He breaks the exercises down into 4 categories:
1. Leg Exercises
2. Push Exercises
3. Pull Exercises
4. Isolation Exercises
He recommends doing 3-5 full body workouts per week, 1-2 exercises per muscle, and 3-4 sets per exercises per bodypart. High reps are effective for building and maintaining muscle IF you go close to failure.
This would be an option that doesn't take up much space, https://www.trainingthinktank.com/quarantinemachine. Additionally, gyms are posting quarantine workouts that don't require equipment. There are quite a few to choose from here, https://wodwell.com/wods/equipment/none/?sort=newest. I know CrossFit is not a hit around these parts but thought I'd offer.