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So I decided that I hate the gym... I hate almost everything about it. I like the weight machines, but feel that they decrease my flexibility in ways I don't like. I hate the cardio machines, I don't like it when people try to talk to me at my gym, I hate wiping other people's sweat off the machines, and I'd really rather be whizzing past cars on my mountain bike, and going on long hikes. Since I can't realistically hike every day, and I only bike about 4 miles on days I work, I'm looking into other exercises to get in shape other than weight machines. Any suggestions? What muscles will I NOT be hitting if I do these exercises?
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There's a good amount of calisthentics and stretching in there, you have your basic compound exercises mixed in there. Pullups would be a nice exercise to add to that list. Speaking of calisthentics, I have a book just on calisthentics that provide more exercises pm me if you're interested.
Also, you can buy some resistance bands and a swiss ball to enhance your workouts they're a cheap investment and provide something additional to just bwe alone. You don't have to join a gym or have the basic bench & weight setup at home. -
i dont see much in terms of developing back strength in those excercises. in my opinion, prone flutter kicks and back extensions dont really cut it.
i would suggest adding some pullups to your workout or other type of back developing excercise.
and weight lifting can be a powerful asset to any regimen. you dont have to get a gym membership or by expensive equipment, but a couple of free weights can go a long way in terms of developing strength. just remember to stretch often and you should be fine.Comment
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I am still looking for a weight less program. I mean with out dumbells and barbells. Tried some "popular" one's or rather crazy hyped one's doesn't work much. Soon I may hit the weights, may be forced to.
Yeah the ball can add allot of variety.Comment
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The link you posted is loading very slowly for me so I haven't had time to carefully read it all but what I did see sounded like decent advice. The pull-ups that have been suggested are a great idea, and I'll add these thoughts to that: Do push-ups but vary how you do them, hands wide on the ground, hands together on the ground, put your feet on a bench and do them, do them on you knuckles, on your finger tips or on the backs of your hands. My favorite variations are to either push off the ground and clap on each one or to start off with my hands on two cinder blocks about shoulder width apart, then I push off the block and land on the ground in push up position, on the next rep. push off the ground so that you hop your hands back onto the blocks. Tricep dips are good too. I like to set myself a goal for the number of push ups I will do each day, because just doing as many as you can one time and stopping isn't enough. I don't know what your ability level is but try for at least several hundred a day. Sit-ups are great, but also try lying on your back with your legs extended feet 6 inches off the ground; now do a sit up and bring your knees into your chest at the same time before returning to your starting position. Jumping rope is a great way to build aerobic/anaerobic cardio.
I hope my descriptions aren't too confusing, it's always hard for me to picture an exercise from a description without having a visual. Other than that try not to rest too much in between sets and exercises so that your heart rate stays elevated throughout your work out.Comment
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I have alternated workouts successfully when traveling and on the road or just when the pressure of getting to the gym etc is too much. I found for myself that the hindu workouts were very valiable in that regard. Even though they are pretty much a blend of sort of weighted and non weighted exercises, I found they were a great routine to keep myself in tip top shape for training and fighting using specifically the bodyweight workoout with maybe pull ups etc. You can check out the exercises on the physical body DVD (www.thephysicalbody.com), other approaches can be like Pavel's Naked Warrior dvd which are bodyweight exercises(dragondoor) and of course some of furey's combat conditioning, ross e has alot of good stuff at rossboxing.com(i think thats his link) which is worth looking into. There is a huge variety of good material for a simple, direct but intense workoutswith a minimal of gear that will get you in really good shape.Comment
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Thanks everyone for the information. Adding pull-ups is a good idea. George, I'd be interested in the title of your book and what muscle groups it covers that aren't in the exercises I have listed.Comment
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Do you have access to a pool?Originally posted by treelizard
Swimming is a great workout.Comment
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That work out is heavy on abs and and legs, some chest.
I did not expect much from them, but it's pretty good.
I don't use weights, hate gyms.
Look at this link, two books by zaichik. One is for lower body and one is for upper. I use both. gravity advantage or just google gravity advantageComment
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I just got this book. It seems simple, straight to the point. Also the exercise are new. Everything is in prgression, from preparation stage to the hardcore advanced exercise. The biceps and back exercises is the best part, I think, because it's hard to work those muscles with out barbels or a high bar.Originally posted by StapleComment
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Harry Wong.
You might want to check out century.com for a book by Harry Wong titled "Building Dynamic Strength".
Originally posted by GardComment
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I did, back when I had a gym membership, but I got really tired of trying to swim laps amidst a bunch of annoying people standing there pretending to do water aerobics, while a much more fit but equally annoying instructor gave directives such as "shimmy!" and "make it sassy!"Originally posted by Tom YumComment
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Forget the annoying people, you're their for your own healths sake.Originally posted by treelizardComment
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I did forget them, by choosing a gymless workout and cancelling my membership.
Originally posted by Tom YumComment
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