Literally, I have been thinking about posting this for a whilst. Now I finally got some time to do it.
If you want to build muscle, barbell exercises are the easiest way. The problem: you need weights. Not everyone can afford expensive gym memberships or buy a home gym. Maybe you don’t feel the need to get huge, but would still like to gain a little muscle and tone what you already have. Fortunately, there are some simple yet effective exercises you can use to sculpt your body.Here’s a muscle building workout you can do without weights:
Body-weight Exercises
Your body needs a reason to build muscle. That reason is stress. Exercising will stress your body & force it to build muscle. You don’t have access to weights, so you’ll use body-weight exercises:
Pull-ups. Build back & arms muscles. Doorway pull-up bars or any surface where you can hang from work. If you can’t do one rep with correct pull-up technique: use momentum, ask someone to help you or use a resistance band to assist you on the way up.
Push-ups. Build chest, shoulders & arm muscles. Use a full range of motion: arms locked on the way up, nose against the floor on the way down. Put your knees on the floor if you can’t do one push-up. Switch to regular push-ups when this gets easy.
Squats. Build leg muscles. Put your hands behind your head & bend through your knees. Keep your heels on the floor, push your knees out, look forward & squeeze your glutes on the way up. Stretch your hamstrings 3 times a week if you can’t squat lower than parallel.
Training Program
Myhealthyhopes.blogspot.com has a 3 day a week routine based on the above exercises. It takes less than 90mins a week. Easy to mix with your work, business, relationship & hobbies.
Progression
You must get stronger to build muscle. Doing 100 reps of an exercise builds endurance, not strength. Switch to more challenging exercises once you can do more than 20 pull-ups, push-ups or squats.
Rings. Push-ups & pull-ups using rings are harder: you need to stabilize the rings while doing the exercises.
One Arm Push-ups. Start with Incline One Arm Push-ups: one hand on a high box. Decrease the height as you get stronger until you can do them on the floor. Then switch to feet elevated One Arm Push-ups: feet on a box, gradually increasing the height.
One Arm Pull-ups. Pull-ups with one arm. Tricky to master. Check the article on Beast Skills for their technique.
One Leg Squats. Start with One Leg Box Squats: lower yourself on a box. Start with a high box & gradually decrease the height. Switch to One Leg Squats once you can do them from a very low box.
External Resistance.You could consider this as weights but I’m adding it anyway. Wear a rucksack filled with water bottles or books while doing the exercises. Wear a weighted vest. Wrap some chains around your upper-body while doing the exercises. Use adjustable ankle/wrist weights. Use a belt, chain, carabiner & weights.
Nutrition
You need solid nutrition to build strength & muscle. Eat at least your body-weight in lbs x 18 kcal. Go for these foods:
Protein. 1g/lbs daily. Meat, poultry, fish, eggs, whey, etc.
Fat. Balance your omega 3, 6 & 9 intake.
Veggies. All kinds, especially green fibrous veggies.
Fruit. Also all kinds. Eat veggies and/or fruits with every meal.
Water. 1 liter per 1000 calories you expend.
Whole Grain Carbs. Oats, rice, pasta, breads.
Want to feel great every single week? NOW YOU CAN!
If you want to build muscle, barbell exercises are the easiest way. The problem: you need weights. Not everyone can afford expensive gym memberships or buy a home gym. Maybe you don’t feel the need to get huge, but would still like to gain a little muscle and tone what you already have. Fortunately, there are some simple yet effective exercises you can use to sculpt your body.Here’s a muscle building workout you can do without weights:
Body-weight Exercises
Your body needs a reason to build muscle. That reason is stress. Exercising will stress your body & force it to build muscle. You don’t have access to weights, so you’ll use body-weight exercises:
Pull-ups. Build back & arms muscles. Doorway pull-up bars or any surface where you can hang from work. If you can’t do one rep with correct pull-up technique: use momentum, ask someone to help you or use a resistance band to assist you on the way up.
Push-ups. Build chest, shoulders & arm muscles. Use a full range of motion: arms locked on the way up, nose against the floor on the way down. Put your knees on the floor if you can’t do one push-up. Switch to regular push-ups when this gets easy.
Squats. Build leg muscles. Put your hands behind your head & bend through your knees. Keep your heels on the floor, push your knees out, look forward & squeeze your glutes on the way up. Stretch your hamstrings 3 times a week if you can’t squat lower than parallel.
Training Program
Myhealthyhopes.blogspot.com has a 3 day a week routine based on the above exercises. It takes less than 90mins a week. Easy to mix with your work, business, relationship & hobbies.
Progression
You must get stronger to build muscle. Doing 100 reps of an exercise builds endurance, not strength. Switch to more challenging exercises once you can do more than 20 pull-ups, push-ups or squats.
Rings. Push-ups & pull-ups using rings are harder: you need to stabilize the rings while doing the exercises.
One Arm Push-ups. Start with Incline One Arm Push-ups: one hand on a high box. Decrease the height as you get stronger until you can do them on the floor. Then switch to feet elevated One Arm Push-ups: feet on a box, gradually increasing the height.
One Arm Pull-ups. Pull-ups with one arm. Tricky to master. Check the article on Beast Skills for their technique.
One Leg Squats. Start with One Leg Box Squats: lower yourself on a box. Start with a high box & gradually decrease the height. Switch to One Leg Squats once you can do them from a very low box.
External Resistance.You could consider this as weights but I’m adding it anyway. Wear a rucksack filled with water bottles or books while doing the exercises. Wear a weighted vest. Wrap some chains around your upper-body while doing the exercises. Use adjustable ankle/wrist weights. Use a belt, chain, carabiner & weights.
Nutrition
You need solid nutrition to build strength & muscle. Eat at least your body-weight in lbs x 18 kcal. Go for these foods:
Protein. 1g/lbs daily. Meat, poultry, fish, eggs, whey, etc.
Fat. Balance your omega 3, 6 & 9 intake.
Veggies. All kinds, especially green fibrous veggies.
Fruit. Also all kinds. Eat veggies and/or fruits with every meal.
Water. 1 liter per 1000 calories you expend.
Whole Grain Carbs. Oats, rice, pasta, breads.
Want to feel great every single week? NOW YOU CAN!
Hmm, I really wish I could do a pull-up... but I can't. So do you know of any floor or swiss ball exercises I can do to strengthen the back?
ReplyDelete-Monica
Ok Monica, a couple of exercises you can do strengthen your back to get into pullups:
ReplyDelete1) Upright Rows
2) Supine Rows
3) Pushups (there are many different types)
4) Shoulder Press
You can also do a "dead hang" from a pullup bar and see how long you can hold till your grip gives out. This gives the muscles utilized in a pullup a good stretch while also strengthening your grip and forearms, something that is also necessary to perform pullups. Additionally, You can try something called "negatives" until you can do a full pullup. This involved jumping int0 the "up" position on a pullup bar, and slowly lowering yourself down to the beginning position on the floor. Do this and soon enough you will be able to bust out a set of pullups easy.
Hey raffek,
ReplyDeleteI find that using a rep sequence of 1-3-1 works really well for muscle gain. For those of you that don't know what a 1-3-1 rep sequence is, it's when you use the negative part of the movement to increase muscle tension and therefore increase muscle gain.
The first part of the lift is done by lifting for 1 second and then lowering for 3 seconds, you then pause for 1 second and repeat.
Calf raises are another good exercise you can do without weights (although I prefer to do them holding a dumbbell in my hand). Stand on a surface that is about 2-3 inches off the floor, with your toes and about 3 inches of your foot on the surface, and the rest of your foot off. Lift onto your toes as high as you can go and feel the stretch, then let yourself come back down slowly and feel the stretch again as your heel reaches the floor. You need to work your calves hard to stimulate growth, so go for high reps or add some weight by holding a dumbbell.
ReplyDeleteGood article. I think people would like to know a variety of workouts that you can do without weights
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ReplyDeleteTriceps dips using a stable chair is great for arms and back, and you can adjust your target area using two chairs.
ReplyDeleteHandstand shoulder presses work your shoulders but be careful when doing this exercise, if you have weak arms, you could end up landing on your head.
Another great way to build strength is using solid stationary objects such as doorways to push or pull against. A favourite with Bruce Lee.
You can even use household objects such as your vacuum cleaner, iron, washing basket, buckets, bricks, shopping, even small children to create numerous small workouts throught the day. I often use a shopping bag to do a few cheeky reps of curls or lateral raises before putting stuff away.
Nice idea, may try this out!
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ReplyDeleteDumbbell exercises are strengthening exercises this improve the muscle strength and helpful to build perfect body.
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