No Gym? Body Weight Routines Can Lend a Hand...

I was faced with an interesting dilemma this week.  As I may have mentioned in a previous post, we recently joined a local gym.  And it is amazing; with great people, plenty of equipment, and a great atmosphere that is conducive to wanting people to succeed with their goals.  We love it there!  But what happens when things arise that prevent us from going to the gym?  To be honest, we don't have a lot of equipment laying around the house.  We have a dumbbell set that includes 4 x 7.5 lbs. plates and a set of light weight resistance bands.  That's it.

I encountered this type of situation twice this week.  Both of which were due to work conflicts, that prevented me from dropping by the gym.  But the beauty of this situation is that a gym is NOT needed to exercise... You may be saying: "Whatever..." or "Yeah, right!".  But it is true. Your physiology is equipped with the basics you need to get in a decent workout.  Admittedly, I was a bit skeptical at first, myself.  But after last nights Body Weight Routine, I can say without a doubt that it does work. *Note: I am NOT a doctor or offering medical advice. As always consult your physician before using any workout program for health and safety purposes.

Don't get me wrong, I love hitting the Elliptical and the Stationary Bikes and I thoroughly enjoy hitting the dumbbells and various bench presses and pulldowns.  But when the event arises where you just have to burn some energy or need to feel that welcome burn in a particular muscle set.  There are other options.  For example, here is the workout I did last night upon returning home from working late:

Body Weight Squats: 4 sets of 10 reps each

Oblique Crunches: 3 sets of 40 reps, set 4 was pushed a little further to failure at 44 reps.

Body Weight Lunge: 1 set of 20 reps, 1 set of 16 reps, and 1 set of 14 reps

Push-Ups: 1 set of 14 reps, 1 set of 20 reps, 1 sets of 22 reps, and 1 set of 24 reps

Jumping Jacks: 3 sets of 40 jumping jacks

Plank: 1 set of 1 rep (lasting for 45 seconds)

Total Time: 45 minutes to 1 hour

Going into this routine, my initial thoughts were that there was no way I would feel like I nailed a decent workout.  But essentially what I did was starting with the Body Weight Squats, I would do a set and then move into the Oblique Crunches and do a set.  Then I would bounce back to my Squats.  Basically when I felt I needed to rest from a particular exercise in the routine, I would move on the another one.  If I did something like a set of Push-Ups, I would follow with a set of Oblique Crunches or Jumping Jacks to keep my heart rate a little elevated.  Gradually I worked my way through the routine towards the dreaded Plank.

On average I am able to hold a decent Plank anywhere from about 00:01:05 to 00:01:15, but after the workout I was lucky to hold it for 45 seconds.  The only things needed for this routine was a little bit of floor space, and a stop watch for measuring Plank time.  And I use my cell phone's Stopwatch feature for that.

And by the end of the workout I could feel muscles that I have never felt before.  My quads, hamstrings, and thighs were sore, my Abs and Obliques were hurting, and I was sweating as if I had just went 10 minutes in Moderate Intensity on an Elliptical.  The best part about it, it was a "sore chore" getting out of the bed in the morning.  But it was well worth it.

So let this be a lesson to those who sit back and deny that they can try to get fit because of a lack of gym equipment or even lacking a gym membership.  Body Weight exercises are not to be shrugged off.  I currently weigh 230 pounds and trust me, that is a heck of a workout.

Posted in: body, body weight, crunches, elliptical, exercises, fitness, gym, lunges, planks, routine, squats, stationary bike, weight, weight loss, weights, workout