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No weights, no gym, no nothing.. 20 mins a day?

  • 17-01-2008 7:56pm
    #1
    Frederico
    Closed Accounts Posts: 340 ✭✭


    I'm too far away from a gym and I'm not gonna buy any weights..

    I am skinny and just want to build shoulders, chest and arms, maybe some stomach too (just a little, nothing hardcore)

    Right now I am hideously unfit and just doing 2 reps of 20 pressups and thats it, with literally 10 seconds of stretching before and after..

    Anyone got any recommendations for a rough 20 min session a day without weights?

    How many pressups should I be doing a day to see results in perhaps 3 months?

    thanks


Comments

  • #2
    Hygro
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 730 ✭✭✭Hygro


    I was directed to this site by another poster www.simplefit.org

    Started it yesterday (after not doing any muscle building exercises for well over a year) and I'm in bits today.

    You don't need any weights to do it. I have a chin bar so that's handy, but if you don't you can use alternatives, the site tells you everything you need to know.

    Give it a go and see what you think.


  • #3
    smellslikeshoes
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,354 ✭✭✭smellslikeshoes


    Frederico wrote: »
    I'm too far away from a gym and I'm not gonna buy any weights..
    Why no weights? Its all well and good doing bodyweight work but completely ruling out things that work as well as weights seems a bit silly. Your basically making things harder on yourself. Weights aren't expensive if thats an issue. Not saying that bodyweight work doesn't work well mind.


  • #4
    Diamondmaker
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,882 ✭✭✭Diamondmaker


    I have spent the lsy 7 weeks away from home so no gym. I have trie to keep up the work with simple things.

    1. Go running, any where, increase fitness. Over 20 min to 1/2 hr or more. Build it up.

    2. Press ups, if you can only do 2 sets now just keep working on increasing the sets and reps.
    To gain extra strength try raised feet on the sofa, and hands further apart.

    Also after a discussion only last night, I pushed the push up further !
    Use a stair case ! This mimics an incline bench I would say for uppr pecs, while flat p/u is main pecs.

    3. Dips, like the guys in the jail movies!
    Move 2 pieces of furniture together ( or hostel bunks ! ) hang from your arms, kink your knees back crossed and lift body up and down by arms.

    4. Sit ups, use aforementioned couch to hook feet, use a soft cushion under tail bone.

    5. Chin ups, door frame, tree, playground. Hands close together for biceps further out for lats, variations for triceps...

    If your far from a gym your prob near a million outdoor soultions, thats what I found!

    Bottom line you have to want to do it, keep it up and get to a stage that your strength and fitness is so that you enjoy your improvisation routines.

    good luck


  • #5
    rubadub
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 32,387 ✭✭✭✭rubadub


    Frederico wrote: »
    Right now I am hideously unfit and just doing 2 reps of 20 pressups and thats it, with literally 10 seconds of stretching before and after..
    Thats 2 sets of 20 repetitions. For muscle growth- hypertrophy, it is best to do 3 sets in the 8-12 rep range,


    Put your legs on a chair or on the stairs so they are raised up. Now more of your bodyweight is being lifted doing pushups. You should incline it until you can only do 8-12 reps. Do this for 3 sets, then take a day off. Do body squats, hold some weight if you can.

    A chinning bar is only €10-15, if you can splashout on that then you can do chins & pullups & leg raises. Working the arms, back, abs, and general upperbody very well. If you could spend a bit more you could get rings, going cheap at the moment http://ringtraining.com/store/classicrings.html
    With them you can do loads of stuff, dips, flyes, to work the chest. I am currently working towards handstand pushups to replace my military pressing. You could try handstand pushups yourself. The rings have replaced all my bench work.

    The rings can work your entire upper body, which is what you are interested in. But legs should get a look in, heavy squats will lead to overall muscle growth. Those rings are ~€50 delivered, if you put a bit of wood across the entrance to an attic or put them on a tree or goal posts you dont even need the chinning bar to loop them onto. And that €50 can take the place of loads of equpiment. Small price to pay for what you can do, take up feck all space too, and can travel easily.


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