So just how easy is it to get a total body workout without equipment? It’s actually easily possible, will save you alot of money and keep you fit at the same time!
Sometimes joining a GYM or purchasing expensive workout equipment isn’t the most applicable option. Not everyone lives near gyms or can pay the sometimes astronimcal membership fees. It also pays to know a workout plan you can do without equipment, if you go on a holiday or business trip and can’t find a gym. So, I’ve decided to suggest the following workout plan of exercises that you can do without spending a dime. Sure, you may see results faster with a strict gym workout, but it’s better for your health do these exercises than to do none at all.
Some excercises, (e.g. crunches and hyperextensions) I haven’t explained fully because descriptions of these exercises are readily available on the Internet (and most are common knowledge - for instance, if you’d like more for specifi pushup variations, you don’t have to look far). I suggest doing these exercises 3-4 times per week. I would also recommend you warm up with about a 5 minute light cardio beforehand (running on the spot, shadow boxing etc.). Personally, to have a more significant effect, I would suggest 15 minutes of light jogging on the spot. This would simulate jogging for about a mile and a half. I would then follow that up with about 20 min of stretching: fingertips to toes without bending knees, knees to head whilst squatting and other assorted leg stretches and arm excercises. Of course, if you’d like me to describe an excercise in greater detail, please let me know - I’d be happy to.
CHEST
Press-Ups (Push-Ups)
First off, even though Push-Ups can bring memories of tough gym teachers punishment workouts, it’s time to expel that image from your mind. For someone who wants to loose excess weight and/or build muscle with no equipment, press-ups are his best friend! Here’s the secret to building mass with press ups: Do them SLOWLY with low reps. I’m sure you’d be proud to say you can do sets of 125 press ups, but with that many reps, all you’re doing is just building muscle endurance. That’s no bad thing but it won’t help you build muscle mass. I recommend doing these before any other arm work because I find that if I train my arms first, they tend to burn out before my chest. You should also try to vary the position of your hands from shoulder width apart to diamond pushups. I do this in 3 sets.
1. 10-15 Diamond Pushups (above diagram)
2. 10-15 Narrow (just beyond diamond push-up length
3. 10-15 Hands shoulder with apart (wide) and a bit narrow is
By doing these different sets, you are working on different parts of your chest, shoulders and arms.
TRICEPS
You may also want to try a few sets of close grip press ups to further work on your triceps. Go into the normal press up position and then overlap your hands to make a “window” with your hands.
BACK / BICEPS
There are a handful of exercises you can do for your back. For your upper back, you can do pull-ups from a tree branch, door frame, door bar, or park bar. Don’t cheat! Make sure to go all the way up and all the way down. Obviously, you’ll be working on your arms, as well.
Your lower back is a little trickier but you’ve got to train it, especially if you are looking to approve those abs. I would recommend hyperextensions. Instead of using a hypertension bench, you can use something (or someone) to hold down your legs. Try to do about 8-10 reps.
LEGS
Unfortunately, it’s just about impossible to build very much size on your legs without equipment. Obviously there is no easy way to do heavy squats without weights, but I don’t remember the excercise police saying that they HAD to be heavy. I’ve been able to build some size and quite a lot of definition doing squats using those big water bottles are great. I put one under each arm). You can even get quite a lot of definition and some size by doing them without anything - remember, anything’s possible. Heck, do some while you’re on the platform waiting for a train or a bus. You might get weird looks, but hey, you’re the fit one! Again don’t cheat. Be sure to slow them right down and go all the way down. You will probably have to high reps for the best results - I try to keep it to about 3 or 4 sets.
ABS
Abs are one of the few bodyparts which you can easily train without equipment and have similiar effects as if you had used equipment. Obviously you can’t do any hanging exercises but many people, including myself, prefer the lying exercises anyway. My ab workout goes something like this:
Lying leg raises - 3 sets of 10
Twisting Crunches - 3 sets of 10
Twisted Crunches consist of
1. One crunch to the right
2. One centre sit up
3. One crunch toward the left.
Regular crunches (centre situp) will train the upper abs, twisting crunches will help to improve your obliques and lying leg raises will train your lower abs and boost endurance. I rest for 10-15 seconds between sets. There have been doubts about the safety of sit-ups. Plus, they do not work the abs primarily anyway, so that’s why I’ve always use crunches in my workouts. There has been some debate about whether you should train your abs at the beginning of your workout or the end. In my opinion, it does not matter as long as you do train them. In fact, I often mix all of my routines anyway. I might start off with diamond pushups, then go with some crunches, then back do diamond pushups, then some extra leg stretches etc. Oh yes - If you do an ab workout, you MUST do hyperextensions. If you don’t, horrific things may happen to your back!
Good luck, stay fit and please - any questions? Throw them my way!
