Workouts without a gym

Posted on 25. Jan, 2010 by Guy Edwards in Exercise, Strength & Conditioning, Martial Arts

While it’s hard to beat a good gym for a focused place to go when you want a quality workout, many people don’t have access to a gym – whether it because of budget, schedule or location, there are thousands of people who have to do their workouts at home or whilst travelling.

So how do you get a quality workout at home?

Don’t have access to a gym? Can’t afford to join one? Don’t have the time? There’s lots of reason why people don’t exercise, but not having access to a gym is actually not a good one! Indeed, once you start thinking about it, there are plenty of ways to stay in shape without joining a gym.

The key to gym free fitness is to stop thinking along traditional lines. Of course it would be easier if you could join a class or have a huge range of cables, freeweights and medicine balls, kettlebells available to you, but even without them you can have great workouts. Look at martial artists, kettlebell users, pilates and yoga enthusiasts, they can excel with minimal equipment.

While working out at a fully equipped gym or health club is great, there is also a certain freedom to working out at home – no driving time, no crowds, you do it when you want, and you never have to wait for a piece of equipment to come free!

Plus of course you can listen to your favorite music!

Let’s look at some of your options.

The Workouts

Working out without an expensive gym doesn’t mean you should be restricted in your choices. Indeed, you’ll likely find yourself doing things you would never have done otherwise.

Cardio:

There’s loads of great choices for cardio workouts. These are the main ones:

Walking or running: All you need for this is a good pair of  mobile shoes. Research shows that walking or running three times a week for at least twenty minutes is a great base for overall conditioning, with either a brisk walk or easy jogging effective in getting your heart rate going sufficiently.

Other methods of achieving a good home-based cardio workout include:

• Stair climbing
• Kettlebell Circuit
• Skipping
• Mini-trampoline
• Martial arts (boxing, kickboxing, etc)
• Home versions of gym cardio machines – a stationary bike or stepper for example. These don’t have to be expensive – there are always loads for sale in local newspapers, at garage sales, or on e-bay.

If you are buying equipment for home use, look for good quality equipment, and choose a machine that you enjoy using – too many homes have stationary bikes or treadmills that are used for nothing more demanding that hanging the ironing!

Alternatively you could put on your favourite music and dance, or use a keep fit video of some kind (Kettlebells, aerobics, yoga, Pilates etc).

Resistance training covers all areas of strength training – free weights, bodyweight, Kettlebells, punch/kick bag, cable, TRX (suspension ropes) or resistance bands.

TRX Suspended Push Up

Resistance training should be a regular part of any exercise program, and it’s easy to achieve at home. If you have the money and space, a few dumbbells will allow you to do a whole range of resistance exercises for the whole body. Or try resistance bands – they are surprisingly effective, particularly if you also get a video or DVD that shows you how to use them.

Another piece of equipment that will add a great deal to your home workouts is an exercise ball. They are infinitely adaptable, and are not just for core work – they make a great substitute for a bench with many exercises.

Finally, if you have absolutely no equipment, you can still get a good resistance workout using just your body weight – the following exercises would form the basis of an excellent workout:

• Squats
• Lunges
• Calf-raises
• Push-ups (or modified push ups)
• Wall push-ups/Counter height push-ups
• Chair triceps dip
• Curls (holding anything!)
• Abs bridge (two legs/one leg)
• Crunches

If you’re not sure how to do any of these exercises, just Google them – there’s plenty of sites with good illustrations and descriptions.

The beauty of working out at home is that you can do it whenever you want – even in front of the TV if you have to keep yourself up to date, though focus on your workout is ideal. It’s amazing how much easier a set of crunches are when you’re working out to ‘Eye of the Tiger’!

So if lack of funds or opportunity is holding you back from working out, it’s time to be imaginative. Once you start to look for ways to workout at home, it becomes easy.

Tags: without gym, without machines, workout