Gym Alternatives

[JustJustin]

You will be able to get results from using weights e.g. if you curl you'll get bigger biceps, etc. The thing I don't like about using steel is that you isolate a muscle and that's the only thing that gets worked. Each man to his own. I plan to stick to calisthenics. It's free, it works best for me, and my workout can be anywhere that I am. At home, on the top of a mountain, on the other side of the country (or world), at a hotel, or beside the highway when I'm on a trip.

 

[timmymac24]

Pull up bar and enough weight to do upright rows for a simple pull session, yoga two to three times a week then get on the mountain bike or run for cardio. I power lifted in college and continued lifting for several years after college. My body feels great at 51 and my joints thank me daily as well. I will never be a gym rat again can't think of anything I miss paying to be at the gym.

 

[SWOHTR]

Whatever you do, I would steer hard away from anyone or anything that tries to tell you “THIS is the only thing that works and is FAR SUPERIOR than anything else on the market!”

Ie balance it out. Running, weights, biking, calisthenics all have their appropriate place.

 

[Poser]

CONVICT CONDITIONING by Paul Wade is the cheapest (and best) thing I can think of. It's a book ($24 paperback amazon, cheaper on ebay, cheaper yet digitally) that explains step by step directions to work out every muscle group with out a gym. All you need is something to hang on and a few feet of space. He explains how calisthenics (using your body weight for resistance) is better than weights for literally every reason to work out. How many people blew out their back doing back bridges? Vs lifting barbells? How many people have shoulder and back pain from doing pushups? Vs benching?etc. etc.
Calisthenic training also gives you real-world strength. You might find yourself in a situation where being able to do a one-handed chinup is advantageous. When would it do you any good to curl 100lbs? Plus a one handed chinup(or pushup, or handstand) looks cooler (IMO, if that's what your after) anyhow.
A 300lb gluton could bench 300lbs and not be able to do 1 pushup. I haven't reached the advanced level of his program, but I know that the elementary/intermediate parts of it work!

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Depending on slight variations for body proportions, A push up is only right around 70% of total Bodyweight. Any person who can bench press their Bodyweight, can easily do a push up. #Physics

Calisthenics programs do address the posterior chain, easily the most functional strength a person can obtain or maintain.

Calisthenics do very little to nothing to address the maintenance of bone density since the movements are sub maximal, do not sufficiently stress the body as an entire system and can’t be progressively loaded over time.

There is no such thing as “real world strength”, there is only strength. Most muscles in your body only perform single functions: the quad extends the knee, the tricep extends the elbow, spinal erectors keep the spine straight, Lars pull, etc. these muscles don’t know if you’re bailing hay, pushing a car out of a ditch or deadlifting. They simply perform their tasks in conjunction with the rest of the body and are either strong enough for the task at hand or they are not. Now, certainly you could make the case that bodybuilders doing hypertrophy training for pure aesthetics aren’t so “functional” as they relate to the size of their muscles, which is not an unreasonable assertion-many bodybuilders, despite their size, aren’t actually very strong. Hypertrophy training, however, is very different from strength training and I don’t think any reasonable person asserts that one should train primarily hypertrophy if their goal is simply a strong body or for athletic performance. That being said, people do often confuse “lifting weights” or simply “going to the gym” as being “bodybuilding” and if you refer to “strength training” people often confuse it with “powerlifting”, which, even though they share the same principle movements, “powerlifting” is the sport of competing in those movements for single lifts and the training itself may look quite different as well as the outcome.

Calisthenics have their place, but they are not by any means a superior, one stop solution to obtaining or maintaining a strong and healthy body.

 

[dylanvb]

Whatever you do, I would steer hard away from anyone or anything that tries to tell you “THIS is the only thing that works and is FAR SUPERIOR than anything else on the market!”

Ie balance it out. Running, weights, biking, calisthenics all have their appropriate place.

I take every single piece of advice with a grain of salt. Everyone's body is different and we all have different mind sets plus end goals. My buddy I work out daily at the gym is naturally more leaner then me and we always argue about what workout works better for us lol.

 

[dylanvb]

I know calisthenics is good for you and ultimately is cheaper since you do not need any equipment but as i have said before i enjoy lifting heavy weight. I will let my fiance kick my ass every now and then with a calisthenics work out but to do that solely would be robbing me of my joy and love of lifting weights.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Check out your local CrossFit box or knock off crossfit gym. I avoided it for years due to concern about injury. Let myself get talked into it a year ago and have really enjoyed it.

The comradely is more of a motivator than I would have expected.

I am mid 40s and not interested in any more joint surgery so I take it easy on the more difficult stuff and pass on some things entirely. I do go heavy on things that I feel comfortable with. I tend to burn around 800-1200 calories per session and it is a good balance of heavy lifting and high intensity cardio. I am finding my grove and mixing in some more stretching, long but low intensity cardio sessions and a couple of targeted lifting sessions each week. Results have been very good so far.

 

[westbranch]

We bought a cheap 300lb bar and plates set for $180 on sale a few years ago, then a nicer 300lb set of Again Faster bar and bumper plates on sale for around $300. Rack, bench, pullup bar all from amazon. Some random dumbells. I think we are in for <$800. Could have been cheaper if we shopped around a little more. Also bought a concept 2 rower from a nearby crossfit competition, used for one weekend for $750. So around $1,500 over about 3 years.

My wife still goes to a crossfit style gym that focuses on strength and conditioning. I workout at home and can have a ton of variation. We have trailheads very close to our house that have decent length and elevation gain for hikes with a pack or trail running.

 

[dfstein20]

Facebook marketplace is the best place that i have used. people buy the stuff and use it for two weeks and then it collects dust in the garage or becomes a clothes hanger!! i never offer full price for stuff and haven't been turned down yet. plus you don't have to go all out. I bought a pull up bar, 20# medicine ball and brute force sandbag and can do almost everything with it. unless you need/want the heavy weights.

 

[Chesapeake173]

From a guy who in his younger days lifted heavy weights.....at 45 in now have a bad (replaced) knee and a bad shoulder. Also, with life getting in the way, and time at a premium, I switched to to 3-4 days a week of light (50 lb or less because that’s what I have) weight max rep exercises. I set the timer on my phone and only give myself 1 minute rest between sets. I can knock out a good workout in under 40 minutes.

Been working good for me. Improved flexibility and endurance.




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[JustJustin]

I was not trying to make this a big argument. What I meant by someone being able to bench 300 and not be able to do a pushup is that there are people who find one or two weight lifting exercises and obsess over that and yet they struggle to handle their own weight. Should of said it more concisely....
As far as calisthenics training not putting enough stress on the bones and joints, the book I referred too, CONVICT CONDITIONING, starts out with simple calisthenics but progresses to doing everything with one. E.G. one handed pullups, one handed handstand pushups(your allowed to balance with your toes against a wall), one handed regular pushups, one legged squats, and stand to backbridge to standing for back strength. A one handed handstand pushup for a 150 lb person would be the equivalent of pushing 300 lbs directly overhead with both hands. There's hardly any need to get stronger once you can handle your full bodyweight with just half your power but there is a sequel to his book called CONVICT CONDITIONING 2.

For me personally, my job as an arborist often moving heavy logs by hand is enough heavy lifting for me. I know I can easily hurt my back if I'm not careful.
At my previous job at a hardware store, two 50lb bags of feed was the most I'd carry on a regular basis. The only reason I dared to carry 220 lb cattle gates was because I could brace my shoulder against it while carrying the weight with my hands.
If you really want to disagree with someone, read the book. You might not think it possible, but he is more biased toward calisthenics than I am.

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[Krieg Hetzen]

Buy a rack, build a platform and lift! You can use it for powerlifting, Olympic lifting (if you build the platform big enough), isolation exercises and anything body weight related as well. Throw in a GHD and you can hit everything.

 

[*zap*]

Actual advanced calisthenics exercise's are very difficult and require very good overall fitness, mobility, strength and flexibility to do well.

 

[JustJustin]

Actual advanced calisthenics exercise's are very difficult and require very good overall fitness, mobility, strength and flexibility to do well.

That's what we are aiming for, right? Strength, mobility, and flexibility.

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[*zap*]

I think many people in the gym are just trying not to get fatter than they are.....not too many folks are going to invest the effort/time it takes to do actual hard callisthenic exercises.
I think most people really have no long term plan....if you talk to someone people about it taking a year or more to achieve a goal they look at you like your nuts....

 

[Ratbeetle]

I used to be a gym rat as well. Bought a rogue rack and full set up for the house. I would never go back to a commercial gym again.

With that said, I injured my back a couple years ago and the rack sat collecting dust. After my surgery thia year, I sold the rack and built an olympic lifting platform. This year, I focused on olympic lifts, conditioning, running, and weighted rucking. I may not have been as big as I was in the past, but I never felt stronger in the mountains.

I've added a pull up station in and will add more conditioning tools like sandbags and a dragging sled this year.

Completely lost interest in traditional lifting routines now.

 

[Poser]

I was not trying to make this a big argument. What I meant by someone being able to bench 300 and not be able to do a pushup is that there are people who find one or two weight lifting exercises and obsess over that and yet they struggle to handle their own weight. Should of said it more concisely....
As far as calisthenics training not putting enough stress on the bones and joints, the book I referred too, CONVICT CONDITIONING, starts out with simple calisthenics but progresses to doing everything with one. E.G. one handed pullups, one handed handstand pushups(your allowed to balance with your toes against a wall), one handed regular pushups, one legged squats, and stand to backbridge to standing for back strength. A one handed handstand pushup for a 150 lb person would be the equivalent of pushing 300 lbs directly overhead with both hands. There's hardly any need to get stronger once you can handle your full bodyweight with just half your power but there is a sequel to his book called CONVICT CONDITIONING 2.

For me personally, my job as an arborist often moving heavy logs by hand is enough heavy lifting for me. I know I can easily hurt my back if I'm not careful.
At my previous job at a hardware store, two 50lb bags of feed was the most I'd carry on a regular basis. The only reason I dared to carry 220 lb cattle gates was because I could brace my shoulder against it while carrying the weight with my hands.
If you really want to disagree with someone, read the book. You might not think it possible, but he is more biased toward calisthenics than I am.

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I’d love to see an example of someone who can perform a 300 lbs overhead press with an exclusive background in calisthenics. A 300# overhead press (note, not a push press or a push jerk) is quite a feat to behold and very few people attain it. It’s roughly equivalent to a 600# deadlift in terms of feats of strength. The interesting thing about overhead presses is that it is almost always proportional to the bench press, generally between 60-70%, but most often averaging 66.6%. In short, a person with a The technique to perform a 300lbs Press most likely has a bench press of right around 450#. I’d be willing to eat crow on this whole argument if you can even find one somehow example of a 150 lbs guy who can overhead press 300#. Hell, I’d be impressed if a 150# guy could unrack and hold 300# in the rack position. You not only need the obvious shoulders and triceps and upper body strength, but glutes strong enough to keep you standing up under that kind of weight, and a set of spinal erectors and abdominal muscles to sufficiently protect the spine under such load. Without a superior deadlift to compliment the training, I’ll venture to say that such a display of strength (pressing 300#) is entirely unfeasible, if not an outright laughable notion.

As for bone density, here’s the thing: if a person off the couch started doing push-ups and progressed to one arm pushups, then, sure, they would benefit from the stress (a person of the couch will benefit from anything), but that’s going to be finite since they cannot continue to increase the load and the leap from two arm pushups to one arm push ups is quite the jump itself. But would these bone density and strength increases be equivalent to strength training with barbells for the same amount of time? For example, if I stopped strength training today with a squat in the mid 300s and a deadlift in the low 400s, and started doing only Bodyweight exercises, my bone density would actually decrease over time because Bodyweight exercises would in no way sufficiently stress the system enough for the body to have a reason maintain the present levels of density. The body responds differently to stress of the entire system vs independent limbs I.e. a 150# lunge is not equal stress to a 300# Backsquat nor is a 100# single arm dumbbell press equal stress to a 200# Barbell Press. *At some point, the total stress on the system is of greater value than partial stress, even if it is proportional*

I’m quite sure the author is partial to his regimen, he’s trying to sell us a book afterall, but the stress induced by Bodyweight exercises are not pound for pound equivalent to the benefits of barbells. Not even close. I’m not saying they don’t have their benefits or place in a program, but they are not “just as good” or equivalent in results as they also lack the ability to incrementally load and the available stress itself hits a limitation. I’m not discouraging their use or anyone’s opinion, only stating that the effects of Barbell training cannot be replaced using Bodyweight exercises. If you desire those benefits then you need the equipment, gym or no gym.

 

[JustJustin]

Obviously, I enjoy arguing. I would like to see a gym rat that can overhead press double his body weight do a one handed handstand pushup! And I'm confident that a scary high percentage of the people who overhead press more than their body weight will also have back problems. Maybe not everyone, but a lot.
I believe you are correct by stating that 100# single arm dumbell press is not equal to 200# two handed dumbell press. However, in my experience, calisthenics is the opposite. For example, a one handed pushup is more than twice the stress of two hands. The shoulder and the full torso have to compensate for the off-balance load. The arm would have about exactly double the stress as compared to two handed pushups. As far as the jump from two handed to one handed pushups, I learned that by myself in my bedroom, but the CONVICT CONDITIONING does actually explain how to do it by limiting the amount of pushing that one hand is doing until you can eventually do it with only one hand. Every step in the book starts out excessively easy. Any couch potato could do it. The first pushup exercise is leaning against a wall and doing a pushup. If anybody cant do that, I feel sorry for them.

Do you have one particular source for weight lifting that you would recommend? I'm not planning on buying another ounce of iron but maybe I would be able to learn something.

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[Outlaw99]

I have 2 18lb kettle bells, a pull up bar, treadmill, jump rope and elliptical. Along with that, I cut, hand split, and hand stack it all. Works for me and at 38, I feel like I’m In the best shape of my life in every aspect.

 

[Poser]

Obviously, I enjoy arguing. I would like to see a gym rat that can overhead press double his body weight do a one handed handstand pushup! And I'm confident that a scary high percentage of the people who overhead press more than their body weight will also have back problems. Maybe not everyone, but a lot.
I believe you are correct by stating that 100# single arm dumbell press is not equal to 200# two handed dumbell press. However, in my experience, calisthenics is the opposite. For example, a one handed pushup is more than twice the stress of two hands. The shoulder and the full torso have to compensate for the off-balance load. The arm would have about exactly double the stress as compared to two handed pushups. As far as the jump from two handed to one handed pushups, I learned that by myself in my bedroom, but the CONVICT CONDITIONING does actually explain how to do it by limiting the amount of pushing that one hand is doing until you can eventually do it with only one hand. Every step in the book starts out excessively easy. Any couch potato could do it. The first pushup exercise is leaning against a wall and doing a pushup. If anybody cant do that, I feel sorry for them.

Do you have one particular source for weight lifting that you would recommend? I'm not planning on buying another ounce of iron but maybe I would be able to learn something.

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I can only think of one person I know who could do (or that I have seen donors than the novelty of doing a single push-up) one arm push ups. She was a former D1 gymnast and could even do one arm handstand Holds. I’ve never messed with one arm push ups, but I’d imagine it’s as much as skill as it is strength, much like being able to do handstand walks: there is a certain amount of strength you need then you need to practice the skill of the movement. Many of the Crossfitters here can probably attest to be strong enough to do handstand walks but have to Practice them extensively in order to be able to do them at will.

Anyway, for a basic understanding of Barbell training, I recommend Starting Strength, Basic Barbell Training. 129 pages dedicated just to the physics and leverages of squat mechanics.

Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training, 3rd edition – The Aasgaard Company

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