A common complaint or a few variations of the same problem...
"I don't have time to make it to the gym" "I work out of town" or "I travel a lot with work" "I need childcare or I can't make the gym"
etc etc...
Well.. there's one simple solution for all of these folks - use your body weight! You don't always need endless amounts of fancy gym equipment!!!! There are literally hundreds if not thousands of moves that you can do to burn calories, build lean muscle and work up a darn good sweat without the need for any fancy equipment. Add a few tiny pieces such as a swiss ball or barbell and the possibilities become endless!!!!..
Here are a few of the moves that I consider to be the top body weight moves!..
LOWER BODY... Lunges - these can be done with a number of variations, forwards, backwards, sideways, elevated leg, with additional weights or resistance bands, on an unstable surface such as a Bosu or wobble board
Squats - Try playing around with the stance width and depth of squat. If it's 100% body weight then try one-leg squats - these will make any person work, no matter the size of their wheels
Jump squats - probably not one for anyone who lives above their neighbours, but simply perform squats finishing with a jump, making sure to cushion the landing by bending your knees, which movement automatically leads into the next squat. Basically continuously umping and squatting - good drill!
UPPER BODY... Press ups - again variety is key. Try varying hand width, elevated feet to emphasise the upper chest and shoulders, one leg lifted to increase core engagement, doing them on your knuckles or perhaps with your hands on uneven surfaces such as one arm on the floor on on a small box
Renegade rows / renegade flys - these are usually performed with weights but with either a small weight or empty hand can still offer an effective workout as it engages a lot of core stability and stabilising muscle groups
Dips - You can perform these with your hands on the side of the bath, or a bed. Make them more difficult by varying the tempo, lifting alternate legs for each dip, placng your feet on something elevated or adding a weight to your lap
CORE / ABS... Crunches - keep it basic. Crunches are one of the best ways to focus on the upper abs. Hold an object or weight to make it more difficult and hold it at the point where shoulders are highest off the ground for 3 seconds
Leg raises - great way to work your lower abs and add a little top up to the legs. Vary height of movement and speed
"Frogs" - a great way to hit your obliques - a personal favourite move of mine!
CONDITIONING... Mountain climbers - vary from knees coming inside your elbows, to the outside. Also try it on one leg at a time in a hop-style
"Up-downs" (you may refer to them as something else) - basically climbing from a plank position to a press up and back down, over, and over, and over, and over, and over again...
Burpees - We all hate them and they've been around donkey's years; but for a reason - they're good! VERY good!
These are JUST 9 of the man moves you could try. But imagine on those days where you can't justify a gym visit for half an hour. Or only have time for 30 minutes and not the commute and gym chat when you're there, a quick circuit like that below could be gone over 3 - 5 times. Why not time it and get competitive with yourself!?.. HELLO SWEAT!!!
EXAMPLE CIRCUIT:
- Alternate lunges x 30 - 12 x 1 leg squats - Press ups - 45 seconds non-stop - Renegade row x 12 each side - Renegade flys x 12 each side - 45 seconds dips, one leg off the floor - Elevated leg lunges x 10 each leg - Jump squats x 15 - Press ups - 30 seconds non-stop - 45 seconds crunches - 12 x leg raises - 24 x frogs - 1 minute rock climbers - 1 minute "up-downs" - 15 x burpees
Try it.. I dare ya!!
Here's a few more bodyweight exercise ideas...
OR... If you have access to a play park, why not try something like this?..
SUMMARY... I'm ALWAYS telling people that their body weight is a great yard stick for functional strength. For example, how many "big guys" would struggle to perform a good set of wide-grip chin ups followed by a set of full-range dips?... Quite a few I'd imagine.
In my opinion, your best piece of equipment is your body! If you can't manoeuvre your own body weight then you really have nothing to be showing off about!
“I struggle to make it to the gym as sometimes I work late.”
A common complaint and one that has a whole HOST of solutions; here are just a few:
TABATA TRAINING...
Tabata training is a gift from the time gods (no, it’s not bread training!) The principle is that you work as hard as you can for 20 seconds, rest for 10 seconds and repeat another 7 times on the same weight or settings. (Total time: 4 minutes). This can be applied to pretty much anything, from cardio such as sprints/walks, or rowing. Or for a weights program (nothing to heavy mind you). This is first on the list because, as my colleagues will tell you, I love it!
BENEFITS: Workouts can be completed quickly and still offer a lot of benefits. High calorie burn, short session time, HUGE pump, good for growth as a natural pyramid in reps will occur due to fatigue. Whether you want to do a complete session in this part (ie: all back exercises), a "finisher" to your session for one body part, a full body workout, or a varied cardio workout, tabata offers something for everyone
ISSUES TO CONSIDER: Fatigue plays a big part in this training. If the first set is difficult your weight is too heavy! If the move is very technical and has potential for form to be an issue, try to avoid it. Moves such as deadlifts can be a little too much for tabata. If it's your first time and you're unsure on weights, try machines as this will allow you to adjust weights in the 10 second gap - lat pull down is a great choice!
FYI: I found my GymBoss timer helped with this massively! It keep timing accurate, keeps you on track and makes you stick to all 8 sets. £15 well spent if you ask me: http://www.gymboss.com/
CLASSES... There are LOADS of different classes available these days. Likelihood is you won’t like all of them, but don’t knock them ‘till you try them. Give them a whirl, it could just be the shock you need to boost your training and speed up results
BENEFITS: They’re 45 minutes to an hour guaranteed – no long gym sessions. You need no prior knowledge or expertise as someone will guide you through it. When you’re feeling unenthusiastic and could potentially have a lengthy and unproductive session or worse still, avoid the gym all together classes can be the motivation you need. If you’re an appointments kind of person these are ideal, you can work around an exact time and schedule it in your daily routine. Classes can run all day long so if you have an hour before work, at lunch, or in the evening then you’ll find something
ISSUES TO CONSIDER: Don’t be put off before you even try it – everyone was in your shoes once and joined a class for the first time. You’ve got to start somewhere. Don’t give up after one visit, most classes at a gym are included in the price so try them all. If you’re not hooked after one visit, give it a second go. You’d be surprised how much more enjoyable a class is once you have a vibe for the format and an idea of what's ahead
CIRCUIT STYLE or SUPER SETS... Try working for a short time at high intensity, set out a pre-designed “lap” of the gym with up to 8 stations and work from one to the next with only the walk between and adjusting the equipment as your rest. Alternatively, work this on a smaller scale and use two apparatus for the same muscle groups and use them back to back to create a "super-set" (EG: Dips super set with tricep pull down to overload the triceps).
BENEFITS: You can cram in a session late in the day, up the intensity and get yourself home. Great calorie burner and gives you a real sweat and feeling of being pumped
ISSUES TO CONSIDER: Peak times could put an end to the circuits idea; that or an active gym team clearing equipment away as you use it. If that’s the case a super-set session should still be workable
SHORT AND SWEET...Keep your sessions to a maximum of 45 minutes. a) no one wants to spend their entire evening in the gym (well some people do but we don't talk about them!) and b) (most importantly), long session don't necessarily mean more results. I know, this is HORRIBLE to hear for those people with a "If I do more, I get more" mentality, but sorry... it's true!
BENEFITS: You're in and out in 45 minutes (surely you can spare an hour or so!?). You get the most benefits from your workout in terms of cardio improvements, calorie burning and muscle growth
ISSUES TO CONSIDER: Time restrictions mean that it can be difficult to do a "power" session as you may need more rest. To be fair, you should only have session of this kind on a monthly basis unless you training/sport requires more. For "average Joe", 45 minutes is plenty!
So there you have 4 great ways of getting an effective session in when work only allows for a short session. All comments/suggestions/additions welcome.
This was 2 minutes of work and REALLY gets the heart going and works the body from top to bottom. Surely you have time for that?...
