Gymless... or never gymless?

Jane Michel · 11-14-2007, 05:44 PM

I am back in my home country for 3.5 months, the small gym I used over here is closed because the owner is having landlord woes. The gym is unlikely to re-open, and that was the only gym near my place which did not charge exorbitant prices for a couple of months' membership. There are no parks with monkeybars nearby.

How much strength and conditioning and "fitness" could I lose if I do bodyweight exercises and metcons (getting ideas from Eva T's blog) for the next 3.5 months?

Mike ODonnell · 11-14-2007, 06:21 PM

Bodyweight is great...especially if you go explosive/plyometric...squats...pushups....hspu....pistols.. ..sprints.....lunges.....lots of options.....conditioning will not be an aspect if you do sprints and high voluem, and strength can be maintained.

Patrick Donnelly · 11-14-2007, 06:56 PM

- pair of rings
- adjustable dumbbells & 1" plates

Weighted muscle-ups and weighted pistols... That'll build some full-body strength. You've also got planche progressions, L-sits, iron cross pull-outs, jumping pistols, dumbbell snatches, etc.

For dumbbells:
- get two 1.5 foot galvanized pipes from Home Depot with a 1" outside diameter
- get 8 hose clamps (and a screwdriver to tighten them)
- get a load of the standard 1" plates
- sand the ends of the pipes and inside of the plates
- plates go on and off with hose clamps on either side
Those things clamp on TIGHT; I've tested up to 40# dumbbell swings with them... If I had 25# plates, I'd go for more...

David Aguasca · 11-14-2007, 07:28 PM

patrick, i don't knew if she even has a pull-up bar.

alicia, if you do anything equipment-wise...figure out a way to rig a pull-up bar! anything! then ring stuff can come in, and you have a HUGE upper-body strength training tool right there.

you can never really run out of bodyweight conditioning workouts. one of the recent crossfit WODs was one of my favorites...

AMRAP in 20 minutes of:
5 HSPU
10 L-pullups
15 walking lunge steps

the dumbell is a great idea, too. dumbell snatches FTW!

Steven Low · 11-14-2007, 11:20 PM

You're gonna learn to love pistols and sprints.

If you can rig up a pullups bar and rings you're all set. Well, it's my opinion that decreased leverage bodyweight exercises are generally better than their weighted counterparts for upper body (rarely do any barbell work).

That's pretty much all I've done for the past half a year... rings, pullup bar combined with pistols, sprints and max effort verts/broad jumps.

If you need ideas for exercises or to scale then just ask.

Jane Michel · 11-15-2007, 05:16 AM

Thanks for the replies everyone! I really appreciate you taking the time to write suggestions. Mom is a little fussy about her house... which means no pullup bars and heavy objects in case they damage the floor and driveway. But.... I can do pullups and jumping pullups using the staircase landing, and dips (and L-sits, planche sort of work too I guess) using two chairs.

Steven, wow. Do you ever miss lifting weights? I am feeling uncomfortable already now that Greg has got me addicted to snatch and C&J. Might have to secretly lift the sofa and tables early in the morning.

Do you have ideas for more exercises and workouts with the setup, besides the ones already suggested?

Frank Needham · 11-15-2007, 06:00 AM

I'll wager that there is sand of some type where you are, and probably a building materials place as well. Put together a sand bag of the type on the never gymless site. You can construct it to be easily weighted or unweighted to suit you needs. Mom will think you're nuts but you never know maybe she'll join in!

I've seen a few home made rings that would do in a pinch also. One set I found very cool was used by Eva T in a CF MU vid that was very simple, just a pair of 90 degree 1" pvc elbows with bungee cord threaded through them but they worked great.

The possibilities are endless.

Garrett Smith · 11-15-2007, 06:11 AM

Here are two pullup options for inside the house:

http://www.pullupbar.com/
http://www.lifelineusa.com/IW_Produc...TI_ITEM_SUBMIT

IMO, as long as you have the equipment/location to do pullups and also pick up heavy stuff off the ground, you have plenty to keep you strong all-around. The other suggestions here have been great.

Steve Liberati · 11-15-2007, 06:33 AM

Prison style workouts combined with spot on nutrition can build a great, well-tuned and strong frame in no time. For more bodyweight exercises and workouts be sure to pick up Never Gymless by Ross. Although I'm guessing you already have his book based on the title heading of this thread.
Keep at it!

Mike ODonnell · 11-15-2007, 06:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve Liberati

Prison style workouts

Shhhhhhhhh.....Steve don't leak the title to my next book......I know you did all that undercover work for me but keep it a secret already.......sheshhhhhhh

As for pullups....if you can grab it...underneath stairs.....tree branch....rock....you can pull yourself up. Or find a rope to go climb. Or just climb a tree.