Printable View
im headed overseas this summer, so i wont really have access to a gym (and i probably won't be able to afford membership to one in london if there is one around) - i was wondering if any of you know any techniques for building muscle or toning up, besides pushups and abs, that i could potentially work into a routine. if anyone has any suggestions i'd appreciate it
Squats and running stairs are great. And you can do push-ups and and triceps pushes on flat ground or (triceps) with benches or steps. You can also do ab-crunches and bends. Check out this guy and see what he has to say!
Workout Without a Gym - by Gary Matthews of Maximum Fitness
Get some dumbbells. You can do almost everything with those. Pecs, abs, arms....mabe back. Just look up some tecniques.
If you want to get some kick-ass core muscles on your stomach, the muscles under the 6 pack, I do a really good excercise that has given me great results and a flat stomach. It seems all the 6-pack developement in the world doesn't do much for actually flattening it.
Anywhoo, just lay on your back and put your legs together. Hover them a couple inches above the ground, and lift them way up, then way down, never touching the ground. This will probably kill your muscles if it's your first time, so you might want to start out lifting one leg at a time. Believe me, the first time I did this I went gung-ho and the next morning I couldn't sit up from bed lol.
Also, I found a really good one to excercise those muscles that attach your neck to your shoulders (forget what they're called). It works your shoulders and triceps somewhat too. Just grap a couple weights in each hand, stand with them at your sides, and lift them up toward your armpits and lower them down again. Do it very slowly, or it won't work nearly as well as it should.
For arms, pecs, triceps, back, and shoulders, I have two types of pushup sets. One where I have my arms fairly wide apart, and another where I put my hands together to make a triangle with my fingers. If you do both you can cover all the muscle groups pretty well. (yeah I know you asked for no pushup advice, but what can you do? You could come after me, but I'd *insert austrian accent* CRUSH YOU WITH MY SHINY MUSCLES) ;)
Peace:jointsmile:
Go to a playground, and you can do various style of pull-ups.
One of the best ways to build up muscle.
Listen to devious, his exercises are usually part of my routine. Make sure you keep a variety of exercises so you'll keep growing. You don't want to get use to doing certain types of exercises because that won't help you build muscle, despite putting on more weight.
dumbells are great. Don't get heavy ones though, i find it better to do alot of reps. I use 12 - 20 lb.
Great abdominal workout is leg ups. Lay down on your back with your head in front of one of your bed's leg. Grab it with your hands behind your head and lift your legs 90 degrees and drop them down close to the floor without touching it. You have to keep your legs straight. Repeat about 40 times in fast repetition.
I have a few great soccer training exercises.
For good calfs and thighs...do squats on your tip-toes without letting your heel touch the floor.
A better one ---> you hold a bent-knee sitting position with your arms lifted parrallel to the ground in front of you without support for 30 seconds to 1 minute and immediately jump as high as you can, then repeat after a few seconds.
Buy a Bowlflex.
Yeah, if you want muscle tone, then go with light weights and high reps. If you're aiming for pure strength, go for as much as you can do in around 8-10 reps.
Of course you can always go in the middle, mix some of both, or whatever you think works good for you.
Medicine ball....get a nice heavy one. Most come with DVDs.
great workout for everything.
You shouldn't do squats on your toes. That defeats the entire purpose of a squat. Doing any type of squat, you should shift your weight towards the heels. If you do a squat in proper form, you don't only work out your calfs and quads, but glutes, lower back, abs.Quote:
Originally Posted by Xhoshi
With light weights or no weights your gonna get really toned
Heavy weights will get you a lot of muscle in general.:thumbsup:
Hell yeah, leg lifts are killer. I remember doing them in football practice a few years back, and you know how that goes...they punish you, and if they see you give up...you're running or whatever. But, yeah...those are absolutely great for the pack.Quote:
Originally Posted by mrdevious
We also used to do this: When hovering, open your legs to make a V shape, hold that for a while, then bring it back in. Painful but effective.
Quote:
Go to a playground, and you can do various style of pull-ups.
Hahaha, man you are SO right! I've gone out with friends and just hung at the playground smoking joints and swinging on the monkey bars. The next morning I felt like I had the hardest workout ever!
You guys have some pretty good advice here, it's always good to learn a little more about muscle training. On the whole reps vs. weight issue, I found the most success by utilizing both. Basically I'd start with some really heavy weights that make me push myself, and just do the little bit of reps that I can. Then as I get stronger I just stick to the weight and keep increasing the reps, till now where I'm at the point where I don't feel that original weight is really heavy, but I still push it as hard through reps.
The most important thing really is the "shock your body" theory, which I read on a fitness site. If you want to really increase your strength and stamina, you have to push it beyond your comfort zone, beyond your presuppositions of what you can do. This doesn't mean working out too often or pushing it too hard when you're sore as hell. It means pushing it about 20% beyond your percieved limits and dealing with those first few days of soreness, then letting your body adapt to the 120% effort till it becomes a 100% effort.
BTW, does anybody have some suggestions about getting stronger bicepts, ass, and legs? Those seem to be the 3 muscles I get the least success with, especially my bicepts. I currently just do arm curls for my bicepts (with mild-modest results), and I tried pullups for a while but found it was too hard on my upper-sides since I already work them hard with the pushups. Unfortunately I can't really go for runs since my back and neck are all messed up, it just results in raging sciatica and a really sore back. I'd also like to get more muscle on the insides of my legs to even things out.
For legs..squats, lunges, and jump roping (I like to jump rope with one foot at a time and push off my toes, gets the calves good)....the thing with biceps is you really gotta pinch your muscle when you get to the top of your curl, and release slowly...power up...pinch.....release slowly..I know that's old news but seriously practice it...I normally do dumbbell curls...sit down on the chair with arm rest in front to do curls (forget name of it) and bring a heavy weight and a light weight..hold the top of your arm steady with one arm and curl up with the heavy weight..switch hands..repeat...then drop down to light weight right away..do as many as you can...switch arm..thats one set..and do 3-4 sets...and then like some underhand pullups with focus on pinching bicep at top...
as for ass I dunno, don't really work that shit haha..I imagine the leg workout and some core workouts would do it good though..
Damn dude, that wasn't actually old news to me, it was some prety usefull information! Thanks a lot for that. :jointsmile:Quote:
Originally Posted by Headin2KONA
You can get a really good workout using resistance bands. They are really really portable, unlike weights.
Important thing for biceps is you'll get use to doing curls. So switch it up. I like KONA's advice, a it's a combination of max, speed, and endurance. Switch it up doing a hammer curl, which is turning the dumbbell 90 degrees, and doing it that way. You could also do curls on an incline. You can combine them. Do it fast. Do it slow. Do it half-way. Max it one day, do speed another. Make sure you switch it up to gain maximum muscle-building potential.Quote:
Originally Posted by mrdevious
As for legs, 2 exercises is really all you need: Lunges and Squats. Do those, and I guarantee you'll be massive in no time. Deadlifts. Calf raises are excellent as well, for balance. Works out your ass as well.
I did that today with my ab workout, and my stomach is like jello...lol it worksQuote:
Originally Posted by mrdevious
40oz is right, dumbells are the nuts.
I throw a couple of 12kilo dumbells around every day and do power yoga, that seems to be stave off too much muscle wastage in the absence of a daily physical routine most people call work.
Nothing seems to get rid of these two flabby bits at my sides though, does anyone know what I should do, should I work on building my lats up until I have a triangular back like Hercules, or is there a twisty exercise I can do for long enough without getting bored?
I really like weighted lunges for my legs.
Oblique twist on a decline.Quote:
Originally Posted by Staurm
Do a sit up, but instead of going down, twist from side to side. As you get use to it, add weight.
A couple of examples.
get a 20 pound sledge hammer and some safety goggles then go crush rocks.
pushups: you can do them one footed right or left. Also make a diamond with your hands and try doing some.
for portable dumbbells: fill up some milk jugs with simply water or if accessable, concrete.
use google, you'll get alot better info than on here.
I used to do them when I did boxing training. Unfortunately I don't have a decline to use, but I will take up sit-ups agains at some point in the future.Quote:
Originally Posted by thcbongman
Do a video. Thats what i do and someof them are pretty hard haha
try slim in 6 if you go the video route.......it is very...challenging....... :)