My body resistance weight training experiment

[Max Powers]

NOTE:This has nothing to do with football, but it would not let me create this thread in the sports forum without choosing a prefix. Maybe you should allow no prefix, or at least add a sports in general prefix.

Alright, well I'm tired of paying for gym memberships that I don't use, so I'm trying something new this summer for my workout, I'm going incredibly minimal on the equipment and using body resistance almost exclusively. I'm also trying to add some muscle to my relatively thin frame.

The only weights that I am using are two dumbells, right now I'm using two 20 pounders. The only other equipment that I am using is a chin-up bar and a heavy bag.

I have never really tried a weight training program without weights before, so a lot of this is new territory for me, and of course any tips are encouraged and welcome.

I'm going to do the best to track my progress and my routine here. Since I'm tweaking the routine as I go, this is definitely subject to change.

Soon I am going to start staggering exercises, but as of now, I am doing a similar routine for 5 days a week. I am two weeks into this right now and my results so far are comparable if not better than what I got from the gym.

Anyway, right now I am doing this 5 days per week, and will soon add in more reps.

Pull-ups - set of 7, set of 10, set of 15, set of 10, set of 7

regular push-ups - set of 25, set of 30, set of 35, set of 30, set of 25

diamond push-ups - set of 7, set of 10, set of 15, set of 10, set of 7

Bicycle crunches - set of 25, set of 30, set of 35, set of 30, set of 25

trunk extensions - three sets of 15

Bicep curls - set of 15, set of 20, set of 25, set of 20, set of 15

Dips - set of 10, set of 15, set of 20, set of 15, set of 10

Shoulder presses w/ dumbell - 3 sets of 15

20 minutes on the heavy bag for cardio and explosive strength

2 mile run (as fast as possible)

I came up with this myself, and am just kind of winging it, so if anybody with a lot of experience with body resistance exercise has any more exercises I can do or pointers for my routine, please feel free to butt in.

Also, if you want to work out, but don't feel like spending the $$ for a gym membership or a home gym set-up, give something like this a try. All of the equipment that I am using for this cost less than $100 total, and most of that was the heavy bag/boxing gloves.

oh yeah i'm going to try to take pictures of my progress to motivate myself, i figure results are the only way to do this. here's at the end of week one.

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

I'm also going to be trying to gain some muscle at home this summer. But I will be probably using mainly dumbbells. I had a set of 10s and 25s lying around. So I ordered some adjustable ones to fill that gap up to 20 lbs. I'm going to need a bench to get a proper workout. Right now I'm focusing on getting the technique down for squats and deadlifts. I figure if I get comfortable with the 25s all around, then I can move up to keep the cost down for now.

 

[Max Powers]

Go for it, I'm still sticking with it mine. I've changed the routine up a bunch, and actually it's not as much body resistance any more but I've had some decent gains so far. I'm quite a bit more toned and I am beginning to notice some added bulk to my arms, back and chest (not much yet, but it is noticeable). I've gone up in weight from 135 when I started 3 weeks ago to 140.

Despite this weight gain, I notice my midsection getting slimmer, so it's definitely muscle that I'm putting on.

Anyway, I've switched up the routine a lot. I've thrown my weight bench into the routine, and because of this have added bench presses, dumbell flys, shoulder presses, and some heavier weights for my bicep curls. I've canned the full body routine and have been concentrating on select areas of the body per workout, while still throwing in some misc exercises.

I've cut up my knuckles on my right hand pretty badly from the heavy bag, despite wrapping my hands and using gloves, mostly from friction due to uppercuts on the bag. Anyway, I've had to cut that out of the routine for the past week and a half or so. It's healing up now so hopefully I can add it back in soon.

I'll edit in my exact routine later on, as it's not really set right now, besides making sure that I"m working out betwen 4-5 days per week.

 

[Dazzla]

Your lucky you got some mass to work with, if you stick to a solid routine you will get results. I started off with a skin on bone frame

 

[ExigeEvan]

It's generally accepted that new-comers to weight training will benefit more from full-body regimes and compound exercises than splits and isolation exercises. It is however, not a rule.


You could so alot of stuff with the punch-bag without actually punching it. Squats, clean and press spring to mind.

 

[Max Powers]

Up to 142 after weighing myself today for a total of 7 pounds gained so far, though I think some of that could be water weight, as I drank a good amount of it today. Body fat is around 11%.

As an idea, here's my basic diet for a day that I plan on working out, though it changes from day to day

Breakfast:
2 scrambled eggs, glass of orange juice, yogurt.

Lunch is some sort of sandwich, usually chicken or steak with cheese, usually with an orange.

pre workout I will try to down a meal replacement bar. Lately I've been going with Snicker's Marathon protein bars, they have a lot of sugar, but also a lot of good protein, and taste so much better than all of the other protein bars I've had.

immediately post workout I will mix up a protein shake. Usually I do about 1.5 scoops for about 30g of protein, mixed with milk, orange juice, and plain nonfat yogurt. Normally the whole concoction comes to about 40g protein including the milk, orange juice and yogurt.

Dinner is usually chicken breast or steak with some sort of vegetables and a baked potato with either milk or orange juice to drink.

Lately, instead of dessert I have been trying to up my protein by having either peanut butter or cheese on crackers when I get hungry.

It's definitely a high-protein diet, but I feel like the fat content may be a little high as well.

Anyway, so far my gains have been pretty satisfying for just over a month of working out. I can't wait to throw some cardio back into the mix in the form of the heavy bag once my knuckles heal...shouldn't be more than a few more days now.

It's generally accepted that new-comers to weight training will benefit more from full-body regimes and compound exercises than splits and isolation exercises. It is however, not a rule.


You could so alot of stuff with the punch-bag without actually punching it. Squats, clean and press spring to mind.

Yeah, I'm kind of comparing both ways right now. While this routine is the first time I've seriously hit the gym in over a year, I have gone pretty regularly in the past, so I'm attributing some of my gains right now to muscle memory.

I can see how to do the squats with the heavy bag, but what is a clean and press spring??

 

[Bram Turismo]

Breakfast:
2 scrambled eggs, glass of orange juice, yogurt.

Holy crap, is that it?!

Maybe it's just me being used to eating much. I have 4 slices of bread, 4 scrambled eggs, 2 to 3 glasses of milk, a glass of orange juice, a glass or three of water and sometimes some vanilla yoghurt.

All that for breakfast

I don't like taking protein shakes in the morning since they cost so much money, so I only take one after my lifts.

But, anyway, I will follow this. I have tried it myself but it never worked out for me. Follow Evan's advice and see if you can stick some sumo deadlifts, deadlifts or squats in there.

Don't pay too much attention to weight just yet. Your weight in the first month isn't telling anything as your body will need to make changes to cope for the changed daily routine. When I started running intensively 2 years back I actually gained weight before I lost it. That was just my body taking up enough energy to keep my from falling over. I'd say after 3-4 weeks, then the weight will come into play. You'd be surprised how far the needle tends to tip over just by starting to drink a lot of water


Good luck! 👍

 

[ExigeEvan]

Need more carbs in that breakfast! I have 4 weetabix w/ 500ml milk, yogurt, banana and a protein shake when I'm bulking!

I can see how to do the squats with the heavy bag, but what is a clean and press spring??

Ignore the spring, it was a figure of speech.

But clean and press...

That's provided you can get enough grip on the bag. If not, I'd place it on the ground, and then lift it onto your shoulder, repeating by alternating shoulders.

 

[Bram Turismo]

Watch out with those power cleans though. You have to perform them exactly correctly, or you will get injured. I suffered an injury from it that set me back more than 2 months. Personally I'd swap out them for bent-over rows. Just bend over and lift that heavy bag up to your chest. The power cleans is an exercise for the professional weightlifter and should only be performed when being in contact with a professional or trainer in my opinion.

 

[Max Powers]

Holy crap, is that it?!

I haven't eaten breakfast for years, so I'm slowly working up my morning appetite, even the two eggs and yogurt is hard for me to get down so early. Sometimes the eating is harder than the workout for me, I get full really quickly. I've been involved in sports all my life so I'm used to some pretty intense training, but damn, making myself eat in the morning is a killer!

Also good call on the morning carbs, evan. I should probably toss a bowl of cereal + milk into the breakfast, or at least a granola bar.

RE the presses. I have been doing bent rows and squats with my barbell. I guess the first post is kind of misleading now, as I have a full weight bench at my house, and have been using that a lot more prominently in my workouts after realizing body resistance alone wasn't going to cut it.

 

[Bram Turismo]

but damn, making myself eat in the morning is a killer!

Keep forcing that food down mate. Without breakfast those gains will never come!

 

[Max Powers]

Alright, so as I just posted in the other thread, I'm up to 142 pounds now and really feel like I'm having a good week so far after great workouts Thursday and today.

Oh yeah, I took a picture after 2 month's progress. I'm certainly not huge yet, but I'm pretty happy with the gains in my arms especially. Also, I lost an inch off of my already very skinny waist.

 

[ExigeEvan]

Your biceps are definetly racing ahead!