hey i am new to this forum but i have a quick question i am need to put on some muscle but i don't want to go to the gym. are there any exercises i can do at home?
Beebo started a thread about it http://www.emptyclosets.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11487 But unfortunately he can't come online anymore but if people want to and if I have the time I can update that thread with more info.
Try pushups and pullups. Alternate your grip on the pullups from underhand to overhand to work slightly different muscles. They are great exercises. Also do exercises for the core, such as crunches. Here is a link to a website with some inforation. You can find others to with more informtion. http://www.wikihow.com/Work-out-Without-Weights. You should eat lots of lien protein to add muscle. It gives your body the fuel it needs to grow.
Look up resistance training on the internet. Instead of buying a bunch of weights you could pick up something as simple as resistance bands, medicine balls, (this is not an exhaustive list). You can get the equivalent of lifting weights at very high reps per set through them and they can be done at home quite easily. When i took a class on resistance training it raised all my lifts 15-20 pounds following 8 weeks. You gotta find a workout that you enjoy so when you come home you want to work out to feel better, not make it a pain in the ass thing that you really don't want to do but think you should.
Don't skimp on the carbs, though. We were talking about this in one of my wellness courses this week. In order to get the full effect of the protein, you have to have some form of carbohydrate in you. Basically, cut down on the sugary stuff and load up on fresh fruits, veggies, and whole grains.
weight lifting is the fastest way to put on muscle, coupled with a good diet of course to give your body what it needs to rebuild muscle. pushups will only get you so far. if you have the space *it does not take up too much space*, I would recommend searching the want ads and classifieds for a total gym. they take a while getting used to, but thats normal for any excersis, and is actually really really useful. also, dont set high goals, the human body can only build so much muscle. it takes time.
Actually, there are a lot of resources around. You can check out runnersworld.com, and they have several intense to no so intense workouts you can try. Also, we have the resident personal trainer here at EC Beebo!
I never got anywhere with simply bodyweight excercises. if you want to see results, unless you are simply trying to loose weight, throwing in a few dumbells, or other equipments can reallly help you. besides, your body will adapt fairly fast to any excercise, and bodyweight excercises can be hard to change enough to keep your body guessing, and therefore seeking to adapt to changes in routine with is a big part of putting on lean muscle. when I started with weights, all i had was a cheapo bar/dumbell set i got on amazon for like 14 bucks, and a few weights. thats when I started seeing results. I used my bed as a bench until my brother loaned me his, and i was able to put on over about a year and a half probably 10-15 pounds of lean muscle. I had a friend who watched the thug workout videos on youtube, and did them for two years, and saw no results. you dont get huge working out on the monkey bars at the playground. even if you dont want to be huge, and like me, simply want to put on muscle so you arent so skinny, which was why i started, weights are still the way to go and they really are not that expensive. i would just go to g.i. joes when i needed new weights, drop 5-10 bucks, and get two weights of the same size. you dont need a gym membership. plus, classifieds like i said are good, often times, people want to get rid of equipment they dont use, and you can get a good set and tons of weights for like 25 or 50 bucks. sometimes even free. I have seen barbell/dumbell weight sets with 150 pounds worth weight plates in the classifids for really cheap, and to buy them knew at a sports supplys store, or amazon can cost you 110-250 dollors.
Embersome Cobblestone. (Emberstone) Should I post some topless picaroons (pics)? I weigh 175 lbs, most of which is muscle (except organs, and the occasional cake heh. [I can't resist]). The one on my profile was taken randomly one morning, and isn't exactly the best pic I could show you... my abs are a bit lacking, but still decent. I will put more up by the end of the week. But you need to realise, you are wrong. I didn't need weights to get muscle. Maybe you didn't get anywhere with bodyweight exorcises because they were too hard? I doubt you put enough commitment into them. I however have done, and still do workouts with weights, even though most of my workouts are bodyweight oriented, and I fancy doing the latter more than the former. Anyways, I say yes to bodyweight exorcises, especially at younger ages when your bones are still growing, because lifting heavy weights can cause you joint problems that will arise when you are older. Once you are 18 or 19, sure, go to the gym. But in my opinion, bodyweight exorcises are better all around,even if you can't increase the weight you are using (unless you pack on the pounds with some weigh powder [which is great -- but avoid creatine] or lots of meat) the exorcises continue to be strength oriented as you progress, but they become cardiovascular feats aswell: 100 pushups without stopping will make you sweat more than 10 (why? because you are holding a plank position which works your back, legs, butt, traps...). Bodyweight exorcises are my pick, because they don't allow you choose any particular muscle to exercise, instead, they work many muscle groups at once (if you want to work specific muscles, then weightlifting is the way for you) The better you know your own body weight, the better your balance will be. You can be so creative with bodyweight exorcises... not just go to gym and lift. I do about 20 new and different styles of pushups (some that I didn't use) than when I first started. I experimented and made up some cool things that I found work better... And in the end, bodyweight exorcises are cheap as the bologna in your pocket. If you don't have a body, just look in the classifieds, the prices will vary, and then you are set. I have been so lazy lately with my workouts though... but still, I look really good... when I was posting a workout everyday - that was really hard for me LOL. Usually I only workout a few times a week, for like 20-30 minutes... Anyways... if 20 minutes, a few times a week is too much, then going to the gym takes way more commitment. If you wan't some tips on good workouts, then pm me. . Anyways, I'm off to EAT A PIE WITH ICECREAMMMMM. Gnom nom nom. But remember, whether you choose working out with your body, or with weights, you need to be commited if you want results. You need to be motivated. .
the problem with relying solely on bodyweight is that bodyweight excercises have extremely limited range of motions. some parts of the body cant be effectively worked out because of that. Hence why I spent a year doing 20-30 minutes of various excercises such as pushups, crunches, pull ups, chin ups, and the like, and saw very little results compared to when my brother, who has a degree in physical therapy, has been a athlete his whole life, in a wide varieity of sports from football, basketball, and running, and has spent years teaching highschool P.E., and coaching various highschool sports from cross country, to track and feilds, basketball, and womans volleyball. he helps set up training programs for many of the sports team with a emphasis on various feilds such as strength training, bulkings for wreslting, and injury prevention. when he put me on a very basic weight training routine, which I basically did at home with a bar, and 50 pounds worth of weight plates, I started to see results in putting on muscle, mainly because all the body weight excersises where doing was giving me tone because all my body did was adapt quickly to them. after 6 weeks on my brothers routine, which basically were 1 lift per muscle group, focusing on compound lifts and developing good form and balance with the weights, I had seen good results, and I was starting not to look like a rail thin tall person, but I started to have more of a shape to my arms, legs, and upper body region. after that 6 week, he broke it up into a cycle of every two days, i would work one group, and two days later, i would work the other. this allowed me to use more lifts to stimulate the muscle groups in different way. my body had adapted to doing full body workouts, and had adapted to the process of working out, so now I could move onto more intermediate. towards the end of the first six weeks, my body had begun to reach a platuah, and splitting my workouts and adding in new lifts broke through, and Ii started to see faster gains, not as fast as when i first started, but I still saw good gains. within 3 months, at the end of my second 6 week cycle, i was able to put about aproxemetly 4.5 pounds of lean muscle onto my frame, and that was with a obsessive diet that focused on clean carbs, proteins, and a good sources of vitamens and the likes. 4.5 pounds of muscle may not seem like much, but it actually can help change your apperence. I never gained a great deal of new muscle mass with bodyweight, because bodyweight is the easiest for your body to adapt, and therefore make less effective. my brother helped me to set up a program that didnt require a gym, or a whole slew of specialized equipment or alot of financial investment. I really have to trust him, not because he is my brother *which is more of a reason not to trust him :0) * but because he has over a decade of experince as a physical therapist and personal trainer. there is a part of me that regrets not asking him to set up a program for me earlier, but thats in the past cant change it, but he has helped me both set up a healthier lifestyle for myself, but also to put on a great deal of healthy lean muscle effectively and safely. pandafunfun, seeing as you are in the highschool age group, I would recommend looking into if your highschool has a weight training class. you dont have to pay alot of money a month to have access to in person training if your highschool has a weight training class. most highschools do, even the smaller ones, and can be a good enviorment in which to get a fitness program set up. just dont worry about what everyone else is doing, and just focus on the program that was setup for you. also, no matter what type of workout you do, a workout should challange you, but never be painful and hurt. soreness is typical of a workout, and usually gose away after a day or two. but dont think lack of soreness means your workout wasent effective. generally, most people are sore at the beginning of a new training routine because their body is not used to the movement. just work with light weights to provide a little bit of resistance, and allow your body to grow used to the movement, and slowly add more as time goes one. Weights will always stimulate more then bodyweight excersises because it puts more effort on you to control form, and offers a wider range of motion to stimulate your muscles. weights also require you to use smaller stablizer muscles to help control the weight, and in truth, weight lifting is not as much about big weight, but about control and movement. you do more good with a lower weight and good form then with higher weight a poor form. no offence to beebo, but I have to go with my brother on this one. I have doubts someone who is 18 has a major in physical therapy and sports conditioning, and my brother has a decade of experince in this feild of work, and given that he currently works in the highschool feild, helping with training and coaching, he puts a great deal ammount of focus in making sure everyone he trains understands the importance of training within their body's limits, and preventing injury. my grandmother recently started working out as part of a more healthy lifestyle after discovering a hereditary heart condition, and when he looked at the routine she was given as a 75+ year old woman, he said it was exactly the routine he would have started her out with. when she showed us the gym she was working at, he showed her a few new excercises she could consider talking with her trainer about in the future, and before she had a chance, her trainer said she was ready for new workouts, and recommended the ones he had showed her. to say that useing weights is wrong, and that suggesting it means you are wrong is inheretently flawwed, seeing as I have been getting my routines from someone who has been doing this for about ten years now. my brother would never give me a routine that would harm me, and he would never suggest anything to my grandmother that would be eneffective or harmful to her. and my routine has been looked at by other professonals, and they said whoever set it up for me knew what they were doing, and that I should keep working with them. I wish i remebered where i put my original routine write up, but it is around here somewhere. I would post it if i had it on me, but given that I am leaving for my vacation soon in a few days, and have alot of packing to do, so I have to put that on priority since i have to pack for over a weeks worth of clothing and items such as books and the like. if i find it, pandafunfun, consider it only suggestions. it is always best to work with a person in person to set up a routine to get yourself started. dont be afraid of weights, there is a reason professonal trainers and physical therapist use them when they set up routines, because with good form and proper weight for your fitness level, they are the most effective way to build muscle. they put resitance on your body, and require your body to handle and move it safely and with good form.
Hokay, wait a minute there. I never said that working out with weights was bad for developed individuals. I just said I prefer working out without them. Why? because I find it more challenging, and I find it to be more fun. Now, Go and ask your brother what he thinks of Plyometrics and Dryland exorcises. Better yet, come workout with me and see for yourself. You will be soreeeeeee, I garantee. What does it mean to be sore? Well, when you work out, your body breaks down muscle tissue. This is why you feel sore. Then your body rebuilds your muscle bigger and stronger as a defence. Which is why your muscles get bigger when you work out. If you were to get sore from doing bodyweight exorcises, then your muscles must be breaking down, and rebuilding stronger. I get sore doing them, everyone I know who does them gets sore. If you are sore, you are doing something right. So all I am saying is don't dismiss bodyweight exorcises. I am at the point now, and I have tried enough things, that I know what works best for me, and I wouldn't be wasting my time doing things that don't work. The fact that you are saying that bodyweight exorcises are inefficient or even less efficient than weightlifting is like telling me that I am wasting my time, even though I have probably been doing this much longer than you. From everything you said that your brother said, he never belittled bodyweight exorcises. He probably just showed you weightlifting because weightlifting is easier to do, and to it's easier to learn. I teach people how to work out with plyometric and dryland exorcises, and I usually have to re-teach people how to do most things, even simple things like pushups and lunges and squats and even sit-ups to mention a few. Anyways. I need to go. But know this. Working out with weights is completely fine. I mean, it's where I started, but it just isn't my preference. You sir need to realise that there is always another way to do things. This is the way that works best for me, and for many others. Peace peace, and props to your brosiff, and a big ol' "Ain't Nothin' But a Peanut" (Ronnie Coleman) for your Grams.
