How to exercise properly without joining a gym?

[warpus]

In most scientific studies I've seen, interval training gives (by far) the best bang for the buck.

So if I ran hardcore for 1km, took a 5 minute break, ran hardcore again for 1km, another break, etc. that would be good?

I just have a cheap but firm step stool and a 5 pound weight. For the step stool, I'd just run up and down that as fast as I can before I get out of breath and then just walk up and down it with emphasis on working the muscles for about 15 minutes. Then I'll lift weights for 5 minutes per arm.

By step stool do you mean one of those little things with 3 steps? How do you run up that?

Stick up a pull-up bar in your house. Every time (ish) you walk under it do a pull-up to the 90 degree stress point then level your legs to 90 degrees. After a couple of days start holding for a second or two.

What's a good height for one? What's a 90 degree stress point?

Push ups, crunches, Dips, pull ups and chin ups are also good. If you think you will use them, buy some free weights and maybe a bench, and you will be able to do everything you can do at the gym. Focus on exercises that work out multiple muscles at once, such as lunges or bench press or deadlift.

What kind of weights should I get? What material, weight, etc?

From what I gather so far, a pull-up is one of the most efficient work-out things you can do. I guess I'm just not sure how efficient the other exercises are.

Run or do your cardio after you lift, you burn more calories.

Good to know!

Everyday:

3 sets of pushups
3 sets of situps/crunches
3 sets of pullups (get hallway bar from amazon.com)

How many per set, and can you recommend any hallway bars?

 

[Lord Shadow]

Go swimming. It excercises the whole body, and it's fun, too!

However, swimming pools are found in gyms and similar facilities.

 

[warpus]

Go swimming. It excercises the whole body, and it's fun, too!

However, swimming pools are found in gyms and similar facilities.

Actually, you know what? There is an olympic-size swimming pool that was used for the Canada games a couple years ago a 15 minute walk from here

I used to go swimming a lot, but then just kinda stopped. I'm gonna check out their hours and how much it is - thanks for the great idea!

 

[pau17]

So if I ran hardcore for 1km, took a 5 minute break, ran hardcore again for 1km, another break, etc. that would be good?

Wiki has some information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interval_training

I don't know what constitutes an effective interval workout and what doesn't, so you could do some research into it. Basic jogging would be fine to start...20-30 minutes at a time, a few times a week, at a rate comfortable to you.

That is an excellent idea!@ I am totally going to look into this! I have a walk-in closet in my bedroom.. Does that seem like a weird place to put one of these? Cause I can't really think of anywhere I could put one.. Can they pretty much be attached to any doorway thingy?

I've never used one but apparently they work well.

I remember doing sets of 8 or 10, until I was too tired to. Is that a good way to do it?

Generally speaking, if it were a bench press you'd want to do sets of 5-8 to be building the most muscle mass, but higher repetitions will also burn calories and make you stronger, and is also safer than the huge weight and low repetitions. It never hurts to do pushups in any form but eventually they'll get easy enough that you'll want to add weight or something to it. Again whatever tires you out is probably not a bad place to start...just do what feels ok to you for the first few weeks and then make adjustments from there.

Take this all with a grain of salt, and for general-purpose exercise, without getting into a specific training program, it's hard to go wrong as long as you don't do stuff that causes you pain. It's only when you really start training intensively that you want to get into the high-performance interval stuff and balancing issues so you don't overtrain a particular muscle group and warp your body.

 

[Tekee]

General Slavic Health article as one of the 7 keys to health, recommended swimming for more lazy people, as any amount of time swimming is extremely good, probably the best. Otherwise, buy a a product that comes with a "Free Pilates/Yoga" DVD and use that. Do Pilates/Yoga, follow the free DVD that came with your purchase.

Weights are not good, in fact, terrible! Lifting a weight 20 times is no match for 40 minutes of Pilate DVD.

 

[GoodGame]

I wouldn't go swimming in the Hudson bay though.

 

[GinandTonic]

What's a good height for one? What's a 90 degree stress point?

Any hight that is out of the way and is high enough that with your body somewhat tensed your feet dont touch the ground is good. The ideal is that if you stand very streight and put your arms up with your palms facing behind you* the bar is just at your fingertips.

90 degree stress point is the toughest point of a pull up. Where the fore arm and upper arm are at 90 degrees to each other. Or in the latter example the legs are at 90 degrees to the torso.

Just like lifting weights there is a difficult point. Unlike with weights you continue to weigh just about the same. So instead of adding weights (impossible) or reps (too much like work for my money) just try to hold at the most difficult moment.

The same trick works with dumbbells that are lighter than you might wish. Though as a skinny bugger thats never really been too much of a problem.

* Palms facing away you reach another inch or so.

EDIT -

I just tried to put this into practice and nearly wet myself. Seems I've let things slide.

 

[_random_]

Get a puppy. Take good care of it. The ladies will dig not only you're new physique, but also your cute puppy. Problem solved, my bacon-loving forum-mate.

 

[Leonel]

By step stool do you mean one of those little things with 3 steps? How do you run up that?

Nonono something like this.

See?

 

[gugalpm]

Do sports.

 

[REDY]

Swimming is best imho. Too bad that swimming pool is quite distant place from my home
With running (in start 3 kilometres per day 3-4x per week.) you should not have any weight problems. Many people become addicted, another ones have problem with discipline. At one point I should run more than 13 kilometres in fine tempo, but after it I stopped and never returned Its somewhat great when first time you are totally kaput but every week you are better and better...for experience itself its much better than any weights or x-ups.
I now exercise with computer, but I want to return to do something. Mua-thai, soccer and running.

 

[Ecofarm]

How many per set, and can you recommend any hallway bars?

The number per set doesn't matter (you must like the sound of that). The important thing is that you take the time (5-15 minutes) each day to do it. As you do it more often, the number per set will increase.

I like to do 1 set of push-ups, 1 set of crunches (with a device to help prevent back and neck damage) and then 1 set of pull-ups. Rest a minute, repeat two times. Takes me 10-15 minutes.

The pull-up bar can be acquired from amazon.com for ~30 US dollars. It should have cups that are screwed into the wall, then the bar twists to expand into the cups. Check the max length on the bar, a friend got one that was too small for his hallways (not sure WTH it was meant for, maybe some 3rd world hallways). You can also get the sit-up/crunch neck assisting device for a few dollars.

I use a sit-up device like this. Simple, weighs nothing and prevents neck strain:

I got it for like 10 bucks at walmart or something. Mine doesn't have the pillar under the head cushion to keep the head up.

Here's an example of the pull-up bar (mine has cushy grips):

You can see the cups for the wall, but not how the bar twist-expands into them. Make sure you don't just screw into drywall (find a wall-stud, likely at a corner of sorts), or you're gonna fall.

The push-ups, obviously, do not require a device (neither do the crunches if you are always careful of your neck, nor the pull-ups if you have a low tree).

Sometimes, instead of doing push-ups, I just hold the position as long as I can.

I have occasionally used a Yoga Ball to add angles to my sit-ups and push-ups.


One more thing: leg-lifts. Just keep your feet a few inches above the ground (on your back) and hold them as long as you can (this is additional ab exercise).


It might sound gay, but look into pilates.

 

[Tekee]

It might sound gay, but look into pilates.

I already recommended this above, spoken from a real gay, try to find a product that comes with a FREE "Pilates/Yoga DVD".

 

[El_Machinae]

So if I ran hardcore for 1km, took a 5 minute break, ran hardcore again for 1km, another break, etc. that would be good?

Probably, but that's not interval training. Interval training seeks to deplete short-term ATP stores, and usually involves maximum effort for less than 30 seconds. If you can go for longer 30 seconds, you're not going hard enough.

 

[CaptainF]

I had a pull-up bar once that looked exactly like that. The tips of the bar were rubber holds that twisted into those metal cups like you show.

Problem is, as I began to do more pullups the rubber holds began to wear down when stressed against the metal cups, but I was unaware of the damage being done. Then one day I was doing some sets of pullups and at the top of a rep (my arms fully flexed, knees held up to my chest) one of the rubber holds breaks, and I fall ~5 feet right onto my tailbone.

The pullup bar I have now is much better:

Amazon.com link

It's all steel and chrome.

Comes with these here metal sockets that you screw into the door frame:

Then you insert the bar into the sockets and it LOCKS into place:

I've used it for a year now and have yet to fall on my ass.

 

[Zelig]

As the resident OT fitness guru, you should listen to me.

This advice is good:

Running can be hard on your knees, but if it doesn't cause you any pain, then go for it. Jump-roping is very effective cardio and it's easier on the knees if you do it right. If all you want to do is lose some weight, then start here.

You don't really need to lift tons of weights if your goal is general cardio fitness, but a little weight-bearing exercise is good too. Pull-ups are incredibly effective compound exercises that work out your arms, back, and even chest and abdominals a little bit, so you can see if you can set up a pull-up bar somehow.

Push-ups are good for your arms and chest, and the pushing position is also the default reaction to something in front of you or to falling face-down so it's good to train it up--people sprain/break wrists that way when they aren't strong enough to control the fall. If you don't have a bench press you can put weight on your back if you can already do a bunch of push-ups, or you can get creative by setting up chairs to get more of a range of motion and different angles. The thing to be careful with here is not stressing your rotator cuff in your shoulder, so start easy.

For legs, you can also do lunges without any equipment; good for multiple muscles in the legs and gives you a stretch. You can also do squats, but if you play soccer and do running or jump-rope you probably don't need to be working out your legs all the time.

For your purposes I would do a cardio regime (running or jump-rope) along with some basic compound exercises like pull-ups and push-ups, then see how that goes for starters.

warpus, some thoughts:

Swimming is great, it is pretty much the only fitness thing I am not seriously into yet. Hoping to trade some calculus tutoring for some swimming lessons next semester.

My recommendations:

Do not get any bodyweight stuff other than a pullup bar, you sound too lazy.

If you can stick to the bodyweight stuff, and want something more, go for a a bench, a barbell and plates.

To get results exercising, you need intensity, you will get much more out of kicking your ass for 15 minutes per day than of lazy exercising for 2 hours per day.

 

[Eat_Up_Martha]

I've got a pullup bar that doesn't screw in, been using it for almost two years now and haven't fallen off once. I got it for about $60 Canadian at a fitness supply store and I'd recommend it. They advertise that it doesn't damage the door frame, but the top of my (poorly renovated) frame started to come loose after a year or so. The damage is really negligible when compared to screw holes. It comes with two or three pre-drilled settings for doorframe width, but it's really easy to drill your own holes if it doesn't fit. The grips are spaced about shoulder-length apart, but I took some hockey tape and wrapped it around the outer edges for a wide-stance option as well.
If you type 'pull up bar door frame' into google images you can see what it looks like. It'll be the first few images up that pop up.


Calisthenics is the cheapest and, in my opinion, one of the best ways to get in shape. I'd recommend going back to your old college routine of pushups, pullups, and crunches/situps before bed. I can't comment much on cardio, I TRY to go for a jog a couple times a week, but I fail to do so enough that I feel I don't have experience to say much on the subject.

I just got my girlfriend (and myself) a Wii Fit for Christmas and, although I haven't used it much, it seems like an excellent way to get in shape and stay that way. It has a really wide range of exercises, some of which are pretty fun. You can check your weight and balance daily to keep an eye on where you're at and it will keep track of all such information so you can check your progress. Just make sure you have the balance board facing the right way! My Wii Fit age dropped 15 years after taking the test with the board in the proper direction.

I don't want to hijack the thread, but I've got a relevant question that I want to ask.

After using the Wii Fit, I realized that I've dropped about 10 pounds since summer. This puts me pretty far down on the BMI and I want to gain some weight. Specifically, I want to gain weight/muscle in my legs.
I do go to the gym, so I can use the machines and talk to trainers there. But I also do a workout at home and I'd like to supplement it with simple leg workouts. Does anyone know good workouts designed to increase muscle mass in the legs? I have a pair of 40lb hand weights that I can use for lunges or something, but I'm not really very sure how to do so.

 

[Zelig]

Specifically, I want to gain weight/muscle in my legs.

Barbell squats.

 

[Narz]

I hate working out at gyms, I much prefer to work out alone.

I have a rebounder (high-end mini-trampoline) which I use daily for about 10-30 minutes (get the lymph flowing) and I usually do some sort of stretching regime. Either the 5 Tibetan Rites or a video routine of Steve Maxwell's (the guy is the mf'in man!). I also do 3-sets of pushups & 3-sets of crunches on off days.

I have obtained six-pack abs & am much, much more flexible than I was six months ago. I started this whole routine about a month after I turned 30 & whenever I see old people it reminds me of why I'm doing it!

P.S. : Elta was a big inspiration for me! I got lazy & stopped lifting weights a few months ago (and quickly lost about 75% of the definition I gained though maintained my flexibility & am still much stronger than I started out with) but he originally helped push my motivation over the threshold.

 

[pau17]

Specifically, I want to gain weight/muscle in my legs.

Barbell squats.

Seconded on the barbell squats. Try doing five sets of five repetitions at a weight challenging for you (but with which you can go down all the way in a controlled fashion), so that you have legs of jelly by the time you're done.

Make sure to look around on the net a little and see what good squatting posture is, because you can mess up your back if you do it wrong. In general, try not to slump, and have a slow, controlled descent and ascent.