Comments on: How can I exercise thoroughly without equipment?

Question: How can I exercise thoroughly without equipment?

malusmoriendumest — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 06:58:32 -0800

Can anyone point me to information on exercising with extremely limited resources?

I've had a look over the Net, and over previous questions, but I'm having difficulty finding information on exercising without equipment or a large area. I'm thinking prison exercises, (as the only equipment I have is a single 5kg dumb-bell that's not much use except for doing hundreds of reps), but a lot of the prison-exercise advice I've been directed to tends to necessitate buying a book. Any simplistic instructions on basic aerobic exercises would also be appreciated.

By: Comrade_robot

Comrade_robot — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 07:04:52 -0800

Calisthenics. Also consider the Squat-Thrust

By: Mitheral

Mitheral — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 07:12:34 -0800

The Hacker's Diet has an exercise regime called the fitness ladder. "The general outlines for this program were derived from the Royal Canadian Air Force "5BX" exercise program for men." It doesn't require any equipment at all besides possibly an exercise mat or carpeted floor.

As a bonus it was developed by John Walker of Autodesk fame

By: Midnight Rambler

Midnight Rambler — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 07:12:53 -0800

You might want to try burpees. Check this out.

By: Zonker

Zonker — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 07:32:51 -0800

Here's a great list of bodyweight exercises (pdf). Some require a little equipment (like a place to do pull-ups) but there are plenty of things you can do with none at all.

By: Ironmouth

Ironmouth — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 07:51:24 -0800

I have a quality flat bench and barbells. You can do so much with them.

By: swngnmonk

swngnmonk — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 08:28:43 -0800

It's been mentioned here before, but One Hundred Pushups has worked great for me. It looks like they've now launched Two hundred situps, which I'm planning on adding as well.

By: birdwatcher

birdwatcher — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 08:42:29 -0800

Run. All you need is a pair of lace up shoes with soft soles. Open the door, step outside, and start to trot. If you feel a need to build up muscle, take the 5kg dumbbell with you.

By: cashman

cashman — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 09:01:11 -0800

Here's something that came up on popurls a few weeks back. How to Get Bruce Lee Like Strength Without Ever Going to a Gym.

By: box

box — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 09:15:50 -0800

The only limited resource that's a big problem is time.

Bodyweight exercises for strength (yeah, yeah, you're eventually limited in terms of raw strength gains, but just keep working on those one-armed chinups and cross that bridge when you come to it), running or cycling (for example) for cardio/aerobic, yoga or tai chi (for example) for balance and core strength. If you specifically crave big bulgy muscles, get a bench, a bar and some weights (available cheap in classified ads, Craigslist, garage sales, etc.) (maybe add a dip station while you're at it, though those are easy to improvise), and add some deadlifts and squats and presses and whatnot.

Or try Internet favorites like kettleballs, Crossfit, Shovelglove, 100 Pushups, Couch-to-5k... wow, I never realized how many of these there are.

By: notyou

notyou — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 11:08:43 -0800

Simplefit

By: rglasmann

rglasmann — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 12:35:27 -0800

5BX

By: MesoFilter

MesoFilter — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 20:49:06 -0800

I'd recommend ShovelGlove, but I swear I messed with my joints with all the extremely high impact jerking around, but I still use the sledge hammer as a freeweight and do curls with it.

By: MesoFilter

MesoFilter — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 20:59:02 -0800

The burpee looks like a modified squat thrust, which is something the Marines used to do & will get you in insanely good shape. The burpee looks good, though I may not add in the jump because my knees aren't so good.

The 100 pushups thing looks good, I'm definitely gonna give that a go.

By: malusmoriendumest

malusmoriendumest — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 20:58:29 -0800

Thanks for all the answers- some great leads to follow up. I probably should have emphasised further that no equipment was an option, so benches, barbells and so on are definitely out. A lot of the links look brilliant, so thanks again!