Help me get buff without going to the gym

November 14, 2005 5:52 AM

I want to get buff. At home.

I'm 20, male, and I'd like to build muscle mass (particularly upper body), but I can't afford to go to a gym. I don't mind making a few not-too-big investments to get me started -- dumbbells and the like -- but my income is a little unpredictable and I can't reliably set aside money to pay for regular gym membership. Right now I'm pretty slim, and moderately fit, so it's just about building and maintaining muscle bulk.

Any recommendations of exercises that can be done at home would be very much appreciated. I'm not trying to get huge, I'm just starting from nothing and would like to get... something. If there was one area in particular that I'd like to work on it would be turning my very rectangular torso into more of an upside-down triangle shape (lats? is that about lats?). You can probably tell that I'm a complete newbie, so I can guarantee that no tips would be considered too simplistic for me to take note of. So far all I've got is basic push ups.

Any general muscle-building advice would be great, too. I've heard things ranging from, "exercise moderately every day to maintain results" to, "leave a few days between heavy workouts to allow your muscles to repair bigger than before". What works? What doesn't?

Diet, lifestyle, and any other considerations would also be useful.

Sort of related: I've tried doing sit ups, but even a few make me feel extremely nauseous long before any fatigue or muscle tiredness sets in. Am I doing something wrong?

posted by teem to sports, hobbies, & recreation (25 comments total)

I asked a similar question and got some good responses. Everyone who knows what they're talking about seems to agree that working the same group of muscles daily is bad, dangerous, etc. In my case, however, I didn't begin to see real results until I started ignoring that advice. I wouldn't suggest that course of action, since educated people agree it's unwise...but it worked for me.

(I also had trouble with the first fortnight of sit-ups. It gets better.)
posted by cribcage at 6:12 AM on November 14, 2005

Shovelglove.com. As for building mass, assloads of eggs (esp whites) and protein powder when you can afford it.
posted by notsnot at 6:13 AM on November 14, 2005

(lats? is that about lats?)

aka: latissimus dorsi

one word: pullups
posted by matteo at 6:25 AM on November 14, 2005

I have a Gazelle, as seen in the Geico commercials ("Yeah, baby! You can do iiiiiiiiiit!") and I love it. Costs about a hundred bucks and you can probably pick one up at your local Super Wal-Mart.
posted by Gator at 6:29 AM on November 14, 2005

Do you live in an area where boating or rowing is an option? Not technically "at home", but lots of fun and great for the upper body. Little one-person kayaks are US$279 where I live--cheaper if you can buy used, etc., and only a one-time cash outlay for something that can last years.
posted by gimonca at 6:33 AM on November 14, 2005

I joined a gym recently, and the trainer who gave me the induction told me that one key part was ensuring that you're eating right - your body will need fuel in order to do anything, and muscle can only be built if you have the right proteins available in your bloodstream.

It's all based on your body mass index and stuff like that, but apparently I should be consuming about 150g protein every day - which is a frighteningly large quantity if you don't have any supplements.

I don't think that there's any way that I can ever consume that much protein (being married to a vegetarian kind of limits the chance of eating a couple of whole chickens each night!) - but those supplements are damned expensive!

Have a word with a sports nutritionist, and see what they have to say...
posted by Chunder at 6:43 AM on November 14, 2005

If you haven't been working out you'll notice some awesome early gains no matter what you'll do. Here's what I use, and what I recommend as minimum:

- Weight bench
- Barbell
- Barbell
- Plates, get at least 150 lbs to start off with, of varying sizes so you can add on to the arm curl bars too.

Make sure everything matches, as there are two sizes for bars, two sizes for plates. The small bars can only hold up to 300lbs I think, but you can use these plates for the little arm curl bars. The larger size I'm pretty sure is called "olympic" and can handle a lot. If there's a big price difference, unless you're huge, the standard size will be fine.

I think I got my weight bench for $100, spent $40 on plates, another $40 on the bar and I think another $40 on the small bars. This is probably as cheap as you can go. You should allocate at least $200 and remember to get gloves. Use the Exercise Perscription as your definitive resource. If you're skinny I'd also recommend GM MRPs that contain creatine. You will gain weight from these protein drinks. They're expensive but will be worth it it.

Also don't expect to turn into a linebacker, if you don't have a muscular athletic physicque from the beginning you won't gain one without steroids. You'll gain some muscle and become toned, you'll better, but forget becoming the Hulk by working out. Unfortunately when you start working out you'll realize that all those really fit sport players, no way they got that fit by just lifting weights. If anything I'd look at baseball players in the 80s for pretty much a pre-steroid guide on what you'll look like.
posted by geoff. at 7:20 AM on November 14, 2005

Seconding shovelglove and its cousins the No S Diet and Urban Ranger to round it out.
posted by mendel at 7:25 AM on November 14, 2005

Also don't expect to turn into a linebacker, if you don't have a muscular athletic physicque from the beginning you won't gain one without steroids. You'll gain some muscle and become toned, you'll better, but forget becoming the Hulk by working out. Unfortunately when you start working out you'll realize that all those really fit sport players, no way they got that fit by just lifting weights. If anything I'd look at baseball players in the 80s for pretty much a pre-steroid guide on what you'll look like.
posted by geoff. at 7:20 AM PST on November 14

Untrue. There are plenty of natural, steroid-free bodybuilders who have amazingly impressive, huge physiques. The key is to eat, eat, eat, and eat some more. Even without perfect genetics, any biologically normal young man can see great gains in both strength and mass by working out hard and eating big.

Starting out, you are going to want to focus on large compound movements - pull-ups, dips, lunges, squats, dead-lifts, bench press, etc. A lot of younger guys just sit and do curls all day, which is both ineffective and goofy. Get a good bench and rack, barbells and dumbbells, use them, make sure to rest, eat lots of high-quality food, and you will see results.
posted by Optimus Chyme at 7:42 AM on November 14, 2005

Chunder, the vegan bodybuilders might have some non-animal protien suggestions that are as valid as eating several whole chickens every night.

Teem, check out John Stone's diet and exercise plans from when he first started to buff up.
posted by necessitas at 7:53 AM on November 14, 2005

When I graduated from college I was pretty skinny. A few years later I'd gained maybe 10-20 pounds, all fat. I quit smoking, started exercising and within 1-2 years was noticeably buffer. (Not body builder buff, just lean with some good muscle definition)

Tips for free/nearly muscle building:

• pushups (free!)
• Crunches (free!)
• Pullups (cheap!)

I also recommend buying a barbell and some weights. You can do curls and deadlifts without a bench or spotter. I recommend getting the olympic bar. Not so much because you'll be able lift more weight than the skinny bar can handle, but because you'll get better results from your deadlifts if the bar isn't too close to the ground. I bought a skinny bar and have regretted it ever since.

Things you definitely need to know before starting:

• Make sure you've mastered the proper form of every exercise before you start doing it to failure. Especially true for deadlift and squat.
• For most people, less is more. Give every muscle group at least 2-3 days before working it again. I wait at least a week before repeating an exercise.
• Don't try to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time. Focus on one or the other. (Doesn't sound like you're too concerned about the former, though)

Good weight-training resources:
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/body-building/hardgainer-faq/
http://www.trygve.com/mfw_faq.html
posted by justkevin at 7:54 AM on November 14, 2005

The Hacker's Diet is an interesting read about going from pear-shaped to buff. I particularly like the fact that the exercise regimen doesn't require any equipment or specific location.
posted by jwadhams at 7:55 AM on November 14, 2005

Sort of tangential, are you sure you can't afford a gym membership? My gym was just bought out by Planet Fitness. Their membership is $50 to start, $10 per month, which is way more affordable than the YMCA or LA Fitness. While it'd be nice to work out at home exclusively, I just don't have the room for all the weights I use over the course of a workout.

As someone who just got into lifting this year, I've found the BodyBuilding.com Forums an invaluable resource. Their store has pretty good prices too. I buy whey protein from them and its about half the cost of buying it locally.

There are plenty of exercises you can do without weights, known as calisthenics. Check out the bodybuilding.com forums for some ideas.
posted by kableh at 8:00 AM on November 14, 2005

Work your way up, as well.

My roomate and I went on an upper-body workout kick; we started with 20 pushups, pullups, curls etc. each day, and decided to add one per day.

Doesn't sound like much, except that was 6 months ago; now we bust out 140 of each, per day, with maybe a few days off for rest. You may not get huge w/out eating a ton of protien, but you will certainly gain strength and endurance.

Cheers and GL
posted by Cycloptichorn at 8:25 AM on November 14, 2005

Not sure about the nauseousness, but you'll find situps much less unpleasant to do on an exercise ball - I got mine for 10 bucks in store at Target.

A demo of how to do them (on what they call a "swiss ball") can be seen here (scroll down).
posted by forallmankind at 8:58 AM on November 14, 2005

Bench, rack, dumbells, barbell is all you need - you can probably pick them up on Craigslist if you don't want to splurge on new. exrx.com is your friend, and make sure your form is excellent - once you're somewhat up to speed it may be worth buying a day pass and trainer hour for your local gym to have your form checked, or in pinch there's any number of online forums you can post pictures and videos to to get feedback, if you don't have a friend or trainer who can help.

Don't forget bodyweight exercises - pushups and dips are fantastic.

And please please please don't be a cliche and just concentrate on your upper body - as a gal, I like to see a guy with great calves and thighs!
posted by jamesonandwater at 9:34 AM on November 14, 2005

I reccommend this book. It's written for those of us (ecomorphs, or "hard gainers") who find it difficult to add mass.
posted by rocket88 at 11:05 AM on November 14, 2005

A few random thoughts:
- if you're going to do chins/pullups for your back, compensate by doing pressups for your chest and shoulders. Having opposing muscle groups unequally developed will not only look funny, it will hurt you.
- situps. Please google "myth spot reduction". Also, I reckon crunches while holding a weight, and increasing that weight, are far more useful than 100s of unweighted situps.
- if you're 20, you can look forward to getting much heavier over the next 10 years by virtue of maturity.
- in my town you can lease exercise equipment very reasonably. This may be a good thing to do for a month or two if you're worried about committing to expensive kit.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 11:10 AM on November 14, 2005

The Prison Workout seems interesting
posted by Sharcho at 2:21 PM on November 14, 2005

Great advice all around.

One more piece from my end: take it easy and make sure you have good form on the excercises that stress your back (i.e. barbell squats, deadlifts, etc). I through my back out two years ago and I'm still dealing with the pain -- I don't know if I'll ever get back to 100% again.
posted by randomstriker at 2:52 PM on November 14, 2005

Hmm. That should be "threw".
posted by randomstriker at 2:52 PM on November 14, 2005

Building muscle is a matter of working against resistance.

Also, I'll be starting Shovelglove (mentioned many times above) as soon as my sledge hammer arrives; maybe we can do some kind of lame encouragement thing or whatever. "You can do it!" Crap like that. It's only about a $40 outlay, less if you can go to a physical store near you and buy a sledge hammer.
posted by jenovus at 4:59 PM on November 14, 2005

I am happy with my shovelglove progress. It's the most definition I've had since I quit Hard Bodies. (Yes, I am female.) I had good results with Fat Burning Workout too. My dad was a big fan of the RCAF exercise plan. No equipment required on most military workouts. Would you want to be the guy whose job is to haul the weights around Afghanistan?

Remember, walking is free. Once you own it, biking is also free.
posted by ilsa at 6:05 PM on November 14, 2005

Everyone who knows what they're talking about seems to agree that working the same group of muscles daily is bad, dangerous, etc. In my case, however, I didn't begin to see real results until I started ignoring that advice.

That has to do with your lifting, not with the advice, nor are you different than others. If you don't lift to exhaustion, lifting every day is fine. If you lift until you muscle is completely exhausted, lifting the next day won't help as much as letting it rest and recuperate.

Most people find it difficult to lift to exhaustion. Hence, the advice about not working the same muscles days in a row doesn't apply.
posted by justgary at 7:24 PM on November 14, 2005

I used to have a book which described how to get a decent full body workout with only barbell and dumbells. Can I find it now, or remember what it was called? Unfortunately, no.

Shovelgove is a good workout though, when I started it, I thought it was too easy, but 14 minutes later I was straining.
posted by tomble at 8:28 PM on November 14, 2005