While I have access to a gym whenever I want it, I still do 75% of my training with minimal to no equipment.
The main equipment I use at the gym is the pull up bar, parallel bars and the rings.
So, I am proof that you can get strong without a gym.
And there are plenty of other examples out there, calisthenics being a big one.
The use of body weight training and some of the most difficult gymnastics movements makes calisthenics a great way to get ripped without a gym.
But the biggest factor in getting ripped, whether that be with or without a gym is in your diet.
How you train is not nearly as important as how you eat when chasing your dream body.
See my article How To Eat What You Want On The Weekend And Still Lose Weight
There are so many super effective ways to workout without using a gym.
As I mentioned before calisthenics is the first big one that comes to mind.
But really any high intensity interval training (HIIT) can be done without a gym or even without equipment.
HIIT is basically alternating short periods of intense exercise with short recovery periods, you cycle through rounds of this until you can’t anymore.
You can do this switching between a few exercises or as a full circuit of 8-10 exercises.
Also, something as simple as jumping rope is a great way to burn calories and stay in amazing shape.
Why do you think it’s a staple for boxers to this day?
The more you think about it, the more you can see just why.
It’s not just jumping on the spot.
Your arms are constantly moving, you’re bouncing up and down and at times bringing your knees high, which brings your core into play as well.
Start adding in crisscross and double unders (when the rope does 2 rotations for every jump) and it really starts hitting home.
Push ups are one of my go to movements for my own training and for my clients.
It’s not only the main core movement I get clients doing, it’s an incredible strength movement with countless variations.
Any time you are putting resistance on your muscles you are in the zone to start building muscle.
So yes you will build muscle doing push ups. But you’re going to need more than push ups for a well balanced physic.
Push ups do just what they say, push.
Pushing is just one of 3 things you want to be putting into your workouts. You should always be doing a push, a pull, and a leg movement.
Because when you think about it all our bodies do is push or pull. Think about how you open and close a door.
So simply doing push ups, pull ups and squats you’re already getting a pretty good workout in.
You can break this down further but these 3 movements are an excellent place to start your fitness journey
You can use almost anything!
As long as it has some weight to it, and you can hold in some way, you can use it.
Think milk jugs, they have a handle and you can change the load simply by adding or removing water, sand, milk, whatever!
You can use cans of food, books, a backpack, buckets, blocks or bricks.
But one of my personal favorites is resistance bands.
They are lightweight and easy to take anywhere.
You can get an amazing full body workout in with a few bands and post to tie them to.
But to be honest you don’t even need to attach them to anything.
You can get a full body workout in (remember our push, pull and legs) with just 1 band.
I have a set of 4 bands all different sizes, I take these with me everywhere! When we go overseas they are one of the first things I pack.
With a set of bands you can mimic the movements you do with pretty much every cable machine at the gym.
And the benefits of using the cable machines are the same for resistance bands.
You can keep tension on the muscle for the whole movement, free weights have a point when the movement gets easier and also when it gets harder.
Cable Machines have a big role in most bodybuilding routines, so if these guys are packing muscle on with cable machines, and the benefits are the same for resistance bands, why aren’t you using them more?
That being said, you don’t need to use any weights or bands.
You can get very strong and build an amazing body using nothing but your own body weight.
You just have to get creative.
The most important factor in getting ripped is what you’re putting into your body.
Calories in vs calories out, Plain and simple.
And while finding the right balance between diet and exercise should be everyone’s objective, if you are strict about it you could do it without exercise.
Getting enough protein is the first thing you want to do.
Protein is the building block of muscle.
When you have a diet high in protein it can improve building and maintaining lean muscle.
By simply bringing in more sources of lean protein and reducing your carbohydrates, you can make significant changes in your lean muscle mass.
Brad Pitss Diet for Fight Club was very high in protein, I gave it a go for a day. Heres the video.
Getting enough sleep is so important for your overall health, not just for lean muscle mass, but as that’s the topic for today we’ll stay in that lane.
While we are sleeping is when our body gets to work repairing torn muscle and building new muscle.
When we’re not getting enough sleep our metabolism slows down, causing our body to burn calories at a slower pace, increasing fatty deposits around our body.
So if you don’t want to do the work in the gym, you need to start making sure you’re giving yourself enough rest.
Temperature can play a big part in an unsettled sleep. Start taking you rest seriously if you want get the results your chasing.
Stress is a huge cause of weight gain and a slow metabolism.
So it’s time to stress less! Start focusing on your wellbeing and try adding things like meditation and yoga into your routine.
You can also try keeping a journal, reducing your coffee intake, spend more time with friends and family and just try to laugh more!
