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You can maintain a very healthy body using only body weight exercises, with practically no weights at all from the comfort of your home. With youtube and the li

You can maintain a very healthy body using only body weight exercises, with practically no weights at all from the comfort of your home. With youtube and the like, you have access to near infinite workouts as well. Not having access to a gym is not a sufficient reason to be out of shape.

LegitShady 6y ago
Once you start training weighted exercises it's very difficult to get similar workouts with bodyweight. If I'm squatting 250lb it's going to be tough to simulate that with my bodyweight and I'm not likely to be able to load the reps the same way.
- mrob 6y ago
  One-legged bodyweight squats + whatever heavy things you have available (e.g. bottles of water) in a backpack should be difficult enough. If you care about "functional strength" then it's arguably superior than barbell squats. And one-handed pushups are good substitute for benchpress.
  - lozaning 6y ago
    I can rep 450lbs, but pistol squats still kick my ass.
    - LegitShady 6y ago
      It's all stabilizers likely. I doubt you're using stressing your glutes or main muscles before your stabilizers give out.
  - nateburke 6y ago
    Or go and find a tree branch for pullups/muscleups/dips. Or do some 100m max effort hill repeats Or jump squats Or buy a futon and try moving that heavy and bulky mattress up a flight of stairs, alone. There are hundreds of ways to get great workouts that do not require an indoor gym.
    - LegitShady 6y ago
      Pull-ups/muscleuos/dips won't work your glutes. 100m max effort hill repeats aren't really anabolic the same way squats are. Jump squats aren't the same as pulling weight. Your futon doesn't weigh as much as what I'm squatting and I'm much more likely to injure myself hauling it's awkward shape up stairs There are hundreds of ways to get a workout but people go to the gym for good reasons
  - LegitShady 6y ago
    Those are great ways to get hurt mostly. If you're doing one legged squats you're going to tire out stabilizers before your glutes get a good workout. One handed pushups similar issue. Great if that's what you want but not a replacement for proper weighted squats.
- nanomonkey 6y ago
  You can work on your form, by slowing down the squat, using whatever weights you do have on hand (a broom handle or "yoke" with 5 gallon buckets filled with water/sand), dumbbells, kettle bells or weighted vest. You can also work on your fast twitch muscles and explosivity by jumping from a squat. Doing squats with a weight in only one hand also improves your core technique. Now is a great time to work on your neuromuscular fitness which will improve your lifts tremendously.
  - LegitShady 6y ago
    If you work on your form for 4-5 months, you aren't working on your form you're just losing gains. I'm not working out with buckets full of liquid or materials thats hard to clean up. Dumbells, kettle bells, and weighted vests are all off topic on the reply given the person was talking about doing bodyweight exercises. Jump squats are great but not the same thing as properly weighted squats. Neuromuscular fitness all well and good, but how many months now? My nervous system is great, what I'm missing is load.
- ativzzz 6y ago
  Yea the workouts obviously won't be similar because you're not going to simulate that weight properly without a squat rack, but there are plenty of workouts you can do that will have similar positive effects on your body mechanics. The exceptions are sport specific exercises which require certain movements that may require certain equipment.
elliekelly 6y ago
I recently found r/bodyweightfitness when trying to figure out how the heck to make the first pull-up happen. Tons of helpful information there.
markrages 6y ago
Yet gyms exist.
- lkbm 6y ago
  Gyms have benefits, sure, but he's responding to someone treating it as either go to the gym or get no exercise. He's pointing out alternatives. They don't need to be as good to be relevant. The fact that push-ups exist refutes the false dilemma. The fact that gyms exist does not refute the idea that you can stay fit without a gym.

LegitShady 6y ago

Once you start training weighted exercises it's very difficult to get similar workouts with bodyweight. If I'm squatting 250lb it's going to be tough to simulate that with my bodyweight and I'm not likely to be able to load the reps the same way.

mrob 6y ago
One-legged bodyweight squats + whatever heavy things you have available (e.g. bottles of water) in a backpack should be difficult enough. If you care about "functional strength" then it's arguably superior than barbell squats. And one-handed pushups are good substitute for benchpress.
- lozaning 6y ago
  I can rep 450lbs, but pistol squats still kick my ass.
  - LegitShady 6y ago
    It's all stabilizers likely. I doubt you're using stressing your glutes or main muscles before your stabilizers give out.
- nateburke 6y ago
  Or go and find a tree branch for pullups/muscleups/dips. Or do some 100m max effort hill repeats Or jump squats Or buy a futon and try moving that heavy and bulky mattress up a flight of stairs, alone. There are hundreds of ways to get great workouts that do not require an indoor gym.
  - LegitShady 6y ago
    Pull-ups/muscleuos/dips won't work your glutes. 100m max effort hill repeats aren't really anabolic the same way squats are. Jump squats aren't the same as pulling weight. Your futon doesn't weigh as much as what I'm squatting and I'm much more likely to injure myself hauling it's awkward shape up stairs There are hundreds of ways to get a workout but people go to the gym for good reasons
- LegitShady 6y ago
  Those are great ways to get hurt mostly. If you're doing one legged squats you're going to tire out stabilizers before your glutes get a good workout. One handed pushups similar issue. Great if that's what you want but not a replacement for proper weighted squats.
nanomonkey 6y ago
You can work on your form, by slowing down the squat, using whatever weights you do have on hand (a broom handle or "yoke" with 5 gallon buckets filled with water/sand), dumbbells, kettle bells or weighted vest. You can also work on your fast twitch muscles and explosivity by jumping from a squat. Doing squats with a weight in only one hand also improves your core technique. Now is a great time to work on your neuromuscular fitness which will improve your lifts tremendously.
- LegitShady 6y ago
  If you work on your form for 4-5 months, you aren't working on your form you're just losing gains. I'm not working out with buckets full of liquid or materials thats hard to clean up. Dumbells, kettle bells, and weighted vests are all off topic on the reply given the person was talking about doing bodyweight exercises. Jump squats are great but not the same thing as properly weighted squats. Neuromuscular fitness all well and good, but how many months now? My nervous system is great, what I'm missing is load.
ativzzz 6y ago
Yea the workouts obviously won't be similar because you're not going to simulate that weight properly without a squat rack, but there are plenty of workouts you can do that will have similar positive effects on your body mechanics. The exceptions are sport specific exercises which require certain movements that may require certain equipment.

elliekelly 6y ago

I recently found r/bodyweightfitness when trying to figure out how the heck to make the first pull-up happen. Tons of helpful information there.

markrages 6y ago

Yet gyms exist.

lkbm 6y ago
Gyms have benefits, sure, but he's responding to someone treating it as either go to the gym or get no exercise. He's pointing out alternatives. They don't need to be as good to be relevant. The fact that push-ups exist refutes the false dilemma. The fact that gyms exist does not refute the idea that you can stay fit without a gym.