HNers who train from home using minimal weights or equipments, can you suggest a path for me.
I am looking for some hints on:
1. What is the bare minimum balanced routine I can start with?
2. How long should I stick to it before I see or feel actual results from it?
3. Diet? Eggs are easily available for me.
4. A bit about your journey. How you started and how have you progressed on parameters of strength, routine, size, energy, etc.
P.S: I came across this youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Kboges where he suggests that to gain strength and general fitness you can train daily with 3 movements but not to failure. Is it possible?
My goals are to have enough muscle and strength so that I don't get tired doing chores lifting something for my household. I want this to go far into my old age so that I don't fall and spend my final years in a nursing home bed.
2. Keep in mind that most influencers, actors, athletes, and trainers have gained their physique through genetic luck, drugs, unhealthy eating, camera tricks, lack of balance in life, and extremely hard work guided by one-on-one coaching. It might take you 12 months to look muscular if you're a normal person doing a normal routine. Good strength routines will have you making regular small increases in resistance, so you will see constant small progress in strength on a daily/weekly/round basis from the beginning!
3. Spend a week tracking what you eat in an app like Cronometer. Those results will guide you on how best to modify your diet: the default macro/micronutrient targets in the app aren't a bad place to start. It's often recommended to increase protein and calorie intake above those targets if you're trying to put on lots of muscle.
Finally the sibling comment about goals is a great one. I'd suggest your #1 goal should be to not get injured, as injury will prevent you from achieving your other goals (and is very common when starting new sports/activities!)
[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/wiki/routines/bwf...
If you like to read on the subject go on, but as others point out do not make it to complicated. You do not train for competitive reasons. This is what I would say to my younger me 20 years ago:
- As you will read in the reddit: vertical and horizontal pulling, vertical and horizontal pushing exercise, e.g. pullups, pushups etc.
- You do not need a lot of exercises. If you want to do more, two exercises are sufficient, e.g. two different horizontal push...
- Do 3-5 sets, 8-12 repetitions per exercise. Thats for building muscle. On your last rep you should feel, that you only could do 1-2 more reps. Pause 90 sec - 2 min.
- Do not get to complicated. If you feel great make 5 sets. If you feel not rested enough do 3. Select an exercise progression that has the needed intensity.
- Please try to keep the form. Quality reps count.
- Get enough rest. You do not need to train everyday. 2-3 times a week is enough. And sometimes only 1 time. Just be consistent.
- For the diet: In generall it matters how much you eat and what you eat. Coach Summer answered in an reddit AMA: "What diet are your students following?" - "The see food diet. They see it and they eat it". If you can afford beans then beans. If cou can afford more, then beans ; ).
- And the most important - just have fun : )
As another good resource I really liked the interview betwween Huberman and Galpin https://hubermanlab.com/dr-andy-galpin-how-to-build-strength...
[0] https://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/wiki/routines/bws...
i really like www.startbodyweight.com
pretty detailed and simple for someone like me - who's gone to the gym, but not gained from it, because of not sticking to a programme, and importantly, managing progression.
Startbodyweight is awesome because it starts from absolute couch potato.
One negative though - is 2 things required to setup:
a)somewhere to do chin ups b)somewhere solid to use thick nylon rope (for pulling exercise)
Start with the actual program, and work on the diet as you go. But look into balanced diets - eat eggs, nuts, chicken, (red meat ocassionally), fish, lots of leafy greens, cold pressed natural oils.
Avoid sugar.
Make time for this stuff - if you're new to it - it will start by being a drag, eventually you will crave it.
I started HATING exercise, and hating early rising.
I start my morning with a top shelf scandinavian light roast (high in caffeine) - then my training session, shower, and big breakfast.
Cant think of a better way to start my morning! Gets me feeling focused and ready to attack the day.
You can skip a few exercises at the start if you don't have a pullup bar, and get it later. (But OP does.)
As someone who has started at age 40 and am just literally back from the gym: there's an undeniable energy rush from the session, but it really takes it out of me for the rest of the day. I guess I need to do something about nutrition.
Also try not to compare your own progress with that of others, we're all on our own journeys!
Try to get some pulling motions (rows, pullups etc) into the mix as well as your pushing motions (i.e. pushups). Your posture will thank you!
I started with some simple calisthenics (pushups, squats, etc) during covid, and started going to the gym when things opened up again. I recently discovered that none of my blazers fit around my shoulders and chest anymore. It was a fun surprise, but it took a couple of years to get there.
To pseudoquote the jogger from BoJack Horseman: "It gets easier. Every day, it gets a little easier. But you gotta do it [a couple of times per week]. That's the hard part. But it does get easier."
This is for me the most important comment in everything you can read in the thread up-to-now. You need to balance left-right but also front-back (Anterior/Posterior). If you overtrain (over the years) your 6-pack, but not your back, or your biceps and not triceps, then you will get injuries because of the lack of balance.
Edit: Take a look at the traditional Yoga routines. They always balance nicely. Basically, balance the same way but with strength training.
-It never gets easier, you just get faster.
I don't have a pull-up bar because I don't see the point: I couldn't for the life of my lift my own bodyweight; I'm first using the TRX to build up some strength.
My big problem, as always, is discipline. I haven't done anything in months. I need to restart. The personal was rather expensive and I wasn't entirely happy with him, but it does help a lot with the discipline.
Put a chair/stool in front (not under) of pullup bar, rest one leg on it - now you will be able to do at least one pullup. After couple of weeks you will be doing normal pullups. Absent great genes your organism will do anything in its power to conserve energy and resist gaining muscle mass without signaling the need for more strength. The more weight you lift the stronger the signal.
As a noob even the most basic attention to consistency and diet can get you great results for the first few months.
And to be honest, from a muscle building point of view, most people will be very happy with just the beginner results. Most of the aesthetics of a good body come from having relatively low body fat and this is best achieved from attention to diet and moderate exercise
I would like to add for others, you can go from 0 to pull-ups with just a bar, which I imagine is much cheaper too. I certainly did and my fitness level was minimal.
It's a case of progressions. For instance starting with negative pull-ups:
- Use a stool or just jump to the top position of a pull up
- lower yourself down with control, as slow as you can. At first this might be 1 second!
- Repeat for sets and reps
- when you hit 3 sets of 8 reps, slow down your descent another second or two
- Repeat until you've built up to 10 second reps, 3x8
At that point you should have the strength to be able to do a pull-up. You may need to ease into the technique, if so, introduce a resistance band to help train the motion, and gradually reduce your dependency on it.
How is a bar cheaper? It's a solid thing that needs to be attached to something solid. A TRX is just a strap you can hang on a door. (I actually want to attach mine to a wall or ceiling, which makes it a bit more complicated, and at that point, maybe I might as well go for a bar.)
I do think a lot of people need a people-based source of motivation, whether it's a human connection such as a PT or a friend who nags you to go with them, or an upcoming sporting event you've told people about like a marathon, or an online community.
Example of the latter: I had friends who after we moved apart post-Uni did 100pushups.com for a time with a shared spreadsheet to track progress against each other. That was quite fun.
People who can David Goggins their way through without any of that are fantastic, but I don't know what their secret is. Mine have always been people-based.
A combination of vertical and horizontal push and pull compound lifts will give you the biggest bang for your buck while maintaining a balanced physique.
Vertical push - Squat & Overhead Press
Vertical pull - Deadlift & Pull-ups
Horizontal push - Pushup or Bench Press
Horizontal pull - Bent over Rows or Bodyweight Rows
Overhead press can be done with a loaded backpack / 5 gallon water bottle
Replace deadlift with Kettlebell swings and use the backpack/ bottle
I use kettlebells at home and have been repeating this workout playlist https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhu1QCKrfgPUU1z33ILva...
Kettlebell is great because you can do a full workout with a single piece of equipment.
If you dread working out, then just make it easier. 2 kg is better than 0 kg, 5 minutes is better than 0 minutes.
Don't try to get everything figured out before you start. You will need to figure out what works for you, and good habits build upon each other.
So start off with just something you really can keep up for a month, then consider upgrades to it.
Beginners gains are huge. Your first year will see huge improvements. Especially in strength.
I recommend Allan Thrall on YouTube and AthleanX. Once you're past the beginners gains, Smolov is amazing at increasing strength. I've not found another program like it.
I lifted barbell only. Got my deadlift to 200kg, bench to 140kg, squat to 140kg.
It took about 8 years of lifting 1 to 3 times a week. Very casual and you could easily do much better than me.
Note I couldn't do a single push up in one of my gym classes at school.