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Home work out with limited equipment

Posted on 3/23/24 at 6:41 pm
Posted by SouthernThunder
Member since Jul 2012
63 posts
Posted on 3/23/24 at 6:41 pm
Me and my wife just welcomed our first child last week so for the short term it seems getting to the gym regularly is going to be tough.

I usually lift 3 days a week and was happy with the progress I’ve made in hitting my goal of 1/2/3/4.

I’m trying to put together some stuff I can do at home to try and limit my losses as best I can until she is a little older and I can lift regularly again.

My equipment on han is not much but here’s what I got.

1 EZ curl bar

1 dumbbell that i can clip free weights onto.

2 25 LB weights
6 10 lb weights
5 5lb weights
A perfect push up set and an ab wheel

I was hoping someone might have ideas for some lifts I can do with the above in my back yard. I know I can do stuff like curls, skull crushers and even lat raises with the dumbbell but other than that I’m kind of short on ideas.

Thanks in advance for any advice or ideas, I really appreciate it.
Posted by DrDenim
By the airport
Member since Sep 2022
435 posts
Posted on 3/23/24 at 6:54 pm to
Add a kettlebell and a sandbag, 50-60lb kettlebell and a 35-75lb sandbag. Swings, 1 or 2 hand, cleans and snatches and get ups, you can use the sandbag or the kettlebell for all of that stuff if the weight is right.

Without adding any equipment and using what you got now you can do all kinds of lunges, pistol squats, goblet squats, RDLs, SLDLs, step ups, farmer carries, DB thrusters, DB press, flies, pullovers, single arm rows. If I was in your shoes and couldn't add any equipment, or maybe you can but don't want to for the aforementioned reasons, I'd probably just make peace with having to bid a temporary "adieu" to heavier strength training and just set my eyes on doing the kind of stuff I mentioned. Just as long as you focus on driving yourself hard (push yourself up to that "I'm gonna puke" threshold) and keep rest intervals tightly controlled I would think you could keep your conditioning really high and maintain some strength.

Do you have anything to do chin-ups/pull-ups on?
Posted by SouthernThunder
Member since Jul 2012
63 posts
Posted on 3/23/24 at 7:30 pm to
Thanks for the tips. I have heard a lot of good things about kettlebells so maybe now is the time to give them a try.

I could certainly use the conditioning, I’ve gotten stronger but my cardio has lagged behind for sure. Hopefully the little one keeping me out of those late night dive bars will help there as well.

I wish I had a pull up bar but I just have no where in the house to set one up. Tried using a door frame one but wife wasn’t having it after the strain it was putting on the frame.
Posted by scottydoesntknow
Member since Nov 2023
1976 posts
Posted on 3/24/24 at 1:02 pm to
Easy, you dont even need those weights. Pushup variations and pullups. You could get some rings if you wanted to splurge
Posted by SouthernThunder
Member since Jul 2012
63 posts
Posted on 3/24/24 at 11:31 pm to
Are body weight push ups really enough to maintain the same kind of strength one can gain from lifting heavy?

I really hope that’s true but it’s just hard to wrap my head around.
Posted by pwejr88
Red Stick
Member since Apr 2007
36162 posts
Posted on 3/25/24 at 5:16 am to
Get some workout bands off Amazon.
Push-ups with those, yes.
Posted by DrDenim
By the airport
Member since Sep 2022
435 posts
Posted on 3/25/24 at 5:22 am to
You'd be surprised what you could accomplish with body weight training. I'm not highly familiar with what 1/2/3/4 means, but I'm guessing it means you bench pressed 200lbs. For me, the most important way to assess your own strength is as it relates to your weight. So if you bench press 200lbs and you weigh 205lbs, you bench press 0.975xBW, as an example. Could you maintain whatever your relative strength levels are with body weight training? Probably not, but you could stay close.

I've never experimented with myself to see what kind of strength I can maintain with body weight/push-ups only, but it would depend on several factors. How strong you are now, how long you intend to rely on body weight training/push-ups only to maintain your strength, and what all other stuff is going on in your life (new babies always mean heavily disrupted sleep, extra stress, perhaps bad diet, etc).

The good thing about true barbell built strength is it sticks around for a while. If you are consistent and keep up with a calisthenic and body weight based program that is supplemented with whatever you can manage to include with dumbbells and various hand weights, you will stay strong, just not at your peak.

BUT, whenever you get back to a heavier lifting routine you'll find that it only takes you about 4-6 weeks(if that) to get back close to peak strength levels. The most important thing for you will be to figure out what you can stay consistent with, because stopping all together, or having frequent, irregular, "long-ish" gaps in there where you do nothing will not serve you well in any way. So I would be conservative with my expectations and build good habits about hitting frequent, short sessions (10 minutes here, 10 minutes there, do what you can when you can). I'd think tracking what you do would be even more important than it usually is because your mind may be elsewhere a lot of the time and it's easier to lose track of what you did on any given day if it involved 4 x 15 minute mini sessions as opposed to a single 60 minute session.

(I'm obviously making a lot of broad assumptions about this because I don't know your specific details that well)
Posted by Earnest_P
Member since Aug 2021
3484 posts
Posted on 3/25/24 at 8:59 am to
Swingsesh



Two birds with one stone, since you have a little one.
If you have a spare $6-8k laying around.
Posted by rebelrouser
Columbia, SC
Member since Feb 2013
10579 posts
Posted on 3/25/24 at 9:32 am to
quote:

Do you have anything to do chin-ups/pull-ups on?


quote:

I wish I had a pull up bar but I just have no where in the house to set one up. Tried using a door frame one but wife wasn’t having it after the strain it was putting on the frame.


This is your problem right here. The back is one of the largest and most important muscle groups. You can do deadlifts, supermans, etc. but how are you going to hit the lats when you need a pull up bar or cable pull down exercise. Can bands be used for that? Can you fashion something in the garage or back yard? You just need a simple pull up device.
Posted by SouthernThunder
Member since Jul 2012
63 posts
Posted on 3/25/24 at 9:34 am to
Sorry I probably should have included more information.

When I said 1/2/3/4 I meant the amount of plates per side of the bar for OHP/Bench/Squat/Deadlift respectively as that had been my goal for the last few months.

So, currently I’m 6ft about 220 and was lifting for reps.
OHP-135
Bench-225
Squat-315
Deadlift-405

I appreciate all the insights, I’m hoping that this break will be a few months max but that all depends on the little one.
Posted by SouthernThunder
Member since Jul 2012
63 posts
Posted on 3/25/24 at 10:31 am to
Just looking around on the internet it looks like I can buy a free standing pull up bar pretty cheap but I don’t have a garage unfortunately. I guess I could maybe keep it in my back yard and cover it with a tarp or something so it doesn't get wrecked by the weather and such.
Posted by metallica81788
NO
Member since Sep 2008
8390 posts
Posted on 3/25/24 at 11:27 am to
It doesn't get any easier as kids get older; time only becomes less and you have to adapt

Finding ways to fit any workout into your life now will only benefit you down the road. Change your goals to meet your time and schedule constraints.

You seem to be at a crossroads of building a mini-home gym vs continuing your prior plans. Talk with your wife and see what she needs from you and how to work your workout around it.
Posted by SouthernThunder
Member since Jul 2012
63 posts
Posted on 3/25/24 at 11:52 am to
Man I would build a full home gym tomorrow if I just had the space. Still living in a smaller rental until we eventually buy a house (because that’s looking so easy these days). I’m used to waking up at 5 AM to get to the gym but even that is pretty unworkable for the short term hence me trying to come up with a new plan.
Posted by scottydoesntknow
Member since Nov 2023
1976 posts
Posted on 3/25/24 at 12:30 pm to
quote:

Are body weight push ups really enough to maintain the same kind of strength one can gain from lifting heavy?


Strength is very relative and is on a spectrum. If your goal is to lift a heavy bar off your chest in one direction, bench is your exercise. If your goal is functional everyday strength and body control, pushups is great. Of course mixing and matching different exercises can give you a good variation of strength
Posted by SouthernThunder
Member since Jul 2012
63 posts
Posted on 3/25/24 at 1:09 pm to
Ha My goal is to be as jacked as a desk bound white collar worker with a new born can manage if I’m being honest
Posted by scottydoesntknow
Member since Nov 2023
1976 posts
Posted on 3/25/24 at 1:37 pm to
quote:

Ha My goal is to be as jacked as a desk bound white collar worker with a new born can manage if I’m being honest


Im a broken record on this board...but there are no more aesthetically jacked guys out there than calisthenics athletes. Kboges is IMO the best practical source of info on this on youtube
Posted by SouthernThunder
Member since Jul 2012
63 posts
Posted on 3/25/24 at 1:45 pm to
Thanks, I’m going to check out that YouTube when I get off of work and see what I can put together. Hopefully tomorrow will be the time to try and get this program from the idea stage to the let’s get going stage.
Posted by TU Rob
Birmingham
Member since Nov 2008
12732 posts
Posted on 3/25/24 at 1:48 pm to
quote:

how are you going to hit the lats when you need a pull up bar or cable pull down exercise. Can bands be used for that? Can you fashion something in the garage or back yard? You just need a simple pull up device.


Dumbbell lat pullovers are a great substitute when you don't have a pullup bar or cable machine.
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