Home Exercises?

[S Freud]

I am looking at getting back into lifting, the problem is with school and work I can't make it to the gym since they are usually closed when I get off of work. I have a basic bench that looks simmalair to This the pad extension allows me to do barbell curls. Right now I have a bar to do bench press and some weights, along with dumbbell bars I can add weight to. I just don't what kind of routine I can do with the limited possibilities of this setup.

Thanks for any advice.

EDIT: As a side question, I have some ON Whey and GNC Creatine that have been sitting in th e pantry for the past three months. Is it still ok to use these or should I get new creatine and protein?

 

[mjh]

I'm also curious what you guys recommend for S Freud to do.

I have a couple of dumbbells and a stretching ball I can use after I wake up each morning.

I used whey protein older than that without a problem, so I imagine you should be okay.

 

[paulxcook]

It doesn't compare to a gym, but I did home lifting for a short time and did see some gains. Obviously you can do bench press. With your bar and dumbells you can do rows, curls, tricep pushes, dumbell presses, squats with dumbells, shoulder presses, dumbell and barbell shrugs for traps, all sorts of things. The problem you'll run into is you'll run out of weights. Also, without a leg attachment and sufficient weights your lower body workouts will suffer.

 

[S Freud]

Yeah, I know its going to be hard to get a good routine going. Being in school and working full time leaves little room for the gym, plus the memberships in my area are all around $60 a month.

 

[paulxcook]

Does school not have a weight room for students to use? High school or college?

 

[onlyCOpunk]

You could always get a good cardio/circuit training routine going with smaller weights. It wont bulk you up but it will keep your heart healthy and the weight off.

 

[Shujaa]

Limited? Bench, bar and dumbells... there's a lot of options with just those!

Check out this site if you know what type of exercise you want to do, and need some instruction. Just choose the muscle group on the right side, and it'll give you the exercises that will work it.

I recommend ensuring that you focus at least once per week on Chest, Back, Shoulders and Upper Arms for a fairly well rounded workout. For lower body, nothing beats squats, although be careful if you're unsure of the technique.

Always start with a low weight when doing an exercise you haven't done before - and try to focus on getting the technique right before you think about moving onto higher weights. Remember to always stretch before you train!

 

[TallBill]

How heavy can your dumbells go? And do you just have one 45 pound bar? Your options may not be so limited. I'll post a list tomorrow.

 

[S Freud]

My dumbbells are the kind that are a bar with a clip, you slide the weight on then the clip. I don't know how heavy the bar is, I will take some pics of my setup tomorrow so you can see what I am talking about and get an idea of what I can do.

Thanks for all the replies.

 

[skace]

Wait a friggen second here. You have a bench, barbells, and dumbbells and the discussion is about how it's going to be hard to set something up? You have an entire free weight solution, your possibilities are endless. If this is hard to make a routine with then that is the laziness talking or you are much stronger than every weight you own, because it certainly doesn't sound like you have a lack of equipment. You can get the BEST workout from a bench, barbells and dumbbells. I think it's about time you start reading up on free weights.

I can't link you anything from work, check out bodybuilding.com.

Here is a better question, what exercise do you think you can't do with what you have access to. Or what specific muscle group.

 

[skace]

Oh and since my routine seems to fall in line with at least 2 of the people in this thread, I'm posting it again incase you guys didn't read the routine thread for whatever reason:

Monday: This routine (Dumbbell front squat with arnold press, Bent arm pullover with chest press, Dumbbell lunge with bicep curl), Various stomach exercises.
Tuesday: Rest (Should be a running day, but lately I just run around with the dogs)
Wednesday: Tabata (crossfit.com) - 8 sets of pushups, 8 sets of air squats, 8 sets of situps, 8 sets of lunges. (20seconds per set, 10 seconds of rest - 1 minute between exercises, you score based off of your lowest set per exercise) Should include pullups if I had a bar.
Thursday: Rest (Should be a running day, but lately I just run around with the dogs)
Friday: 3x6 Javorek's Complex (Right side of page), A mixup of various stomach exercises.

It should be noted that I don't even own a bench or barbells. Right now I use the side of my bed as a bench. Which works but you can only do 1 dumbbell bench press at a time. While this isn't ideal, it just goes to show that there are plenty of ways to get a workout without the ideal equipment.

mjh there are a lot of exercises where you can use your yoga ball as a makeshift bench, But your balance and stabalizer muscles are going to take an ass kicking.

 

[BlackTigers]

Maybe grab some ideas from here and here.

 

[HN]

Originally posted by: skace
Wednesday: Tabata (crossfit.com) - 8 sets of pushups, 8 sets of air squats, 8 sets of situps, 8 sets of lunges. (20seconds per set, 10 seconds of rest - 1 minute between exercises, you score based off of your lowest set per exercise) Should include pullups if I had a bar.

hey, cool. i've got an mp3 of a tabata timer that will go through 4 exercises (but without the 1 minute rest in between each exercise). let me know if you're interested and i'll put it up or send it over.

 

[TallBill]

DB Bench (flat + incline), BB Bench, DB rows, BB rows, Db pullovers, Db Squats, Deadlifts, Stiff legged deadlift, close grip bench press, skull crushers, barbell curl, dumbbell curl, hammer curl, Upright row, upright row wide grip for shoulders, arnold press, db press, shoulder shrugs, bench dips, db lunges, weighted step ups, elevated pushups, tate press, db flyes.

Just organize them into days and you'll have plenty to do. Don't need fancy machines. The only extra thing I'd say is to find something to do pullups/chinups on. (Don't use a flimsy bar with rubber cups)

 

[S Freud]

Thanks for the ideas/suggestions guys, I guess I should have made it more clear in the fact that I just didn't know what exercises I should be doing to get a good routine going.

TallBill, the ideas that you posted. Are these all good for a balanced weekly workout? Is there anything I should add? How should I divide these up so I am working certain muscle groups certain days and not over training one group?

Thanks

 

[TheNinja]

The real questions are

1. How much weight do you have?
2. What size dumbells do you have?

Like others have said, you can do pretty much everything with free weights and a bench. It would be nice if you had a place for pullups too (since you can't do pulldowns on your current setup), but if you are just starting out, chances are you can't do many (if any) pullups anyway, so that can wait

 

[Skel]

I'd start here Link. It'll let you look at what muscle group to target, but it'll also let you filter the exercises by what equipment you have. It also has videos so you can see the proper form.

Skel

 

[kalrith]

Originally posted by: TallBill
DB Bench (flat + incline), BB Bench, DB rows, BB rows, Db pullovers, Db Squats, Deadlifts, Stiff legged deadlift, close grip bench press, skull crushers, barbell curl, dumbbell curl, hammer curl, Upright row, upright row wide grip for shoulders, arnold press, db press, shoulder shrugs, bench dips, db lunges, weighted step ups, elevated pushups, tate press, db flyes.

Just organize them into days and you'll have plenty to do. Don't need fancy machines. The only extra thing I'd say is to find something to do pullups/chinups on. (Don't use a flimsy bar with rubber cups)

Wow! That's quite the list. I work out with just a bench and some dumbbells. The only other exercises I can think of are front DB/BB raise, DB lateral raise, and calf raises. The only thing I feel I am lacking is the ability to do pullups/chinups/pulldowns. I plan to move soon, so hopefully my next house will have an ample pullup bar (or I'll install one).

 

[FearoftheNight]

hehe very creative

 

[TallBill]

Ok, you don't have to do this exact, but here is an example that I would personally do if I had your setup. You don't have to do every chest excersise on chest day, but instead rotate the ones you do. I would do about 9 sets total per muscle group. Its a 4 day rotation, you can take breaks as needed or workout however many days in a row as you want. Here goes.


Chest/Triceps Day

DB Bench (flat + incline), BB Bench, Db pullovers, close grip bench press, skull crushers, bench dips, tate press, elevated pushups, db flyes


Back/Biceps day

DB Rows, BB rows, barbell curl, dumbbell curl, hammer curl, (pullups/chinups)


Shoulders/Traps day

Upright row, upright row wide grip for shoulders, arnold press, db press, shoulder shrugs, db side laterals, reverse flys, hang clean and press.


Leg Day

Db Squats, Deadlifts, Stiff legged deadlift, db lunges, weighted step ups, weighted calf raises.