Weight Lifting You Can Do Without a Gym

When you think of getting huge muscles and building up your strength, one usually thinks of those built guys at the local gym who can lift massive amounts of weight and make it look easy. Experience bodybuilders at the gym are not only impressive, but their sheer power can even seem intimidating. Because of this, it’s no wonder why so many people want to work their way up to this kind of muscle and manpower.

Building yourself up to be an experienced and passionate bodybuilder can take time and sometimes even turn out to be expensive in the way of costly gym fees. But it doesn’t have to be this way. It’s just as effective to get in a good workout at home which will save you both time and money.

Creating Your Own At Home Gym:

-          Free Weights (Hand Weights): Free weights are a great way to provide yourself resistance during your workouts and throughout your simple everyday exercises.

Must Read: Free Weights or Machines: What Are Most Effective?

·         At Home Alternative: For lighter resistance, you can use water bottles or even canned food. Then for heavier weights, you can use jugs of laundry detergent or milk. Remember to save these bottles and jugs as you use up the product, then you can fill them with water or sand later and have full-time homemade weights.

-          Barbell Plates: For any training bodybuilder you’ll need a way to lift major amounts of weight during your workouts. The more serious way to do this is by using the barbell or weight plates.

·         At Home Alternative: Tires. If you don’t have old tire laying around your home, they’re incredibly easy to find. Pick one up from your local public works office (local dump or landfill grounds); they’re usually happy to give them to you for free. You can roll these old tires around in your yard, flip them, lift them and even pound on them with a sledgehammer, bat or wooden plank.

-          Deadlift Weights: Deadlift weight training also utilizes barbell plates and is another training exercise that you’ll need to become accustomed to if you want to build up your muscle mass.

·         At Home Alternative: Fill a heavy duty trash bag with sand or gravel. Then tie it closed and zip it up in an old duffel bag- voila! You’ve officially created your very own deadlift weight. Depending on how sturdy your duffel bag is you can even add bricks or large rocks as you progress in your training for more weight.

-          Gym Bench: Benches at gyms provide an easy way for you to use your own body weight as resistance during your workout. Benches allow you to do bench dips, bench pushups, and bench presses.

Must Read: Preacher Bench Curls For Working Biceps

·         At Home Alternative: Any standard, sturdy kitchen chair at home can pose as a great substitute for a gym bench. Because benches are so under-appreciated we often overlook our need to have a version in our homes. They’re simple and easy, and without any adjustments, you most likely already have what you need.

-          Incline Bench (or Exercise Ball): If you’re looking to give your core a little more range of motion during crunches and other abdominal exercises then an incline bench or exercise ball is definitely the way to go for you. You can use these for sit-ups, pushups, or wherever your imagination and muscles take you.

·         At Home Alternative: Pillows. Stack a few pillows under your back (or gluteal muscles depending on what exercise you’re trying to achieve), during your ab workouts to give your muscles the extra range of motion kick you’ve been looking for. This is also a great idea for giving your back a little extra support during crunches so you don’t bruise any vertebra during your workouts on hard flooring.

-          Valslide: This is a small and handy tool for adding more resistance to your everyday workout routine. Valslides are small hand/foot sized mats meant to gently slide out your arms or feet into whatever direction you choose as you exercise to give your muscles a greater range of motion. You can use this for pushups and alternate sliding an arm outwards as you lower yourself and then gently slide it back inwards as you push up. This takes great control and will definitely add to your workout.

·         At Home Alternative: Paper plates. This is so simple, effective and cheap that you’d be foolish to not give it a try. Paper plates will give your hands and feet just enough slides to push your at home routine into overdrive. Amp up your lunges by putting a paper plate under one foot as you slide it backward. Repeat this several times and then switch to your other foot. You’ll definitely feel that muscle burn bodybuilders crave.

-          Stair Stepper: Stair steppers are proven to be the most effective in helping to strengthen the calf muscles. Strong calves help you keep yourself sturdy throughout the day and support your frame. Not to mention, well worked out calves add major muscle definition to the legs which are a difficult area to see great muscle mass.

·         At Home Alternative: Stairs are the first and most obvious choice for this substitute. Do walking lunges up your staircase to increase strain on your calves and thighs. Though a stair master is a repetition of steps, you actually only need one step to get a great workout, so if you don’t have a staircase, don’t worry.

You can use any step, stool, stoop, or even a hard backed book. Anything that puts you a few inches off the ground is enough to work out. Put just your toes to the ball of your foot on the step and then lower your heel to the ground. Continue this with multiple reps and then switch feet.

Making your own at home gym is easy with a little creativity and thought. The most important way to get the maximum results from your at home workout is to be diligent in making sure you have perfect form. With great form and a little resistance, you don’t need a lot of fancy or expensive equipment to still build muscle.