Need some workout tips

[WhatUsedToBe]

Alright summers here in nearly two weeks and like anyone else, I wanna be in shape for it. The only exercise equipment I have available to me is a weight bench, for bench press and stuff like that. It came with the weight plates and everything and it has the ability to incline and decline as well.

However, im not trying to work out just my upperbody. Im looking to get a full body workout. My question is, what are some workouts I can do using the bench/weight plates, in order to receive a full body workout.

Also, I will be purchasing some roller blades in the next couple of weeks for cardio. I personally can't stand running/jogging, and I haven't bladed since I was 12 so its going to be quite interesting.

So Yahooka! Can ya help me out here

[Canuck Wisdom]

Yes I can help you. You need to take me serious though.

The bench is great, it gives you an edge for doing weights or mass building. However, you don't need any equipment in order to exercise your entire body and get in the best shape of your life. If you have dumbells those can be of great use as well, but again not necessary.

You need to be creative. In my opinion, the measure of true strength is strength against your own body and weight, how well you can move your own person. Be creative. Form is everything.
Do push ups, try different hand positions to target triceps, biceps upper and lower chest and back. If you listen to your body you can figure it out for yourself, but I will try to direct you. For example, spacing your hands out further will help develop your lats/back. Close by your side straight up and down, will help to target your arms. Do push ups on your fists, as opposed to palms, for greater range of motion. Try putting your hands down low, near your navel, or up high, just above your shoulders. Try raising your feet, put them on a step, a hill, or a bed.

Do you see what I am getting at?

You can do sit ups everyday (unlike many strength building exercises which need downtime). Be creative, do crunches, full sit ups. Try lifting your feet off the ground and holding your knees in the air, bring your elbows to your knees, keep your back straight (I don't know how well I've described that but its my basic sit up). Do this with a twist so that your elbow is outside the opposite knee. Do crunches and twist so that your elbows touch the ground beside you. I can't stress enough targeting your obliques (side abs) for building core stability which is crucial for overall fitness and cardio development. Lye on your side and do sideways crunches even, or leg lifts. On your back, do bicycle kicks. Planks, on your elbows and toes and hold for as long as you can.

Lye on your stomach and do like reverse sit ups, to develop your lower back, thats a hard area to target. If you have something you can lean off of and get a greater range of motion without falling, do that with your hands up by your head.

Warm up your legs by running on the spot, or your blading or whatever, and do squat jumps, or even just jumping and bringing both knees up repeatedly. I bet you are exhausted after doing 2 sets of 20 squat jumps, I bet you can't do three. Squat jumps are amazing strength building for your legs. Don't bend your knees beyond 90degrees though. Calf raises on the edge of a step or something like that, in different feet positions can target your lower legs and really help with vertical jumps.

You see? Be creative and you don't really need any equipment at all. If you have somewehre you can do pull ups thats a great advantage. The back of stairs maybe? Palms facing away from you will do your back and arms, palms towards you will target your arms more. Wide grip palms facing away are super hard, and a great back exercise, I bet you cant do even seven or eight.

Different types of jumping on the spot, knee raises, kicking your legs back/kicking your bum can help with your hamstrings.

Be sure to stretch properly, don't do static stretching without warming up before a work out. Static is better for after your work out. Dynamic, swinging your arms and legs in a controlled fashion is a good way to get warmed up.

I used to think jumping jacks were useless when I was a kid and stopped doing them. I started again recently and its really good, as an adult body. Good calves and shoulders workout, as well as cardio.

All of these things, consistent speed, or if you want to speed reaction time, slow return with quick accelerating reps (of puch ups, sit ups, squat jumps whatever).

Even doing enough arm circles can get you a good shoulder work out, and if youve got light weights like 2.5lbs or 5 lbs use those for added resistance.

Of course if you have dumbbells there is another whole new world you can open up for upper body strength, shoulder, arms and back especially. Remember when doing back exercises to always keep your lower back straight and concave though or you can be easily injured.

Hope that helps. Take these ideas and run with them, be creative and remember you can target almost any area with good form.

My philosophy lately (past few years) has been to concentrate on core/torso strength and cardio and the rest will follow suit. I don't care much about being really big, just strong. And alot of this is just my genetics, but I have not gained much weight in four or five years now at least, but am much stronger/fitter then I was.

Doing anything just sort of listen, and feel it out. You can find the proper and best form for targeting any area just by listening to your body, so only take my descriptions as guidelines because I cannot be there to show you exactly what I mean.

Seriously form is everything.

[shakeNbake06]

my advice is get a gym membership..If you want to get in shape for this summer push-ups and sit-ups will give take a while to get good results. and like the other guy said form>weight..if you want to get big fast do low reps and high weight. If your goal is to train for strength do higher reps with less weight. Make sure you don't over train and get plenty of sleep. and EAT lots of calories and lots of protein (like 2g per pound of bodyweight) also don't work the same muscle group everyday. and with cardio, If I were you I would do HIIT (high intensity training) instead of just running. you sprint, giving it all you got for about 35 seconds and then take about a 2 minute break, and continue these intervals for about 25 minutes.

[Canuck Wisdom]

Yea it would help if you stated your goals too.

i.e. develop mass/muscle size, or if you want muscle endurance, speed, or whatever.

Even if you just want to look fit, you could take the muscley route or you could refine and get definition. A lot of what you should do depends on what stage your already at too.

I suppose my first post was geared towards people who are already generally fit, but want to get into good/better shape.

[anitablaze]

I know a lot of guys are against this but please take me seriously:
yoga (not any kind) specifically pilates will work out your whole body. You can go to Ashtanga yoga level II or III. Believe me, it isnt just for girls. its brought me down from a 24 BMI to a 21 BMI. Its hard, but you do get stretching also , depending on the class.

[Patrick Rue]

I'm gonna back up CW and say that you can get hella far without any weights at all.

I've been doing shit like holding my arms out to the side and doing circles, without any weight or anything. That kind of stuff feels like it really works basic shit that weights tend to not really focus on.

[toastyroach]

If you have a weight bench and weights this is ALL you need to do a legitimate full body workout.

Squats, Deadlifts, rows, military press, etc. These are all things you can do to get a full complete workout with a barbell. A barbell is all you need!

Doing pushings and body weight exercises are good, but you need to lift heavy weight to really stimulate your muscles.

I strongly recommend doing the Rippetoe starting strength program. Its a very simple, full body composite workout that works very very well for beginners. It's simple and very affective. Read about it here: Guide to Novice Barbell Training, aka the Official RIPPETOE-STARTING STRENGTH FAQ - Bodybuilding.com Forums

bodybuilding.com has all the information you could ever possibly need. Use those forums if you have questions, YaHooka really isn't good for learning anything TBH, you need to go somewhere that has knowledgable people that wont fill you with misinformation and steer you the wrong way and turn you off to body building. Read that thread and post questions there if you have them. Good luck man

[BigSpliffSmoka]

canuck pretty much hit the nail on the head.

I suggest running, at the end of my work outs I sprint at a 5:25 mile pace till I cant go any further.
But with what you have you can do curls, presses, squats, all sorts of shit. Through a plate or two on your chest do sit ups.
sit on the floor with your back to the bench (make like a T... you being the bottom part)
Throw a plate or two on your upper thigh area and put your arms on the bench and start pushing yourself up... stuff like that..

[Mr.Tree]

workout when your tired/exhausted to build up stamina

[Porcelain]

I find that guys who have the best bodies don't usually get them at the gym. I'm a big fan of outdoor workouts like jogging, biking, up-hill hiking, surfing (if your climate allows). Men and women in general who work out outdoors have very lean and tight bodies with just the right amount of muscle. Plus, it's a lot more fun than being in some sweaty basement doing reps.

[Patrick Rue]

Originally Posted by BigSpliffSmoka

sit on the floor with your back to the bench (make like a T... you being the bottom part)
Throw a plate or two on your upper thigh area and put your arms on the bench and start pushing yourself up... stuff like that..

nice


Im with canuck and porcelain on this issue.. natural style ftw.

[stoneric]

If you wanted to be in shape for the summer you should have started some kind of routine much earlier than now.

[Porcelain]

^ That's true, it's gonna take you some time to see results since you're starting quite far into the process. If you want to see faster results, you may have to look into a more demanding nutritional plan.

[Stairway]

Some protein and Creatine wouldn't hurt either. If you're looking for a beach bod quick that is..

look into Welcome to CrossFit: Forging Elite Fitness it's well and truly one of the best work out routines ever made. Might not get you arnold big but it'll get you toned and strong.

[FoTwenny]

Originally Posted by BigSpliffSmoka

canuck pretty much hit the nail on the head.

No he didn't.

Your best bet is to follow what toastyroach said. Browse bodybuilding.com and you'll get all the answers you need.

[Canuck Wisdom]

I'm just a big fan of strength against your own body weight. It wont make your muscles grow the fastest, but I am convinced it will make you the fittest, taking that approach.

My core group of friends are all really into working out, however many of them concentrate much more on weight lifting then me and its true they are bulkier then I am and eventually could lift more weight. I don't care much though because I am still strong and much faster then them, lifting that much weight makes me concerned for the long term health of my wrists and stuff.

[_tyranT]

20lb and 25lb dumbells do my arms wonders.

go for a 3 mile jog it helps and push up and sit ups don't hurt

watch what you eat....

[toastyroach]

Originally Posted by FoTwenny

No he didn't.

Your best bet is to follow what toastyroach said. Browse bodybuilding.com and you'll get all the answers you need.

lol... i was trying to be nice and beat around the bush so to say, and i was rolling my eyes just coming back into this thread... but thank you, there's at least one informed person here. pretty much everything everyone said here is shitty advice.. work out when your tired to build up stamina? holy shit...

you have to lift (preferably heavy) weights if you want to promote weight loss and muscle gain. do a 40/40/20 split and eat 300-500 cals under maitenence depending on how much cardio your doing. read the fn bb forums please