Author Topic: Ideas for Training w/ NO REAL EQUIPMENT  (Read 2964 times)

Tinsley

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Ideas for Training w/ NO REAL EQUIPMENT
« on: May 15, 2007, 05:58:56 PM »

I work in a rural and remote First Nation in Northwestern Ontario Canada.  I'm basically in a forest with a small 250 person town that only has fly-in access.  This percludes shipping anything in of more than 50lbs at a time.

Since I started working here 9 months ago I've been trying desperately to keep going, comming off a solid year of religious training, 6 on, 1 off.  When I took this job there is nothing up here at all.  I have a huge basement in the lower level of the Government residence and I put in a heavy bag for cardio, E-Z curl bar w/ 75lbs of plates, a set of 50's.  No benches, no racks, nothing really signifigant.

I've lost at least 30lbs of size, I'm down to about 265lbs and at least 45% of my strength.  In winter anything outside is out as it goes down to about -30°C - -50°C. 

Any ideas would be great, I'm in Mon-Fri and out on weekends.  I've even started Rocky style cutting down trees in the middle of the forest and hauling them in chunks to elder's houses to make it easier for them to get firewood.

Mike

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Re: Ideas for Training w/ NO REAL EQUIPMENT
« Reply #1 on: May 15, 2007, 06:04:25 PM »
I work in a rural and remote First Nation in Northwestern Ontario Canada.  I'm basically in a forest with a small 250 person town that only has fly-in access.  This percludes shipping anything in of more than 50lbs at a time.

Since I started working here 9 months ago I've been trying desperately to keep going, comming off a solid year of religious training, 6 on, 1 off.  When I took this job there is nothing up here at all.  I have a huge basement in the lower level of the Government residence and I put in a heavy bag for cardio, E-Z curl bar w/ 75lbs of plates, a set of 50's.  No benches, no racks, nothing really signifigant.

I've lost at least 30lbs of size, I'm down to about 265lbs and at least 45% of my strength.  In winter anything outside is out as it goes down to about -30°C - -50°C. 

Any ideas would be great, I'm in Mon-Fri and out on weekends.  I've even started Rocky style cutting down trees in the middle of the forest and hauling them in chunks to elder's houses to make it easier for them to get firewood.

Seriously, before everyone gives you advice about olympic bars, chin ups, pushups and shit like that I'd say that you need a new job if weight training is that important.  If not, you will probalby not be able to hold your 295lbs (bf% ?) in the middle of nowhere.

Also, just a funny commentary, where did you get 45% from, is that just a guess or did you do some calculations?  Wouldn't it be easier to have said "half my strength?"

Tinsley

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Re: Ideas for Training w/ NO REAL EQUIPMENT
« Reply #2 on: May 15, 2007, 06:18:12 PM »
Where I got ~45% loss in strength

About a 500lbs squat x 10 reps to 300lbs x 10 = ~55%

About a 405lbs bench press x 8 to 225lbs x 8 = ~55%

About 495lbs x 10 deadlift to 285lbs x 12 = ~55%

I workout in a real gym whenever I get into town for a few days, usually weekends or holidays.

As for the job, as a nurse I have no control or say when I work in urban centres.  When I'm here I work in an expanded role; I deliver babies, do minor surgeries, and tonnes of other stuff I'd never be able to do in a hospital.  And the people appreciate what I do because I do care about the community and the People.  Also, I make about one and a half times what I would working in a hospital.  That does factor into it.

I appreciate the input Mike, I just need it to be more constructive in context to what I do.

pumpster

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Re: Ideas for Training w/ NO REAL EQUIPMENT
« Reply #3 on: May 15, 2007, 06:32:03 PM »
-Buy some basic decent equipment like a bench and adjustable DBs and put it in the basement if you're going to be there for a while. If you want a great bench that would allow a lot of options when used with DBs:
http://www.ironmaster.com/store/Super-Bench-c-2.html
It can be shipped in by truck i'm assuming. If not, it can be shipped in two under-50 lb. increments. Same with shipping DBs and other accessories.


-Get some good quality resistance bands; similar to dumbbells, lots of options, low weight.
http://www.lifelineusa.com/products.cfm?categoryid=4&productid=12


-Run



-Calisthenics with or without resistance bands/weight belts:




-Find someone local to train with, pay part of it if money's an issue.



-Tree chopping's an excellent exercise long used by boxers.

overcome

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Re: Ideas for Training w/ NO REAL EQUIPMENT
« Reply #4 on: May 15, 2007, 07:06:32 PM »
see if someone around there has a welder and some tubing, make or have someone else make you a pull up and dip bar.  you have plates, order a chain belt or make one.  these alone will take care of your tri's, lower chest, and middle chest with variations, and all of your back.  legs will be difficult, lunges with your db might help you some, but shipping in a little weight at a time as mentioned before would be your best bet.  shoulders can be taken care of with your db and plates.  being in the military I've seen some thrown together shit, MRE boxes and sand bags work wonders, pm me if you want some more ideas.
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Tinsley

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Re: Ideas for Training w/ NO REAL EQUIPMENT
« Reply #5 on: May 15, 2007, 07:18:20 PM »
Sweet, those are great ideas.

Keep em comming!

mdgkmg

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Re: Ideas for Training w/ NO REAL EQUIPMENT
« Reply #6 on: May 15, 2007, 08:25:25 PM »
as suggested before welding your own bench etc. you can use simple 1/2 inch plywood as the base of just about any bench assuming it doesn't need to be variable. that square hollow steel pick some up at the hardware store and make a power rack(got one myself works great for up to 500 pnds or so if built right). for padding on the benchs either do without or use some r-19 insulation paper side up press it down it become about 2 inches thick and duct tape it(had to do that one too).  adjustable dumbells as above mentioned is a great idea you can order weight in small amounts.

another thought if you aren't going to be at that job forever is to order a bowflex sent in a few 50 pnd increments. you'll see all kinds of controversy about the bowflex on the board but for maintaining it works and even building a bit.

best of luck man.

leonp1981

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Re: Ideas for Training w/ NO REAL EQUIPMENT
« Reply #7 on: May 15, 2007, 09:10:34 PM »
With the limited amount of weights you've got you're gonna have to focus more on isolating the muscles, but the following are just a few ideas.

* Obviously you can do dips for chest/tris, pull-ups for back.
* You could also get some dumbells and do one-leg squats holding a DB. 
* Tins of paint can be used for laterals and curls.
* Press-ups can be supersetted with dips.
* Calf raises done on any step with DB's or tins of paint.
* Varied hand grips on dips and pull-ups will target different areas.

At the end of the day, any training is better than none, so just find some stuff and lift it!  ;D

P.S. If you can do a handstand against a wall, you can do upside-down shoulder presses!!!  Sounds stupid, and obviously not something you would do if you didn't have to, but it works.  Most guys would find it very difficult.


Princess L

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Re: Ideas for Training w/ NO REAL EQUIPMENT
« Reply #8 on: May 15, 2007, 10:12:33 PM »
:

lilwoday09smb

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Re: Ideas for Training w/ NO REAL EQUIPMENT
« Reply #9 on: May 15, 2007, 11:39:47 PM »
ya i would seriously just invest in a chin up par, dip bar, power rack, adjustable bench, 1-2 barbells and a shit load of weights.
i mean you could do pretty much everything
bench, squats, rows, deadlifts, military press, shrugs, uprights, clings, skulls, bb curls, calf raises, dips, pull ups, chin ups and a few otheres with that basic equoment. maybe get a set of those edjustable weights for some lat raises, flys, and curls and ur set

jpm101

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Re: Ideas for Training w/ NO REAL EQUIPMENT
« Reply #10 on: May 16, 2007, 08:48:17 AM »
 No roads  so fly in's is the only option, does indeed sound remote. Any logging, fire/service roads around that area or are all supply's also flown in?  Sometime a logger truck will carry extra  stuff on their runs. Sound like a corporation or government  center. And you probably signed a contract to  get that job. Interesting anyway. Maybe not for you, but interesting just the same.

A quick fix would be to mock up some way to do parallel bar dips & chins.Both are outstanding mass builders in their own right, when adding extra weight to the body. That idea about sandbags (Overcome) is useful and can help the grip power too. Overhead pressing, rows, bicep/tricep work,lateral raises, etc come to mind with a pair of sandbags. If you work on a construction or oil rigging site there is usually left over used scrap metal or parts that could be adapted to exercise equipment. Something like iron bars, tubing, etc. Even rebar could be used (if you wear gloves). Could ask the welders (most of them I have worked with, in the past, love making up new things) if they could cut and fit some pieces together for you. Or you could learn yourself......pretty basic stuff and you do have time on your hands. If you could get hold of a pulley arrangement and a industrial braided rope, than lat pulls could be done.

Upper body exercises should be a snap, with a little thought applied to training. The lower body can be more of a challenge. Larger scrap pulley or gear wheels could be used if a bar is found or made up. Good for Hack squats or DL's. Both ideal mass builders. One legged squats or step-up's are great, when holding any kind of weigh in the hand(s). I usually do 50 to 100 reps of Hindu squats before leg work, but some fighters go for 500 reps or more in training. Will not gain giant quads but will gain outstanding endurance and definement of the legs. Oddly enough, a certain level of strength is also achieved. Good Luck.
F

Tinsley

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Re: Ideas for Training w/ NO REAL EQUIPMENT
« Reply #11 on: May 16, 2007, 08:31:02 PM »
No roads  so fly in's is the only option, does indeed sound remote. Any logging, fire/service roads around that area or are all supply's also flown in?  Sometime a logger truck will carry extra  stuff on their runs. Sound like a corporation or government  center. And you probably signed a contract to  get that job. Interesting anyway. Maybe not for you, but interesting just the same.


Just answering this a bit, the closest logging road ends about 150-200km.  Everything and anything is flown in.

And for those people who don't believe in Global Warming, these communities used to have winter roads for four months out of the year that could support an 18 wheeler loaded with shite.  Now for the past 3 years, NOT A SINGLE DAY!

I've broken down and ordered a power rack and 500lbs in plates, however with the way freight works up here I'd be lucky to get it in before next christmas.

Still, ideas are welcome, appreciated and respected.

pumpster

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Re: Ideas for Training w/ NO REAL EQUIPMENT
« Reply #12 on: May 16, 2007, 09:09:25 PM »
Just answering this a bit, the closest logging road ends about 150-200km.  Everything and anything is flown in.

And for those people who don't believe in Global Warming, these communities used to have winter roads for four months out of the year that could support an 18 wheeler loaded with shite.  Now for the past 3 years, NOT A SINGLE DAY!

I've broken down and ordered a power rack and 500lbs in plates, however with the way freight works up here I'd be lucky to get it in before next christmas.

Still, ideas are welcome, appreciated and respected.

You're welcome

pumpster

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Re: Ideas for Training w/ NO REAL EQUIPMENT
« Reply #13 on: May 16, 2007, 09:10:53 PM »


I've broken down and ordered a power rack and 500lbs in plates, however with the way freight works up here I'd be lucky to get it in before next christmas.

Still, ideas are welcome, appreciated and respected.


So basically all of these suggestions are for naught, you've already ordered stuff you didn't mention.. ::)

IceCold

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Re: Ideas for Training w/ NO REAL EQUIPMENT
« Reply #14 on: May 18, 2007, 09:56:04 AM »
-Buy some basic decent equipment like a bench and adjustable DBs and put it in the basement if you're going to be there for a while. If you want a great bench that would allow a lot of options when used with DBs:
http://www.ironmaster.com/store/Super-Bench-c-2.html
It can be shipped in by truck i'm assuming. If not, it can be shipped in two under-50 lb. increments. Same with shipping DBs and other accessories.



why not take your own advice and get rid of the bowflex.
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pumpster

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Re: Ideas for Training w/ NO REAL EQUIPMENT
« Reply #15 on: May 18, 2007, 10:27:11 AM »
why not take your own advice and get rid of the bowflex.

Actually someone suggested using a bowflex. From what i've seen of your training knowledge i doubt you work out.

thewickedtruth

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Re: Ideas for Training w/ NO REAL EQUIPMENT
« Reply #16 on: May 19, 2007, 09:39:28 AM »
The best advice I can give ya on this is to get you a smaller CAP barbell bench basic setup with barbells and dumbbells and about 200lbs worth of plates OR hunt craig's list in your area for cheaper used equipment and make it happen. I still remember my garage warrior days when I used a 100qt cooler for my bench and squirmed my way under 110lbs for my first bench presses hahaha.

mdgkmg

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Re: Ideas for Training w/ NO REAL EQUIPMENT
« Reply #17 on: May 19, 2007, 01:05:03 PM »
The best advice I can give ya on this is to get you a smaller CAP barbell bench basic setup with barbells and dumbbells and about 200lbs worth of plates OR hunt craig's list in your area for cheaper used equipment and make it happen. I still remember my garage warrior days when I used a 100qt cooler for my bench and squirmed my way under 110lbs for my first bench presses hahaha.


lol man. i remember that kinda thing. except i used the wilcox milk crates and that crappy lil one inch bar designed for the cement plates i had steel and after a while the bar bent. i also remember not having any dumbells at all so i'd grab weight plates stick my middle finger through the hole and grip em for flyes. those were the days man. now i've got several thousand dollars invested in equipment just needin a lil bit more and to get rid of some get some different stuff etc.

leonp1981

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Re: Ideas for Training w/ NO REAL EQUIPMENT
« Reply #18 on: May 19, 2007, 05:52:49 PM »
those were the days man. 

Aren't you like 15 years old?!   ;D

oldtimer1

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Re: Ideas for Training w/ NO REAL EQUIPMENT
« Reply #19 on: May 28, 2007, 09:05:59 AM »
Body weight exercises are underated. Here are just a few.

1. Dips
2. Pushups
3. Pull ups
4. Hand stand presses using push up type bars with feet against a wall for balance if necessary.
5. Back rows using a low bar with heels on the ground.  Face toward the sky.
6. Burpee type exercise with a jump at the end.
7. Jumping type exercise.  Jumping up and reaching a mark or on a platform.
8. Jumping rope.
9. Hitting the heavy bag
10. Sprinting
11. Distance runs.
12. Single leg squats
13. Double leg squats.
14. Find a couple of heavy rocks. Do some improvised lifts with them. (Don't laugh a weight is a weight.) 
15. Single leg calf raises on stairs.
16.  If you could get someone to hold you legs you can find a way to do back extensions off a bench.
17. Neck bridges-front and back.

The above will build functional usable strength. Body weight exercise gives you a body awareness that is readily transferable into any athletic pursuit.  I worked in a prison as a correction officer about 25 years ago.  Training was very big in prison with the inmates.  There was the weight lifting crowd and there was the body weight exercise crowd.  The bodyweight crowd looked ripped and athletic.  Recently this experience was illustrated to me again.  In a run down town of Asbury Park NJ I was working near years ago. This town is crime ridden and poor.  I saw a group of three men working out in the broken down play ground.  They were doing chins and dips improvising with the equipment.  It was summer and they were ripped.  Two towns over was the rich white neighborhood.  They had a great gym.  I would put the poor guys working out in a playground against the gym guys in a fight and I know who would come out on top. 

Mike

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Re: Ideas for Training w/ NO REAL EQUIPMENT
« Reply #20 on: May 28, 2007, 01:27:11 PM »
Body weight exercises are underated. Here are just a few.

1. Dips
2. Pushups
3. Pull ups
4. Hand stand presses using push up type bars with feet against a wall for balance if necessary.
5. Back rows using a low bar with heels on the ground.  Face toward the sky.
6. Burpee type exercise with a jump at the end.
7. Jumping type exercise.  Jumping up and reaching a mark or on a platform.
8. Jumping rope.
9. Hitting the heavy bag
10. Sprinting
11. Distance runs.
12. Single leg squats
13. Double leg squats.
14. Find a couple of heavy rocks. Do some improvised lifts with them. (Don't laugh a weight is a weight.) 
15. Single leg calf raises on stairs.
16.  If you could get someone to hold you legs you can find a way to do back extensions off a bench.
17. Neck bridges-front and back.

The above will build functional usable strength. Body weight exercise gives you a body awareness that is readily transferable into any athletic pursuit.  I worked in a prison as a correction officer about 25 years ago.  Training was very big in prison with the inmates.  There was the weight lifting crowd and there was the body weight exercise crowd.  The bodyweight crowd looked ripped and athletic.  Recently this experience was illustrated to me again.  In a run down town of Asbury Park NJ I was working near years ago. This town is crime ridden and poor.  I saw a group of three men working out in the broken down play ground.  They were doing chins and dips improvising with the equipment.  It was summer and they were ripped.  Two towns over was the rich white neighborhood.  They had a great gym.  I would put the poor guys working out in a playground against the gym guys in a fight and I know who would come out on top. 

Great post...besides the fight part, I don't know what that has to do with Bodyweight training.


Eric15210

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Re: Ideas for Training w/ NO REAL EQUIPMENT
« Reply #21 on: May 28, 2007, 02:05:28 PM »
this video might help you train without equipment






RIP Bob Probert

Tinsley

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Re: Ideas for Training w/ NO REAL EQUIPMENT
« Reply #22 on: May 31, 2007, 10:31:29 AM »
Again, I appreciate all ideas, and welcome new ones:

Now things are a little different, as one night a bunch of the neighbourhood kids were looking through my windows at the nurses residence while I was working out.  I wasn't doing anything that surprising, just about 1/2 hour of heavy bag work, abs and lower back.  Typically I go to work in a long sleeve T-Shirt or dress shirt, as the temp up here hasn't hit above 10C, so no one realized that I wasn't just bulky or fat, but a bunch of them saw me working out in a set of shorts and a tank and now all the tweens and teens are asking me how they can get bigger, stronger, etc...

I'm trying to tell them that with the food that they eat they're not going to really develop, as meat costs about 5x as much as in even a small town, and fresh veggies are non-existant.  Pop and chips are a meal up here for many kids, but it has never been any different in their lifetime, so the concept of proper diet is foreign to them.  I fly in here with a cooler full of chicken breasts and frozen veggies, and not much else so I don't cheat, but many of the parents simply do not have the money available to eat like that.  Fortunately wild game fullfills meat requirements for many, with moose and fish being readily available most months, with the occasional bear.  However, the starchy carbs are easy to transport, store and use so many of these kids have pastas, rice, breads, potatoes and such at every meal, with no other veggies at all.

I feel bad for these kids, because I know that fitness was a major part of my life, and taught me to value what I am.  My dad was a bodybuilder throughout the 80s & early 90s, I paid for two university degrees as a REAL personal trainer (not one of those fucks who uses a swiss ball for everything, THEY ARE USED FOR ABS, NOT SQUATS DUMBASS), and played college football with no real experience based solely on my size and strength I gained from training.

Anyway, this was just a rant but it served a purpose....




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