An EZ bar, weights and desire

[Lynchie]

That's all I got to work with.

I don't live close to any gyms and being in London, the commute would kill me anyway. At the moment I'm in quite decent condition due to years of hard training and a good diet. I did let myself go the past 2-3 years and would now like to get my old body back. My diet is fine, bog standard bodybuilding diet you can find anywhere I suppose. I just want to know if it's possible changing my body without the use of a gym. Thanks

[vic86]

only way is, dont pamper yourself too much with junk food!! if you dont want to go to gym,why not working out at home? at least to keep your self "used to"

[pumpster]

You can use that for all sorts of exercises, from rowing to bench press to extensions to curls to squats and cover some but not all of the basic exercises. However, the weight used might start to limit you, for example on squats and benches, without a rack. It would be useful to get some kind of used bench with a rack. Also use the bar with your feet under it for situps and do some other ab exercises that don't require weights. Try to find somewhere that you can do pullups. I would hit each muscle twice weekly on a 4-day split.

The diet as mentioned is huge, then throw in some outdoor runs. 3 times a week if you're not worried about weight that's been gained, 5-6 times a week to lose. You can start part jogging part walking, build up the speed over time to a one mile run.

[Get Rowdy]

I train at home with just a barbell, two dumbbells and a chin up bar.  I've also got a skipping rope for cardio.  You can definitely get a good workout in at home, but you've got to be creative.  I made my best chest gains from doing dips on the V part of my kitchen counter.  I also made a bench out of paint cans and a cupboard door.  It's really uncomfortable though, so I'd recommend buying a proper bench, I'm buying one off ebay sometime in the next week.

Good luck.

[pjs]

That's all I got to work with.

I don't live close to any gyms and being in London, the commute would kill me anyway. At the moment I'm in quite decent condition due to years of hard training and a good diet. I did let myself go the past 2-3 years and would now like to get my old body back. My diet is fine, bog standard bodybuilding diet you can find anywhere I suppose. I just want to know if it's possible changing my body without the use of a gym. Thanks

Changing?  yes.

But if you goal is to get big and strong, no.  You need to man up and either find a way to get to a gym, or build your own home gym.

If not, you don't really want it.  Do you?

[Lynchie]

Thanks for all the replies. I've only been at it for a week and I can already notice my body starting to respond and fill out. Someone also asked last night if I've been working out. I guess muscle memory is not just old wives tales. PJS, I do realise I will have to hit the gym eventually and will do so once I've build up more strength. For me, there is nothing worse going back to the gym after a long long break and maxing out with weigths I've previously used to warm up with. It just breaks my will completely. Right now I'm focussing and getting my diet down to a fine art, doing a bit of cardio every day and hitting the EZ and weights hard every second day. I've also started taking Glutamine once a day and hope it will help getting my strength back a bit.

On a completely different note. How good is pushups for chest development? Right now I stick my hands on two bricks so I'm in an elevated position and can come down really deep and give my chest a very good stretch. I will try figure something out for doing dips as well.

[pumpster]

Calisthenics like pushups, dips and pullups-you won't get huge but will get nice and tight, lean athletic muscle. Build up the reps then do them with added weight or use resistance bands and you'll see more potential for some size. If you work up to high reps and/or add a little resistance, you'll build strength that can translate to heavier weight lifted once in the gym.