The title captures my question, but just to elaborate a bit, I’ve been following Athlean-X’s home workout series on YouTube, which is free, along with some daily cardio like running and cycling. I’m also doing light exercises, sticking to push-ups, sit-ups, planks, and jump squats for the moment. Since I’m new to fitness and muscle building, I’m anxious about whether I’m doing things correctly. I would really appreciate any advice or tips. Thanks
Also, just to clarify, I’m unable to buy any gym equipment or attend a gym right now. I do have a plastic dumbbell filled with sand and have been using the back of my stairs for pull-ups, but that’s all I have.
I lifted weights for years, and during lockdown, I had to switch to only using my body weight (except for using a backpack filled with books for weighted pull-ups/push-ups). Unfortunately, I don’t have photos to share, but my physique actually improved way more than when I was lifting weights regularly. Honestly, I don’t think I’ll need a gym again even when they reopen. If possible, I recommend getting a pull-up bar and some rings—they make even simple exercises like push-ups feel way harder.
For pushing exercises, I suggest doing push-ups and dips for your chest/triceps, plus wall handstand presses for shoulders. After a few weeks, these will probably feel too easy. Once you can do 20 push-ups in a row and 10 dips, you should start making it tougher. You can do this by adding weight with a backpack or performing elevated push-ups/dips. Handstand push-ups will likely be challenging for quite some time, but once you can manage 8 or more, try putting your hands on a book to increase your range of motion.
For pulling exercises, keep doing pull-ups until you can do 15 clean reps. This will likely take several months. After that, explore one-arm chin-up tutorials and work on those. Also, look for bodyweight rows using a sturdy table or two chairs.
For leg exercises, I’m not really sure what to recommend, but I found that jump squats and sprints work well if you don’t have weights.
In summary, keep it simple. There are tons of exercises out there, but in my opinion, the basics for upper body strength are just push-ups, dips, handstand presses, pull-ups, and rows.
@Ridley
Sounds awesome! Unfortunately, I don’t have rings, but I can manage pull-ups on my stairs. I can only do seated pull-ups using a broom and chairs for now; I’ll look into how to do proper pull-ups at home.
Part of the Athlean-X program has push-ups and presses that I can do without a hitch. Handstand push-ups are a bit tricky for me, but I can do more than 8 with my legs resting on a wall; going without support is still out of reach. I haven’t started adding weights yet—just increasing the duration instead; I’m trying to hold for a full minute on everything, following along with what I learned from Athlean-X. Pull-ups are still challenging; I can manage 10 clean ones for now, so I know I have a long way to go. As for legs, I’ve been running daily and doing squats and lunges as part of my routine, so it’s reassuring to hear those are effective!
@Jules
Your favorite workouts are good. Many people do them like they’re walking through them. But I wonder, what about the chest? I didn’t notice any push-up variations with extra weight. That seems like the hardest exercise to get right. Elevating the legs helps somewhat, but just focusing on the torso isn’t enough for good chest training.
I follow an old-time strongman approach—no artificial supplements, no counting macros, and no fancy devices. This method fits me well because I’m not keen on machines, I’m not a huge fan of weights, and I struggle with low-rep, high-weight sets. I mostly stick to bodyweight exercises, especially compound ones like push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, squats, and lunges. Besides my body, I occasionally use my barbell just for bicep and forearm curls or add some resistance for squats and lunges, and sometimes a backpack or a weight plate to up the intensity.
To succeed with this method, two things are key: first, I enjoy working out this way and see it as a joy. I’d always prefer 50 push-ups over a bench press routine. Second, I mix my workouts regularly and sometimes make considerable changes to shock my muscles, which I believe boosts my gains.
Another method I love, which has worked for me, is a rep/set scheme similar to the Juarez Valley prison workout. I start with a certain number of reps that are comfortably challenging (let’s say twenty), doing that for 2-3 exercises, so my initial sets look like twenty push-ups, twenty curls, and twenty pull-ups. Then, I repeat the circuit but decrease the reps each round, so I go from twenty down to one. This approach can be altered in several ways, too: you could double the reps or start from one and go to twenty. The key is to keep it engaging and find what you love. This way, you’ll enjoy your workouts and always leave feeling accomplished. If you have questions, feel free to reach out to me!
Most of these I do as part of my warm-up on chest day. I skip the pike and handstand variations as they focus more on shoulders. However, pushing off the ground (not to the height the guy reaches in the video) with hands together, wide apart, and far back from the shoulders is what I focus on. I haven’t seen him do one-arm push-ups; I’d need to really focus on my back and abs for those, which are pretty much core exercises.
> He uses a weighted backpack here
That certainly makes it easier to add weight. I wonder if that wouldn’t feel awkward. The balance is pretty different compared to a barbell.
But for the original poster reading this, there could be some tips to take away from his examples.
@Andi
Lol, it’s definitely entertaining to watch that kind of stuff, and a good challenge when I’m bored and don’t mind falling flat. Have you attempted a flying superman? I actually prefer the flying squirrel.
Nope, I don’t jump high enough to even clap. It’s just part of my warm-up routine. I stick to normal push-ups and a few more explosive ones. In the video, there are diamond push-ups and others, where I either put my feet up on a bench or a ball. I may not be extraordinarily strong (and getting older too!), but I can manage a wide arm chin/pull-up easily; that’s where the gym cables come in handy for adding weights. Meanwhile, with push-ups, I might be pushing something like 40 kg, which isn’t even my warm-up weight when I bench press, which can go up to 80 kg or 90 kg on a good day. Thus, how can I balance the difference without equipment? Clearly, your training style is a separate focus, emphasizing explosiveness rather than just high weight, but I had my own method in mind when replying to the original poster.
If someone is not looking to buy too much gear, they might as well explore different training methods.
@Andi
I honestly don’t know where the original poster is starting from or what their goals are.
The crazy push-up variations were just for fun and a little inspiration. Plyometric push-ups can increase your chest size, but you need to ensure your form and stabilizers are strong enough before trying it safely. This isn’t routine for me as I haven’t advanced to that level.
For myself, I’ve discovered that classic bodyweight exercises tend to be more effective for strength building compared to weights since stabilizer muscles work together with the major muscle groups. Cables also have their benefits over weights because it’s easier to work on multiple muscle groups at once. But if you prioritize volume, weights can get the job done quicker. I typically alternate weights with bodyweight training, but I already had some dumbbells and a barbell at home when everything shut down, giving me that advantage. I’d be interested in switching back to pure bodyweight workouts and seeing how I progress. Plus, having a bar, rings, and parallettes gives a lot more options.
@Jules
> In that respect, cables are better than weights too.
I disagree, but weights can vary. You can hit the gym and sit behind a bench press machine until exhaustion, use a barbell on a particular rack, or have to control it on your own with a barbell or dumbbells. The last two options engage a lot of stabilizers, while the first two seem more for show. I only use those when I want to push a weight I can’t safely handle.
> I usually mix weights with calisthenics
There used to be a popular group workout called power pump a few years back. I don’t see it being mentioned too much these days; I guess another trend has taken over.
> plus I have a bar, rings, and parallettes, so I have more variation and challenges.
No change for you due to the pandemic! Do you do all your workouts at home? I’m glad I can return to the gym for variations I can’t do here.
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