The past six months I’ve been either in a limbo state or getting cured. I’ve started running again (5K with PR of 26 at the moment) but feel that I generally want to become a fitter person and not just a better runner, I’ve thought about Crossfit but most gyms are taught by people who have zero experience in Olympic lifts and also it’s pretty expensive for a person who is eating out of savings right now.
Right now I have a bunch of Kettlebells and will start to add more items providing they don’t take much space . I also have access to a pretty large park with pull up bars and such where designed for adults without any kids around. I’m also thinking of working out 4 times a week, but as I said before I want to build a foundation for my fitness and generally become a fitter person.
I will appreciate your advice on my pursuit, also I don’t have the time to join a gym right now so please keep your advice home friendly. Is there anything besides a rower/squat rack/ barbell that I could buy to give me maximum utility ? What plan should I follow ?
Pullups, situps, and pushups are good. Do tricep pushups and diamonds as well. You can do a lot of stuff with Kettlebells. Running is good. You don’t really need that much equipment, just determination.
Check out www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness. There are some very good routines there and a lot of ideas you could implement in your home (that’s basically what that subreddit is for).
This guy knows his sh!t. He was my instructor in Special Operations training during one of the phases in the military. He held the underwater swimming record of 133 meters (he swam until he lost consciousness). https://www.marklauren.com/about/
I would recommend 8 count bodybuilders as well. We used to do these until collapsing. You can get to the point where it is pure muscle memory and you’re half conscious pushing out reps, great exercise.
Ok you still have to focus on abs though. So do crunches, elbow to knees straighforward, R elbow to L knee and so on. Flutter kicks are good as well as scissor kicks.
That link STL posted should yield some good stuff. The 1st thing I thought of reading the initial post was body weight exercises.
When I think of “general fitness” I am thinking priming your body to be ready for specific training whether that be for strength or endurance. Your objectives should be cardiovascular efficiency and your ability for your muscles to recover from repeated workloads. Only after that foundation of “general fitness” is in place can you go on to more specialized efforts such as lifting for strength or getting a 5k race pace down. Think about it. If your goal is to be a power lifter, it requires training with repeated efforts. How can you do that if your muscle physiology has not been trained to recover from repeated efforts or if you become winded due to a poor cardiovascular development.
Moral of the story, by what ever vehicle, a fitness base is all about easy to moderate efforts and lots of repetition. The challenge should come from the repetitions not the individual efforts.
Why don’t you train for the 100 burpree challenge… great to build a fitness base!
In an effort to train soldiers as cheaply and as effectively as possible, the U.S, Navy devised the 8-count bodybuilder, a multi-part exercise that employs intense cardio with resistance training to promote weight loss, build lean muscle and improve overall fitness. The unique exercise combines a traditional pushup with squatting and a variation of a jumping jack to work the entire body.
Features
As its name indicates, the 8-count bodybuilder features eight distinctive movements performed to a counting beat. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and your arms at your sides. On count one, drop into a squatting position with your hands on the ground. Count two involves kicking your feet straight back in a plank position, assuming a standard pushup pose. Lower your chest towards the floor on count three, and then push up on count four. Once more in the elevated pushup position, kick your legs out to the sides on count five. Bring your legs back together in the plank position on count six. Pull your legs forward on count seven, returning to the same squatting position as count two. Finally, leap straight up on count eight, stretching your arms high above your head. Completing all eight movements is considered one full repetition.
Benefits
The 8-count bodybuilder exercise uses your own bodyweight as resistance, meaning there’s no need for expensive equipment or gym memberships. The pushup motion alone strengthens the arms, back, chest and shoulders, while the squatting and leaping borrows from plyometric training in which the muscles are first stretched and then contracted, to generate explosive power in the legs. More than just a test of physical strength and stamina, the 8-count bodybuilder also improves agility, enhances coordination and challenges mental toughness, requiring intense focus to fight through the inevitable fatigue of such a strenuous activity.
Based on experience, this is all pretty much pointless. I lifted weights religiously and did all sorts of ab exercises for 15+ years and barely got a hint of a 6 pack out of it. Then for the last 4 months I’ve been running and dieting seriously with very little weight training or ab work and picked up a very noticeable 6 pack. No amount of jibberish kicks are going to give you abs as much as the right diet and right type of exercising.
Agree with all above. For core focus, try L sit progressions. Stengthening your core has tons of benefits in all areas of fitness. As IHIHM says, you won’t get abs without diet, but you will get for with L sits.
I hear you , the only reason I don’t like the 100 Burpee challenge is it’s potential for getting you injured. But Bodyweight/ Kettlebells are awesome if you just want to get fit generally.
