Strength Training Without Weights: Ways To Get Set Up

Article by Thomas Christopher

The common image of strength training is a sweaty heavyweight hoisting massive barbells, nevertheless if you aren’t attracted to pumping iron, you don’t have to. You don’t need any iron whatsoever in your home workout equipment. At minimum, you need your own body mass. Beyond that, a few items of plastic will help.

The human body offers significant variety with its variously weighted limbs and its joints which give a near boundless number of movement options. Directed and repeated movements of simply your body can supply all the strength training you want. But to move your body with comfort and safety, you should purchase a good workout mat. Padding makes most of the prone and seated activity a lot more comfortable. Try to find a mat that’s at least 3/8 inch thick. The thin yoga mats may be convenient to roll up and stick under your arm for transport, but they are not thick enough to pad your body properly.

You can find many video clips and write-ups on body-only strength workouts on the web, but be careful about the certifications of the instructor. You can find as many online videos as you want from certified physical trainers and physical therapists. If something hurts–you know the contrast between working muscles and real pain–stop! Strength training should not cause pain.

You’re likely to get bored just using your own body, and boredom might lead you to stop working out. So this is where simple resistance bands or tubes come in. These rainbow-colored bands add resistance between limbs, or can be attached to a door knob or a grip bar. They give variety and increase the strength needed to perform a movement. The bands gain in strength as the color gets darker. This means you can go a very long way in getting to your strength training aspirations with only these light, economical, easily stored bands. You can find them at any decent sporting goods shop or on the web. Hang them on light plastic hooks to avoid tangles.

One more rubbery enhancement to your home exercise equipment should be a fitness ball. Pick one that enables you sit on it with flat feet. A fitness ball magnifies your body-only exercises. You will be amazed at the increased difficulty of a push-up started with your feet on an unsteady round surface. Your core stability and your balance will both be dramatically challenged, and improved.

A buying tip: get the ball with a pump, spare plugs (in case you damage one trying to re-inflate a flat ball) and the training booklet or DVD. These extras will make life with your fitness ball a challenge–not an irritation. (Note: a bicycle pump even with a “ball needle” will not work.)

Don’t pump iron, pump plastic! It will save your space and your money and is just as effective.