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Weight training without equipment

Weight training without equipment

 

summer is here, and with it, vacation. It's the time when we get away from it all, forget the constraints of work and recharge our batteries with a change of scenery and habits. It's also the time many people choose to take a break from indoor training to recuperate and indulge in other outdoor activities.

How can I keep fit on vacation without going to the gym?

The first thing to do when you don't have the opportunity to go to the gym is to keep your heart in shape and train. There are various ways of doing this.

Brisk walking or jogging

3 or 4 sessions of brisk walking or jogging will keep the heart in shape and the metabolism accelerated, so that despite the small pleasures, you won't put on too much weight during the vacations. Sessions should last at least 30 to 45 minutes.

Cycling

Another pleasant alternative in summer to keep the heart pumping. It's less traumatic for the joints and allows you to explore the surrounding area, away from your vacation home. It's relatively easy to get more than an hour's exercise per session, with 3 sessions a week.

Swimming

This activity combines cardio and muscular work for the whole body, without being traumatic because it's weightless. However, swimming is a demanding activity, and requiring more than 30 minutes per session may prove difficult for some.

As the heart is the main muscle to be kept in shape, let's move on to how you can keep the rest of your musculature awake without stimulating it as you would in the gym, and therefore without jeopardizing this period of regeneration.

I'd advise you to consider this maintenance in the form of circuit training, using whatever means you can get your hands on. During this period, you don't need any equipment, just a little imagination. This training can be done twice a week.

Pectoral muscles can easily be trained using push-ups. There are a multitude of ways of doing this exercise, allowing you to target different areas and different stimuli, while playing on the speed of execution.

  • The first possibility is flat

  • the second is with feet elevated to target the upper zone

the last is with the chest higher than the feet, to target the lower zone

You can also practice dips by leaning on the backs of two chairs facing each other. Make sure they're strong enough to support your weight!

The back can be worked by hanging from a branch or bar to perform pull-ups. Here again, different versions are available. Wide grip, tight grip, shoulder-width supinated hands, which will also work the biceps.

A simple exercise for back thickness: lying under a table, holding on to the end of the supinated hand, bring the torso into contact with the underside of the table, inflating the torso. Long sets are great for congestion of the back and biceps!

To work the deltoids, simply take two plastic bottles and fill them with sand or gravel, and you're ready with your makeshift dumbbells.

You can now easily perform the different elevations to target the three fascicles that make up the shoulders. The weight won't be very heavy, so you'll want to go for long sets to congestate these muscles.

It's perfectly possible to do all three versions in sequence, then take a break and start again. Four sets are sufficient.

The arms can be trained in the form of supersets

For triceps, do reverse push-ups between two chairs. With your feet resting on one chair and your hands resting on the other behind your back, bend your elbows to bring your buttocks as low as possible. Then push back while stretching your arms to return to the initial position.

For the biceps, use your bottles and perform curls in long sets to build up congestion.

Do 4 sequences of these two exercises and your arms will stay toned.

Finally, let's finish off with some abdominal work. Classic crunches get the job done! Here again, use the different versions of crunches: the basic version, the crunches which target the obliques as well as the rectus abdominis, and the floor crunches to target the lower abs.

For the latter, work in sets up to the point of burn, then perform 4 sets It's often neglected!

This training is only a guide to limit the loss of muscular endurance associated with a prolonged break of one or two weeks. It will make it easier for you to resume training when you return from vacation, and will help you keep your muscles toned.

Enjoy your vacations, recover and stay in shape for the coming season -)

Author Alexandre CARPENTIER

Bodybuilding Champion N.A.C 2012

Alexandre shares his bodybuilding experience with MegaGear blog readers