Don’t Have a Gym to Go to? Try a Bodyweight Workout at Home

Image credit: Dan Qiu

Many people want to be healthy and get fit, but not everyone has access to a gym. However, there are many ways to work out without paying for a gym membership.

“Gyms only started to come around since the 1950s, so for thousands of years, people worked out without gyms,” Sean Hinton, a National Academy of Sports Medicine and National Commission for Certifying Agencies certified personal trainer, said.

One of the most effective ways to build muscle is bodyweight training, according to Hinton and other experts.

“Just look at gymnasts. They definitely aren’t lacking in either strength or physique,” Hinton said.

“You can do push-ups, bodyweight squats, handstands and more in the comfort of your own home. No equipment needed. And if you can make it to the park, there’s bars there,” Brooklyn-based personal trainer Grace Kavadlo said.

While many people may think that bodyweight training simply includes ordinary push-ups and pull-ups, there are in fact many ways to get creative with these workouts.

“Some of the benefits of bodyweight training is that most of the exercises can be scaled (progressed or regressed) without having to buy or handle any bulky equipment,” New York City-based trainer Danny Kavadlo wrote in an email response. Danny is Grace Kavadlo's brother-in-law.

“For example, a push-up can be made easier if the practitioner placed his or her hands on an elevated surface. Conversely, placing the feet on the same surface, with the hands on the ground would make it more difficult... so would trying it on one arm!” Danny Kavadlo wrote.

In 2011, Paul Wade, an ex-convict who learned many bodyweight training methods from other prisoners to help him survive during his time in San Quentin State Prison, published a book titled "Convict Conditioning." The book introduces six categories of bodyweight training, with different levels of difficulties, each strengthening different muscle groups.

For instance, the push-up series, mainly for the chest and triceps, range from the easiest wall-pushes to the most difficult one-handed push-ups. Other high-level workouts included in the book include one-handed pull-ups, leg raises while hanging onto a bar and pistol squats (one legged squats). It can take a person years to master these techniques and significantly improve their strength in the process.

Wade went on to publish a series of books that introduced many creative bodyweight workouts, including ones that help build explosiveness (the ability to run fast, jump high and move agilely).

There are many other books and programs on the internet which focus on bodyweight training. Though this type of training may not help with lifting heavy weights as much as traditional training like bench pressing and deadlifting would, you can still get fit by mastering body movements with bodyweight exercises.

“A push-up can be incredibly effective in building strength and power. So can a bench press. They (bench press and push-ups) are similar movement patterns that emphasize the same muscles. But they are not the same and there is some specificity involved,” Danny Kavadlo wrote. “Who's stronger, the guy who can bench 315 pounds, or the guy who can do ten perfect one-arm push-ups on each hand? Because it ain't the same guy! What I mean to say is, a pushup will make you better at bench press, but ultimately bench pressing is more specific to bench pressing."

Bodyweight training can be particularly beneficial to women, according to Grace Kavadlo.

“A lot of women are afraid of getting bulky and often attribute weightlifting to that,” Grace Kavadlo said. "Bodyweight training favors lean body mass and it is a great way to train for people who don’t want to lift heavy or at all and want that lean muscle look.”

Of course, when compared to a weight room with various equipment, bodyweight training has its limitations. But if your goal is to spend zero dollars and get fit, this is the perfect way to go.