The Keys To A Gym-Less Workout

So you’ve ditched the gym – now what?

First thing’s first, what’s your plan?

Sit down with a piece of paper and write down all you goals. You probably haven’t done this since you first joined the gym anyway, so it’s a great opportunity to reaffirm your aims and targets.

From here, you can then decide on what route you’re going to follow – cardio junkie, bodyweight beast, or home gym hero.

Cardio Junkie

Love the treadmill, elliptical and rower at the gym, but hate everything else? If you think the chest press machine and squat rack are better used as expensive coat racks, you are undoubtedly a cardio junkie.

The good news is that means you don’t really need to buy any equipment to keep working out on your own, without a gym. You should already have your gym clothes, which is more or less all you need.

A new pair of running shoes wouldn’t go amiss, especially if you’ve only used your current ones for gym work. A bike is a safe option too – if you get bored of exercising with it you can always use it to get around and save on fuel.

If you fancy something else too, why not pick up a second hand piece of cardio kit online to keep in your garage or back room?

Bodyweight Beast

This is pretty self-explanatory. The main focus of your workouts will be bodyweight exercises.

The massive advantage of this is cost – your body doesn’t cost anything. Plus it’s fantastic motivation to keep your waistline in check – added body fat will make your training much harder, so you’ve got to keep lean.

Make pushups, squats, lunges, planks, bird-dogs and burpees the staple exercises in your home routine. Equipment isn’t a necessity, but a chin up bar plus a resistance band or two will make your training efforts go a lot further.

Home Gym Hero

The home gym hero is the next level up. This is for you if you love the gym and enjoy pumping iron but just cant be doing with monthly membership fees or queues any more.

Forget resistance machines – they’re bulky, overpriced and only have one or two functions each. Opt instead for a basic strength set up.

Get yourself a bench, a power rack or an adjustable squat rack plus an Olympic barbell with plates and collars. This is really all you need as it means you can squat, deadlift, overhead press, bench press and perform rows and chin ups plus all their variations. What more could you want?

Variety is the spice of life though, so consider purchasing a few extras as and when you can.

A kettlebell is a nice addition as a method of improving your conditioning, fitness and muscular endurance, as are medicine balls. Some good floor matting is essential too as you don’t want cracks in the floor from your monster deadlift.

There you have it – why ditching the gym might be the best decision you ever made.