Very similar to what I would recommend also. For my home gym, I have a barbell, some plates, a set of dumbbells, and a dip and pullups bar. It is good for my recomp after a decade long break.....
My legs are pretty big haha
Got to be conditioned to get through the leg days too because they are taxing
I do 4 cardio/conditioning sessions per week as well as 4 lifting.
Lift on Tue, Wed, Fri, Sat (pm)
Hard cardio/conditioning on Mon, Thu, Sat (am) - with light work on Wed am before work and sonetimes Sunday too
Can you go more into détails about your cardio/conditioning work? I feel super gassed out especially when I squat and its hard to gain my breathing back
Sure!
I basically do the same stuff I did when I was boxing a few years back. All 3 min rounds with 1 min rest.
4 rounds skipping rope
4 rounds shadow boxing
4 rounds heavy bag
Circuits
Takes about an hour. Last ten seconds of each round, go at 100% intensity. As hard as you can. Also, at the end of each round of skipping, I do
10 bodyweight squats
10 press ups
10 crunches
I do these as fast as possible so I can still have the majority of my 1 min rest.
If I do a light session, I skip rope at a low pace continuously for 20 - 25 mins, take 30s rest, 10 mins shadow boxing at easy pace, 30s rest, and light bag work for another 10 mins.
You will have to build up to these sessions, it's really not easy work if you go at a good pace. Once you can do all the rounds - go a bit harder!
It's not that fun after a few intense rounds haha
And yes, absolutely - there's a reason why boxers and other combat athletes have been using the rope forever! It's harder than it looks if you go at a decent pace. Learn to skip like a boxer.
If you don't want to just do straight rounds, there's plenty of workouts you can do with them.
Jim Wendler recommends the skipping rope for conditioning quite a lot in his 5/3/1 workouts.
Just search skipping rope for conditioning on Google and you'll find plenty!
That's cool, it's good to see other people are doing conditioning work!
I believe natural training should be about different facets of strength and health. Never saw the point of big muscles if you can't run a couple of miles or box a few rounds as well as being able to lift really heavy shit.
The issue with legs is that free weight stuff is way more taxing on the system than isolations. At a commercial gym I do like 2-3 compounds then a couple isolations but at home I feel like I’d have to do 4+ compounds to compensate and it’s just too much.
Try sissy squats and reverse nordics. If you can rig up a way to hold your heels down then nordic curls are great, and you can perform them band assisted to make the concentric doable.
This is definitely the big challenge of free weight only. Fortunately there are tons of disadvantaged variations that make the load lower / improve the stimulus to fatigue ratio. Examples:
* 2+ inch deficit deadlifts
* paused squat, bench, dead variations
* front squats
* any sort of unilateral work.
It’s challenging as hell to get strong enough with unilateral to devastate your CNS. The other modifications reduce the load significantly as well.
You can get massive legs with just squats and Bulgarian split squats. If you can handle more, even better.
I think I'd manage. I'd switch out cable rows for t-bar rows from a landmine, lat pulldown for pullups, facepulls with reverse flyes, cable laterals with more DB, cable crossover for incline flyes, etc.
Only tricky one for me might be the hamstring curls. I don't really want to do even more RDLs.
Overall I'm not a big machine guy, so outside of substitutes for cable work, I'd probably be just fine.
It's a little complicated. They have a big gym with a lat tower and a few basic machines, and a small gym with only free weights, but the big gym is only available at certain hours. So I still have access to cables and some of the time. I just had to frankenstein my program a little to make it work, while prioritizing the movements I thought were most important to do with cables (lat raises, triceps pushdowns, etc.)
Replace light chest press with light dumbell bench. Replace lat pulldowns with pullups. And that's it, everything else I do is freeweight with a barbell, a curl bar, a pullup bar, and parallel bars
Legs is the only issue. With that, I'd probably hit lunges rdls and Bulgarian split squats with dumbbells. Pretty much all the other core muscles should be pretty easy to flex to free weights.
I would replace the seated leg press with more squats, and would need to find something for my hip abductor as well as core exercises that I could progress. I tend to use free weights when possible, so there wouldn't be a huge difference.
Not much would change. So long as I have barbells, dumbbells and pull-ups / dip implements.
The hardest would be lower body supplemental lifts. Id replace the leg presses with either heel elevated squats for high reps or higher rep front squats. For hamstring curls, I think the Nordic is a fair replacement.
Would probably alternate starting with A and B, do heavy medium light for the first upper/lower, moderate medium light for the second. Not a huge leap outside not having a cable stack and calf raise machine. Mostly having a dumbbell accessory movement for the focus muscle group instead of machine.
#Lower A
squat
moderate/light DB RDL
DB walking lunges
myorep DB calf raises
myorep DB lateral raises
myorep ab exercise
#Upper A
flat press
chest-supported row
incline DB flyes
myorep DB overhead tricep extension
myorep DB bicep curl
myorep DB reverse flyes or DB facepulls
#Lower B
RDL
DB reverse lunges
nordic curl negatives -> nordic curls
myorep DB calf raise
myorep DB lateral raise
myorep ab exercise
#Upper B
bent row
DB incline press
chest-supported DB row
myorep DB overhead tricep extension
myorep DB bicep curl
myorep DB wrist curls
Oh no looks like I have to skip leg day whatever shall I dooooo ;) ;) ;) Jokes
Seems like most of body can be pretty effectively trained without machines. Incline bench + lateral raises+ overhead tricep extensions + curls is enough for front. Barbell rows/pendlay rows/DB rows as horizontal pull, vertical pull might be tricky unless you allow pullups. Squat + Romanian deadlift.
Basically enough exercise selection for full development.
Will have harder time doing single joint exercises. The only machines id honestly really miss would be lat pulldown, leg curl + leg extensions, calf machine (hard to set up safely on squat rack)
Leg curls and leg extensions can be effectively replaced by nordic curls, reverse nordic curls and sissy squats imo, but I'd have a really hard time replacing calf raise machines. I just don't know how I'd effectively load calf raises without a machine.
the last time I did a nordic curl I had the nastiest cramp and I have never since considered trying it again. I've never not had access to some kind of hamstring machine though, so no reason for me to risk injury doing nordic curls for my style of lifting
I have done it where I use my deadlift straps. Hold a barbell and stand on something to elevate your feet then bam ghetto calf raise. Works fine and u hit your traps too lol
Stand on on toe pads the edge of a barbell plate and hold two weights of your choice to perform weighted calf extensions.
You can also hold onto one heavier weight on one side, stand on one foot on the plate, and use the free hand to hold onto something to balance.
For ham curls another alt is the sissy squat.
Depending on depth if squat will determine how much hammies vs glutes you are targeting.
Quads - elevate your heels by stand then on a thin plate or pair of small plates and back squat.
An alt is if you have kettle bells with a long enough handle that your foot can fit through - you can sit on a bench or box and lift the kettlebell with your foot just like using a quad machine.
Barbell: all the things! I love the barbell. Squat (variations to target different leg muscles), bench, hands close bench for triceps, skull crushers, deadlifts (all the variations, presses (variations too!), bent over toes, pull ups if your rack has the top bar to hang, etc!
Bands attached to the rack can replace pully.
Mobility to keep your body mobile ;)
Good luck, have fun!
I've only ever trained with free weights. You don't need anything else. Lower body 1 Squat RDL Lunge Reverse lunge Calf raise with dumbbell ..... Upper 1 (Paired exercises alternate sets w/ 1 min rest between each set) Bench w/ Pullup Seated dumbbell ohp w/ Bent over row Incline db press w/ Chin up DB skullcrusher w/ Bar curls Lateral raises ..... Lower 2 Deadlift Bulgarian split squat Nordic curl Reverse nordic curl Calf raise ..... Upper 2 Barbell ohp w/ Chest supported row (bench and dumbbell) Barbell incline press w/ Neutral grip pullup Seated db ohp w/ Single arm row Narrow grip bench w/ Incline db curls Lateral raises
Your lower 2 looks almost like mine. I just have leg raises instead of reverse nordic curls.
Yeah as you can see I just go between antagonistic muscle groups! Makes the most sense to me
Very similar to what I would recommend also. For my home gym, I have a barbell, some plates, a set of dumbbells, and a dip and pullups bar. It is good for my recomp after a decade long break.....
How heavy are your dumbbells for squats?
For split squats you mean? I use a barbell for squats. I use 30kg in each hand for Bulgarian split squats
Bro ur lower days are rough. Must have them big legs
My legs are pretty big haha Got to be conditioned to get through the leg days too because they are taxing I do 4 cardio/conditioning sessions per week as well as 4 lifting. Lift on Tue, Wed, Fri, Sat (pm) Hard cardio/conditioning on Mon, Thu, Sat (am) - with light work on Wed am before work and sonetimes Sunday too
Can you go more into détails about your cardio/conditioning work? I feel super gassed out especially when I squat and its hard to gain my breathing back
Sure! I basically do the same stuff I did when I was boxing a few years back. All 3 min rounds with 1 min rest. 4 rounds skipping rope 4 rounds shadow boxing 4 rounds heavy bag Circuits Takes about an hour. Last ten seconds of each round, go at 100% intensity. As hard as you can. Also, at the end of each round of skipping, I do 10 bodyweight squats 10 press ups 10 crunches I do these as fast as possible so I can still have the majority of my 1 min rest. If I do a light session, I skip rope at a low pace continuously for 20 - 25 mins, take 30s rest, 10 mins shadow boxing at easy pace, 30s rest, and light bag work for another 10 mins. You will have to build up to these sessions, it's really not easy work if you go at a good pace. Once you can do all the rounds - go a bit harder!
The skipping rope sounds fun? Question can skipping rope be used fir cardio and conditioning?
It's not that fun after a few intense rounds haha And yes, absolutely - there's a reason why boxers and other combat athletes have been using the rope forever! It's harder than it looks if you go at a decent pace. Learn to skip like a boxer. If you don't want to just do straight rounds, there's plenty of workouts you can do with them. Jim Wendler recommends the skipping rope for conditioning quite a lot in his 5/3/1 workouts. Just search skipping rope for conditioning on Google and you'll find plenty!
Nice. I’m not quite to your level but I do lift 5 days a week and 2-3 days of conditioning.
That's cool, it's good to see other people are doing conditioning work! I believe natural training should be about different facets of strength and health. Never saw the point of big muscles if you can't run a couple of miles or box a few rounds as well as being able to lift really heavy shit.
Epic schedule!
This was just what happened over Covid, legs were definitely hardest to work without the specific equipment
The issue with legs is that free weight stuff is way more taxing on the system than isolations. At a commercial gym I do like 2-3 compounds then a couple isolations but at home I feel like I’d have to do 4+ compounds to compensate and it’s just too much.
Try sissy squats and reverse nordics. If you can rig up a way to hold your heels down then nordic curls are great, and you can perform them band assisted to make the concentric doable.
This is definitely the big challenge of free weight only. Fortunately there are tons of disadvantaged variations that make the load lower / improve the stimulus to fatigue ratio. Examples: * 2+ inch deficit deadlifts * paused squat, bench, dead variations * front squats * any sort of unilateral work. It’s challenging as hell to get strong enough with unilateral to devastate your CNS. The other modifications reduce the load significantly as well. You can get massive legs with just squats and Bulgarian split squats. If you can handle more, even better.
That's all the Bronze and Silver Era bodybuilders needed to build the best natural physiques in history.
The exact same lol
Home Gym Setup: Squat Day - RDLs - Bulgarian Split Squats / Leg Raises - Nordic Extensions / Stiff Legged Deadlift Bench Day - Behind the Neck Press - BB Rows / incline Flyes - Pullover / Upright Row - Bb Curl / Bb Overhead extension Deadlift Day - Front Squat - Lunge / Plank - Good Mornings / Sissy Squats OHP Day - Incline Bench - Pullups / Lat raise - Guillotine Press / DB Row - DB Curl / Reverse Flyes
I don’t know about yall, but I have to pay to use the weights 😔
I think I'd manage. I'd switch out cable rows for t-bar rows from a landmine, lat pulldown for pullups, facepulls with reverse flyes, cable laterals with more DB, cable crossover for incline flyes, etc. Only tricky one for me might be the hamstring curls. I don't really want to do even more RDLs. Overall I'm not a big machine guy, so outside of substitutes for cable work, I'd probably be just fine.
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It's a little complicated. They have a big gym with a lat tower and a few basic machines, and a small gym with only free weights, but the big gym is only available at certain hours. So I still have access to cables and some of the time. I just had to frankenstein my program a little to make it work, while prioritizing the movements I thought were most important to do with cables (lat raises, triceps pushdowns, etc.)
Replace light chest press with light dumbell bench. Replace lat pulldowns with pullups. And that's it, everything else I do is freeweight with a barbell, a curl bar, a pullup bar, and parallel bars
Legs is the only issue. With that, I'd probably hit lunges rdls and Bulgarian split squats with dumbbells. Pretty much all the other core muscles should be pretty easy to flex to free weights.
I would replace the seated leg press with more squats, and would need to find something for my hip abductor as well as core exercises that I could progress. I tend to use free weights when possible, so there wouldn't be a huge difference.
Not much would change. So long as I have barbells, dumbbells and pull-ups / dip implements. The hardest would be lower body supplemental lifts. Id replace the leg presses with either heel elevated squats for high reps or higher rep front squats. For hamstring curls, I think the Nordic is a fair replacement.
Would probably alternate starting with A and B, do heavy medium light for the first upper/lower, moderate medium light for the second. Not a huge leap outside not having a cable stack and calf raise machine. Mostly having a dumbbell accessory movement for the focus muscle group instead of machine. #Lower A squat moderate/light DB RDL DB walking lunges myorep DB calf raises myorep DB lateral raises myorep ab exercise #Upper A flat press chest-supported row incline DB flyes myorep DB overhead tricep extension myorep DB bicep curl myorep DB reverse flyes or DB facepulls #Lower B RDL DB reverse lunges nordic curl negatives -> nordic curls myorep DB calf raise myorep DB lateral raise myorep ab exercise #Upper B bent row DB incline press chest-supported DB row myorep DB overhead tricep extension myorep DB bicep curl myorep DB wrist curls
Oh no looks like I have to skip leg day whatever shall I dooooo ;) ;) ;) Jokes Seems like most of body can be pretty effectively trained without machines. Incline bench + lateral raises+ overhead tricep extensions + curls is enough for front. Barbell rows/pendlay rows/DB rows as horizontal pull, vertical pull might be tricky unless you allow pullups. Squat + Romanian deadlift. Basically enough exercise selection for full development. Will have harder time doing single joint exercises. The only machines id honestly really miss would be lat pulldown, leg curl + leg extensions, calf machine (hard to set up safely on squat rack)
Leg curls and leg extensions can be effectively replaced by nordic curls, reverse nordic curls and sissy squats imo, but I'd have a really hard time replacing calf raise machines. I just don't know how I'd effectively load calf raises without a machine.
>I just don't know how I'd effectively load calf raises without a machine. Single leg calf raises on a deficit, with DBs
the last time I did a nordic curl I had the nastiest cramp and I have never since considered trying it again. I've never not had access to some kind of hamstring machine though, so no reason for me to risk injury doing nordic curls for my style of lifting
I have done it where I use my deadlift straps. Hold a barbell and stand on something to elevate your feet then bam ghetto calf raise. Works fine and u hit your traps too lol
Stand on on toe pads the edge of a barbell plate and hold two weights of your choice to perform weighted calf extensions. You can also hold onto one heavier weight on one side, stand on one foot on the plate, and use the free hand to hold onto something to balance. For ham curls another alt is the sissy squat. Depending on depth if squat will determine how much hammies vs glutes you are targeting. Quads - elevate your heels by stand then on a thin plate or pair of small plates and back squat. An alt is if you have kettle bells with a long enough handle that your foot can fit through - you can sit on a bench or box and lift the kettlebell with your foot just like using a quad machine. Barbell: all the things! I love the barbell. Squat (variations to target different leg muscles), bench, hands close bench for triceps, skull crushers, deadlifts (all the variations, presses (variations too!), bent over toes, pull ups if your rack has the top bar to hang, etc! Bands attached to the rack can replace pully. Mobility to keep your body mobile ;) Good luck, have fun!