So I just decided that I’ll be spending 5 weeks this summer studying abroad in Europe, going from country to country with no access to a gym. After a year and a half of some pretty solid training, it’s pretty devastating to think of what I’ll have to give up. I was wondering if anyone had ideas for how to fight back against atrophy with nothing but sneakers and a backpack.
So far, all I’ve decided is that I’m looking at pushups…lots and lots of pushups. And crunches.
I spent 4 weeks in Japan last year and yeah, it was tough to maintain what I had. However, I think there are definitely ways to keep your muscles active. For some ideas, I would definitely checkout a book like Never Gymless available from www.rosstraining.com .
In case you don’t, though, I would look into some of the following exercises:
-Pushups (regular, wide/narrow grip, one armed, handstand, incline, WEIGHTED)
-Pullups (grips pronated and supinated, one-armed chinups [negatives if you never work up to them alone], towel, etc)
-One-legged squats (weighted)
-Bodyweight squats (regular, plyometric)
-Other types of jump training
-Sprints
-Isometrics
That’s some basic stuff off the top of my head that hopefully gets you thinking in the right direction.
id say try to make it to the gym once a week if u can… for heavy lifting as someone above said… also check out the article “Death by Bodyweight” by Ian King
definitely look into doing lunges and pistols… jump squats or depth jumps may work
also instead of ur back pack on ur shoulders… hold it by the top strap in her hand so ull always be doing some form of suitcase walk… then every now and then do some regular and reverse curls
calf raises are another option
also check out the article “100 reps a day” by Waterbury
Yup go for the trials. Tell them you’re going to study there for a whole year, but would like a trial period first. Some gyms will only give you one day of trial though.
you can also search their name on youtube, some interesting stuff should come up.
also, just as a sidenote, you’ll probably be tempted to use your backpack when/if you do pushups or squats. these always gave me back pain afterwards (not the greatest thing posture-wise i guess). I stopped once I realized the extra weight wasn’t worth the pain. this is of course if you have the backpack on your back - holding it in your hands might not be such a problem for squats. something to keep in mind…
take a big duffel bag, when you get there, find 100 lbs in sandbags. fill up duffel bag, carry with you, now you have a sandbag, squats, cleans, presses, etc. just another idea