Hi I’m in a situation that I can only be at a ‘proper’ gym once a week. (I can workout at home anytime else).
At home I have a bench, barbell and dumbbells but the major problem is a lack of weight. Thus, movements like the squat (no squat rack, so my squat is limited to how much I can clean & press) and the deadlift are severly limited because I have the lack of weight.
Basically I’m thinking this gym day is my money/strength day. I would like to deadlift & squat on this day but I’m not sure how wise that is, considering I would like to work both on fairly low rep and more for strength.
Just wondering if ppl have any recommendations on how to make the most of this day.
I haven’t been in a “proper” gym in a few years, and do not plan on visiting one for quite some time.
How much is visiting the gym costing you in a month?
Would you rather visit the gym or work out at home?
If you want to do squats, etc. once a week at the gym, do them any way you want. You can supplement that work at home with exercises, reps, and a weight that are available to you. While not optimal as far as the rate of size and strength growth is concerned, it’s better than nothing.
How long have you been working out/how experienced are you?
Depending on your goals, you might want to consider keeping the “real gym” day as a lower body day and making use of the toys you don’t have home (squat, leg press, and gasp…other lower body machines), while using your home gym for your upper body work.
Training squats and deads the same day will be tricky. You might want to either focus on only one each week (or two weeks) instead. Or, if you’re hitting them both the same day, alternate and do one exercise lighter/higher rep and the other heavier/lower rep, and swap the parameters each week or two.
Or you could use some variations at home, which make less weight seem more challenging.
Squat variations: barbell hack squat, front squat (after a clean), overhead squat (after a clean and press or snatch), zercher squat (if you can prop the bar on something), or get some good collars and learn the steinborn squat:
Deadlift variations: one arm dl (holding bar in front of body), side dl (holding bar at the side, like a briefcase), reverse grip dl (supinated grip).
Just to comment on the subject–I find that the gym is worth being payed for in the end for most people. Before I joined the military i severly lacked motivation and discipline to maintain my body. Id try to work out at home but id get so bored with it. When I went to the gym id, for the most part, have consistent motivation watching those masses of muscle lifting weights.
Background: I’ve been training seriously for the last 3-4 months. Before that I was pretty active in sport and also mucked around with free weights, so I wasn’t completely devoid of muscle initially.
Since training seriously I’ve gone something like this: 4-day split, 5-day split and recently a full body routine (modeled on a gentilcore program on this site). Being new to lifting, I’ve had some decent gains in strength and size.
My aim is to get my numbers up on the big lifts (squat, deadlift, bench). My numbers on those three are pretty pathetic.
The reason I’m at the gym once (sometimes twice) a week is that this is university gym and how often I go is determined by my uni schedule (which is pretty packed).
I’m in the process of saving to go to a nearby gym. (Saving because if I pay for a year upfront it is quite economical).
I went in today and did something like this:
A. Deadlift/Back Squat (alternate) 5x5, work up to a 1RM or 3RM
B. Leg Curls 3 x 8-10
C1. Pull-Ups 5x5/max
C2. Leg Press 4x10
D1. Seated Calf Raises 4x20
D2. Tricep Pressdowns 3x10
E1. Lat Pulldowns 3x10
E2. Ab work
Basically every exercise is something I can’t do at home. Leg curls because I have weak hamstrings & there is no GHR. The pressdowns because well, it’s variety.
I’m not too concerned about doing the pressdowns/calf raises, they are just there for variety. I’ll probably replace them for the bench press when I go with others.
[quote]gibran wrote:
Just to comment on the subject–I find that the gym is worth being payed for in the end for most people. Before I joined the military i severly lacked motivation and discipline to maintain my body. Id try to work out at home but id get so bored with it. When I went to the gym id, for the most part, have consistent motivation watching those masses of muscle lifting weights.[/quote]
For a beginner a commercial gym is practically necessary IMHO for a variety of reasons, but I train at home and motivation, consistency etc. are not an issue. For a guy with a few months training experience and no other help I’d recommend he find a way to get the gym more if at all possible. Although which gym will be a large factor in how much he can learn there.
I don’t see why you could not do a full body workout the day you go to the gym, and then build in some variety with the home equipment. If you do a heavy leg day, it can take 4-5 days for complete recovery. One heavy day doing squats and deads and one lighter day with body weight exercises (stepup, lunges, pistols) would make significant improvement in your lower body. For upper body you may want to go add two lighter days, since recovery time is less. But, I do not see why you cannot work around when/where you are able to workout and the equipment you have available to get into great shape.
As to the home gym, for me there is no comparison between the home gym and a commercial gym. A home gym is far superior. No waiting in line for equipment, no distractions, choose my own music, not having to drive to the gym and drive back. I find I like to workout alone. It is me-time. Without the waiting and distractions I can get in a work-out in half the time.
The downside to a home gym is the initial output of money. With tax time coming up it may be time to take the leap. I would begin with a power cage, a 300 pound Olympic weight set, a sturdy bench, and the handle attachments that allows you to do dips. That will set you back about $600 or so. Get a cage that has a pullup bar. With that set up you can do squats, deadlifts, rows, bench presses, chinup, dips, curls, shoulder presses, calf raises, stepups (on the bench), and some other exercises. A program built around these basic compound movements can built tremondous strength and size.