To Workout or Not to Workout?

Bigger Stronger Leaner
1

Hey, probably a majorly nooby question.

So I get that adequate nutrition is central to making any real progress with strength/ size gains. To summarize my current situation, I’m headed down what could be a very unstable freelance career path for at least the next 3-4 years. Lack of funds will probably restrict a lot of my training to calisthenics (pressups, chinups, pistol squats etc.) and I imagine the diet will be dubious at best.

My question is, how much point is there training intensely- which as I understands breaks down the muscle- if I can’t always guarantee I’ll be repairing it with the right food? Is some resistance training always better than none (I’m a naturally skinny guy so I’d like to try and hold on to what little gains I have amassed over the years!), or am I simply better off biding my time until I can afford a more pro-fitness lifestyle?

Any input appreciated

Jim

2

My advice would basically be that something beats the shit out of nothing. I mean, don’t get me wrong IDEAL nutrition is the ideal for ideal progress, though I know I’ve been periods of eating absolute bullshit & still made pretty good progress. Ideal (in pretty much any respect) is something to aim for, but it’s certainly not neccesary for progress (even good progress to be made).

Do what you can.

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3

Dude: eggs, rice, oats, potatoes, meat, fish, milk, butter, vegetables, fruit.

That is literally all you need for a good healthy diet. If you can pick up some spices here and there, you are golden. You can eat like a champion for pretty cheap.

I pay $20 a month for my gym membership. 24 hour access to squat racks, barbells and plenty of weight. If you don’t have an inexpensive gym in your area, check out Craigslist. Pick up a cheap barbell and as much as weight as you need. Perform the lifts in the old York barbell books. No special equipment and power rack necessary. Do hill sprints or whatever for some conditioning…

If you want it, you can make it happen.

4

This. So this.

Don’t give yourself the option of not doing the work. You can’t control much, but you can control that and it determines how much chance you have of succeeding.

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5

I’m seeing now that consistency, as in training consistently over YEARS, trumps pretty much everything else.

So… Yes. You should probably continue doing your calisthenics and eating. It’s better than not doing anything for a couple of years because you think you’ll get inadequate nutrition.

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6

This x 2

Really,you can get in 2.500 - 3.000 calories so cheaply.1.000 of my calories come from water boiled beans everyday,which also give me around 75 grams of protein.Then some rice with some tuna or some cheap canned fish,some nuts,can you really get any cheaper than that?The only thing I can think of is not eating

As for training,if you cannot purchuse a membership,buy some cheap bands.They will probably cost you 10 bucks maximum and you’ll be able to do shoulder presses,more volume on chin ups or chins with added bands,good mornings,tricep extensions,leg curls,tke squats,pushups with added tension and probably a million more stuff

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7

Hey guys- thanks for the responses. Perhaps it is just time to pull my finger out.

Back to the drawing board with the diet I suppose!

8

Mark Lauren wrote a book that is my go to book for when I can’t make it to the gym. It has over 100 body weight exercises. I’m if you google “Mark Lauren+bodyweight exercises” you can find it.

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