You Don’t Need a Gym For a Great Workout

You don’t need a gym to get a great workout! Most of us think we need expensive machines and tons of free weights to get the body we want with a toned, taut belly and ripped muscles, but this is so untrue. Here are some tips to get you out of the gym rut and into back into great shape:

1) Use your own body weight. Squats, lunges, planks and push-ups are tried-and-true exercises to build strength and definition. If they start getting too easy, you can always add a barbell in each hand to increase resistance. Out of shape? These favorites will quickly get you stronger and won’t cost you a dime.

2) Climb some stairs. If you have stairs in your home, climbing stairs is a great way to increase strength and agility. You could easily incorporate stair-climbing into an cardio interval routine. Go up and down those stairs as fast as you can for two minutes, then spend a minute doing push-up–repeat for 20 minutes. This is an example of a simple, yet effective routine. Or, if you want a bigger challenge, head over to the local high-school stadium and do some sprints up the stairs. An excellent method to turn that jelly bum into firm, tight glutes.

3) Wind sprints. If you’ve ever played on a sports team, you will probably remember these beauties. Find a school field or local park that has some wide open spaces. Start out at a moderate jog, then pick up the pace and go as fast as you can for thirty seconds. Resume your jogging pace after your burst of speed, don’t stop or go slower than you did starting out. You can also do wind sprints while cycling, walking, rowing or even swimming. They are very versatile.

4) Hill climbs. Want to build endurance and speed? Find some nice, steep hills in your neighborhood and incorporate them into your interval routine. Run uphill for a minute or two, then walk down for another minute or two and break back into your uphill run. It’s a tough routine, but totally worth it.

5)Be a strong man (or woman.) Fill yourself a couple of sandbags and hold them while you are doing squats or lunges. Those quads, hamstrings and glutes will burn up, but you’ll thank yourself when you see those taut legs and glutes later. Find yourself a big tractor tire and practice lifting it and flipping it over. What a great workout!I’m sure you can think of many exercises like this on your own.

6) Try indoor rock climbing. Rock climbing challenges all those muscles you didn’t even know that you had. A great physical and mental workout.

7) Mountain biking. Don’t waste time with the monotony of spending hours on a stationary bike. Get out there in nature and build a great body climbing hills, recovering going downhill and maintaining your balance as you negotiate curves and stumps.

So get yourself off the couch, and out of the gym once in a while if you want to build a lean, hard-muscled physique with beach-worthy abs. Boredom is the enemy of the exerciser, so try a few of these routines to break up the gym mentality and keep working towards that great body.