T Nation

Improvising

Bodybuilding
#1

I want this thread to be about how you (or anyone you know) improvise(s) to get your workout in without having access to the ideal equipment you would like.

My gym member ship just ran out a few days ago, and since I plan on moving to Albany, NY very soon, I didn’t want to sign another contract with that gym.

Since I can’t pay by the month, I’m working out at home with 2 dumbbells, one E-Z curl bar, a decline/flat/seated bench, about 230-240lbs of various sized weights, and a chin-up bar that you screw into a doorway, all bought from Walmart.

Here is a video of me doing chin-ups in the doorway of my closet:

[video]89[/video]

Post any videos or pictures you have of how you improvise to get the job done.

#2

SWR, can you explain why your shorts are halfway down your arse?

Other than that, congratulations on being the first T-member that I see with an embedded video.

Good pull up technique too.

#3

OK, I’ll be constructive. There’s no reverse hyper machine in my gym, so I have to improvise with a bench and a swiss ball (see, they do have uses). I put both the back and the seat of the bench at an angle and fit the ball onto it. I then jump onto the ball so I’m lying on my stomach and hold onto the bench back. To add weight I place a dumbell between my ankles. This setup is far from ideal, but it’s better than nothing.

#4

My gym has no dip bars, so i use a treadmill with some ideally-placed side rails.

I get a lot of strange looks from the bench-curl only crowd.

#5

[quote]Miserere wrote:
OK, I’ll be constructive. There’s no reverse hyper machine in my gym, so I have to improvise with a bench and a swiss ball (see, they do have uses). I put both the back and the seat of the bench at an angle and fit the ball onto it. I then jump onto the ball so I’m lying on my stomach and hold onto the bench back. To add weight I place a dumbell between my ankles. This setup is far from ideal, but it’s better than nothing.[/quote]

That’s…interesting.

How the hell did you put up a video?

#6

[quote]Miserere wrote:
SWR, can you explain why your shorts are halfway down your arse?

Other than that, congratulations on being the first T-member that I see with an embedded video.

Good pull up technique too.[/quote]

Hey, the top of those shorts are white, and blend in a little with my skin. They’re up over the crack, I swear!

#7

[quote]theangelkiller wrote:
My gym has no dip bars, so i use a treadmill with some ideally-placed side rails.

I get a lot of strange looks from the bench-curl only crowd.[/quote]

Good idea, I was trying to find something I could dip off of last night. I had an old kid’s bed but couldn’t find any other rails to put near it (for the other hand).

I ended up doing decline DB benches instead.

I’m surprised nobody from the gym said anything to you.

#8

[quote]El_Animal wrote:

How the hell did you put up a video?

[/quote]

If you upload a video to your “My T-Naiton” you can copy and past the video by coppying and pasting where it says “Embed this video”.