Steve Kelly
Prominent Member
So after many years of feeding one Mr David LLoyd and his associates many hundreds, nay thousands (which makes me feel sick) of pounds, and never really making the most out of that situation, I decided to switch to training at home.
I had lots of reasons for ultimately making this decision, but the main ones being:-
- The cost - I spose I've averaged paying DL about £65-70 a month over last few years. Adds up to a lot of money, and it's ongoing/never-ending. (I know there are cheaper gym options, but I don't really like mixing with scumbags and drugged-up meat-heads. And in the end, it still all adds up on an ongoing basis)
- Once I'm home from work, I find it very hard to get the motivation to leave the house again (I'm very much a homely bod). Especially outside of the 2 or3 summer months that we get. And so consequently could never settle into a good regular training pattern.
Anyway, I thought I would post this, in case there's anyone else suffering the same sort of thing and might wanna try it too...
So a few months ago I cancelled my subscription to the gym, and thought I'd see what I could do with some dumbells, a decent bench, and a pull-up bar!
Turns out quite a lot really. It certainly covers all the major requisite compound exercises (Squat, Chest Press, Pull-ups, Dead-lifts, etc).
I already had a dumbbell set (York, cast iron, spinlock). My bro-in-law showed me his pull-up bar (which really was the catalyst for me thinking, I could really do it all at home, cos back was one thing i thought i'd miss, and I never had anywhere to 'pull-up' at my place). So I got one of those...one of these - JML Iron Gym Total Upper Body Workout Bar and it is excellent! I use it for chin-ups/pulls-ups and push-ups. I am 12 stone, but my bro-in-law is/was about 15.5/16, and it holds his weight fine (aka, it's plenty strong).
I then bought a bench, this one - York 13 in 1 DB/Hyper Bench
This bench is excellent, very sturdy strong construction. Lots of positions beside flat. it does decline, multi-positions on incline (from 15 degrees, to almost-90). the front seat pad flips up which you can use for concentration curls and also hyper-extensions.
So that was my initial equipment. Plus I bought some more york iron discs from Argos (Amazon is cheapest, Argos is most convenient. You can get these extra disc-only sets in packs of 4 x 5kgs.... 4 x 7.5kgs and 2 x 10kgs).
So I made up a routine that I could do a couple of times per week, including the main exercises (mentioned above). I did this routine for about 8 weeks. The routine was good and served as a good warm up for my muscles (hadn't been to DL gym for a few months before I cancelled it).
This week I switched to a 5-day split (Chest/Back/Legs/Shoulders-Traps/Arms). I treated myself to a barbell, and some extra weights. And I've never enjoyed training more!
I've only started the 5-day split this week and I go on holiday next week, so wont be able to fully focus on it till I get back (though I will hit hotel gym, just to get my buff on, before hitting the beach...of course!).
When I get back I am getting some more weights, and a pad for the barbell, and then I'm done! (well, I probably will want an EZ bar too... but that's just a luxury)
The benefits of home gymming are abundant for me, and I love it! And it might be worth considering for some of you too.
Benefits:
- once the initial costs are of the way, you're done
- no waiting for machines
- no paying for doing it
- no travelling time/costs/inconvenience
- music/tv of your choice
- peace and quiet, i.e. no riff-raff noise
- unlimited posing time
- do it when you want (i.e. I usually do straight after work, but if I'm knackered, I have a power nap first, and dont start till i'm up for it)
I'm sure there are more benefits that I can't think of right now, but just know that there are loads!
One drawback I guess is my lounge has lots of cast iron weights living on the floor at the moment! but luckily it's only me and the missus in my place, and she's not a moaner about things like that, so it's fine, after day 5 I put them away for my couple of days rest.
Great sites for home workouts:-
Scoobys (for his accent alone. Oh, and great home workout tips) -
Scooby's Workshop | Home Fitness & Bodybuilding Workouts
Muscle & Strength (for their exercise database/technique videos/tips - is superb) -
Exercise Video Guides: 900+ Exercises with Instructions & Tips | Muscle & Strength
So there you go. I hope that's helpful to at least some of you.
I've really started to add noticeable mass this week, after the 8 weeks on the pre-workout routine, and now onto the 5-day split.
I can share my routine with anyone that's interested.
if you made it to this point, well done!
I had lots of reasons for ultimately making this decision, but the main ones being:-
- The cost - I spose I've averaged paying DL about £65-70 a month over last few years. Adds up to a lot of money, and it's ongoing/never-ending. (I know there are cheaper gym options, but I don't really like mixing with scumbags and drugged-up meat-heads. And in the end, it still all adds up on an ongoing basis)
- Once I'm home from work, I find it very hard to get the motivation to leave the house again (I'm very much a homely bod). Especially outside of the 2 or3 summer months that we get. And so consequently could never settle into a good regular training pattern.
Anyway, I thought I would post this, in case there's anyone else suffering the same sort of thing and might wanna try it too...
So a few months ago I cancelled my subscription to the gym, and thought I'd see what I could do with some dumbells, a decent bench, and a pull-up bar!
Turns out quite a lot really. It certainly covers all the major requisite compound exercises (Squat, Chest Press, Pull-ups, Dead-lifts, etc).
I already had a dumbbell set (York, cast iron, spinlock). My bro-in-law showed me his pull-up bar (which really was the catalyst for me thinking, I could really do it all at home, cos back was one thing i thought i'd miss, and I never had anywhere to 'pull-up' at my place). So I got one of those...one of these - JML Iron Gym Total Upper Body Workout Bar and it is excellent! I use it for chin-ups/pulls-ups and push-ups. I am 12 stone, but my bro-in-law is/was about 15.5/16, and it holds his weight fine (aka, it's plenty strong).
I then bought a bench, this one - York 13 in 1 DB/Hyper Bench
This bench is excellent, very sturdy strong construction. Lots of positions beside flat. it does decline, multi-positions on incline (from 15 degrees, to almost-90). the front seat pad flips up which you can use for concentration curls and also hyper-extensions.
So that was my initial equipment. Plus I bought some more york iron discs from Argos (Amazon is cheapest, Argos is most convenient. You can get these extra disc-only sets in packs of 4 x 5kgs.... 4 x 7.5kgs and 2 x 10kgs).
So I made up a routine that I could do a couple of times per week, including the main exercises (mentioned above). I did this routine for about 8 weeks. The routine was good and served as a good warm up for my muscles (hadn't been to DL gym for a few months before I cancelled it).
This week I switched to a 5-day split (Chest/Back/Legs/Shoulders-Traps/Arms). I treated myself to a barbell, and some extra weights. And I've never enjoyed training more!
I've only started the 5-day split this week and I go on holiday next week, so wont be able to fully focus on it till I get back (though I will hit hotel gym, just to get my buff on, before hitting the beach...of course!).
When I get back I am getting some more weights, and a pad for the barbell, and then I'm done! (well, I probably will want an EZ bar too... but that's just a luxury)
The benefits of home gymming are abundant for me, and I love it! And it might be worth considering for some of you too.
Benefits:
- once the initial costs are of the way, you're done
- no waiting for machines
- no paying for doing it
- no travelling time/costs/inconvenience
- music/tv of your choice
- peace and quiet, i.e. no riff-raff noise
- unlimited posing time
- do it when you want (i.e. I usually do straight after work, but if I'm knackered, I have a power nap first, and dont start till i'm up for it)
I'm sure there are more benefits that I can't think of right now, but just know that there are loads!
One drawback I guess is my lounge has lots of cast iron weights living on the floor at the moment! but luckily it's only me and the missus in my place, and she's not a moaner about things like that, so it's fine, after day 5 I put them away for my couple of days rest.
Great sites for home workouts:-
Scoobys (for his accent alone. Oh, and great home workout tips) -
Scooby's Workshop | Home Fitness & Bodybuilding Workouts
Muscle & Strength (for their exercise database/technique videos/tips - is superb) -
Exercise Video Guides: 900+ Exercises with Instructions & Tips | Muscle & Strength
So there you go. I hope that's helpful to at least some of you.
I've really started to add noticeable mass this week, after the 8 weeks on the pre-workout routine, and now onto the 5-day split.
I can share my routine with anyone that's interested.
if you made it to this point, well done!
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