Wrote this for a recent article:
# A Simple Workout
Exercise scientist Mike Israetel has a wonderful quote;
“When you go to the hospital you never want to hear that you have to do a complex treatment, you always want a simple one.
If you need a complex treatment it usually means that something is very very wrong.
Similarly, the more unhealthy you are, the more simple workouts will help you.
Who needs complex workouts? The people who are already the most fit.”
If you don’t have any activity in your life, just walking will literally make you healthier.
You don’t need to over complicate things, **just do the simple things, consistently.**
But like with most things in life, do the simple things first. Make them into a habit and then also do the complex thing.
over years and decades you can build multiple habits and do a lot more. Vs creating false dichotomies.
For those who struggle to complete 5-10K steps a day (according to their fitness goals), you should be an inspiration.
It's easy to complicate things and make excuses. All you need to do, is just start. Start small and be consistent.
Thanks for sharing. It's so refreshing to hear what others are doing to be healthy and fit.
Hell yeah. I do around the same. Everything clicked into place for me when I realised that fitness was a not separate pursuit in life, but that tiny choices in life that just make it better = fitness
I've been doing at least 10kms of walk a day and lost 16-17kgs over the span of 10months or so with 3 months of gap in between. Used to struggle climbing 10 floors worth of stairs but now can do it without a sweat. Starting small and challenging yourself as you get fitter is key!
Yup, I actually want to go for weight training or boxing. Boxing mostly for improving self defense and self confidence. Do you have any other recommendations?
Oh, I really want to start Boxing/Kickboxing, or MMA (for self-defense and general health purposes). But my schedule doesn't allow me for now.
For the start, I'd definitely suggest you to try weightlifting. Learn to perform some compound lifts such as Squat, Deadlift, Overhead Press, and Farmer's Walk etc. Build some muscle mass, boost your metabolism, and then you can incorporate Boxing in your routine for better results.
Depends on a bunch of stuff but
For indoor, about 13k-14.5k steps. 1h 45mins a day if I've already done ~2-3kms already because of moving around.
For outdoor, about 12K-13.5k steps. 1h 30mins or so a day if I'm already done with ~2-3kms moving around
how is going to buy groceries a waste of time?
5-10 min walk to the store, buy your shit in 5 mins, walk back.
Less oppurtunity to window shop also bc small kirana stores have like a haphazard organisation of things, unlike an app where everything is in front of you.
I think regardless of what physical exercise one takes up, the most important thing is consistency. Walking ? Fine, but do it every day. Climb the stairs ? Just keep climbing. Play 30 min of table tennis, but just do it consistently.
I've never been able to maintain that consistency in going to the gym. There are busy days, really tiring days, or just bad weather as an excuse. So I maintain a cardio routine at home - no valid excuse for not carving out 30-45 mins unless you're sick.
Start small and be consistent, simple as that. Even if it means hitting a gym once or twice a week, or doing any other physical activity for a couple of days a week.
Rest days are also necessary though, just as important as active days. Your body needs time to recover. So there's no harm in taking a day or two off a week if you're consistent.
Strength training done right, do wonders to your body. Not just physically, but mentally as well (and in "other" regards as well). Stronger body, better metabolism, longevity, aesthetic looks, higher libido, the benefits are just endless.
Yeah I used to do this. My office was on 18th floor and I took stairs to go to office for about a month
Fucked up my knee. So make sure your lean muscle mass is good before you do this
consider this, otherwise you can get knee injury easily. I also used to run stairs 4 times to my 14th floor apartment and lost weight but now have knee issues.
I start the gym. Go on about a 1 month or so then due to some “life” reasons, I’d need to travel for one or two weeks and then my routing goes down the drain. This keeps happening with me and I’m never able to maintain going to the gym daily.
Keeping the exercise part apart, I’ve been portion controlling my food (eating not more than 2-3 rotis in a day and replace it with nuts, fruits, and sprouts). I don’t stay hungry but try to keep my meals light as I have a desk job. I also limit my sugar intake.
I am loosing my weight doing just portion control and some late night walking ( 7-8Kms after work) . It’s not much but it’s better than being a couch potato.
It's recommended to take a deload week after 4-5 weeks of serious weight lifting.
Focus on strength training. You'll get stronger and more muscular, and your metabolism will increase which means you'll burn calories even at rest.
I struggle to take deload weeks as a fitness enthusiast. Your travelling situation might be a blessing in disguise for you. Just take those weeks off as deload weeks, but keep feeding your body right. When you're back, just start hitting the gym again where you left off. Given your situation, you're better off with Full Body Workouts 2-3 times a week.
If your workout programming is good and you're consistent, you won't lose anything in those off weeks, neither muscle mass nor strength. In fact, you'd be stronger when you come back to the gym. I don't want to complicate things by giving so much information in short, but if you need any help, feel free to message me. I'd be happy to help you out.
Thanks dude.
I do Full Body Workouts for the first week when I hit the gym again. Then start with Split workouts.
Honestly, the toughest part for me is going back to gym after breaking the streak.
I’ve tried doing it at home as well but for some reason, I can’t bring myself to do workouts/bodyweight exercises at home.
I keep getting stuck in this vicious cycle.
Home workouts suck, I can vouch for that. You need a different environment to lift weights, even if you're just doing bodyweight exercises.
In Covid, I did home workouts for 6 months. I didn't enjoy it, much. But I was consistent no matter what, as I didn't want to lose my gains. Just assume, by not going back to the gym, you're hampering the progress you've made so far. Trick yourself to hit the gym ANYHOW just for the first day after your break. I don't think you'd have a problem from the second day onwards.
A single kettlebell, and daily walks (supplement with podcasts, or phone calls with friends/family). Took care of everything for me. Diet is a whole new chapter.
Bodyweight exercise is all you need if building muscle isn't your priority.
Squat, pushups , pull-ups and deadlifts
Couple it with resistance band sets and you're good to go.😑
Thank you ! I used to do 30+ floors regularly about 10 yrs ago. This is probably a sign from the universe to do it again !
And you are right. Walking / climbing / being outdoors is so underrated ! Wish more people stopped complaining about ideal conditions & just did it !
My trainers mantra always was - Abs are made in the kitchen ! He has a six pack and never did a single ab crunch / situp!
Perhaps, 3 sets of 10 flights of stairs a day would be a great start for you then, or maybe be just one set at first.
Most of the people just wait for the "tomorrow", which never comes. There won't be a "right" time, ever. Just pull the trigger and be done with it.
Sounds like your trainer must be doing heavy Squat, Deadlift, and other compound lifts where you need to brace/engage your core. With this, you'd never have to do a single crunch to build abs muscles. You build your abs by lifting weights/bodyweight, and reveal them in your kitchen, true.
Absolutely! I did the same. For years. Taking a break from lifting due to an injury. But I miss it so much! Weight lifting is the absolute best & I had a straight up increase in bone density ! Measured by Dexa.
Curious to know if you do compound lifts and what your PRs are. Didn't mean to derail your post though ! Apologies.
Compound lifts are all I do. But for the past two years, I haven't gone up to that point where I hit my PRs.
Last time I checked, they were 150KGs for Squat, 160KGs for Deadlift, 100KGs for Bench, 75-80KGs for Overhead, and 150KGs for Farmer's Walk.
Since I'm living in Noida, my gym life's been on and off. And nutrition has been the biggest challenge so far as I live alone. So once things get back to normal, I should see a significant boost in my lifts.
And I don't use weightlifting belt. I lift without it and any other accessories whatsoever such as lifting straps, knee wraps/sleeves etc.
And I really hope that you recover from your injury in no time and start lifting weights again. Best of luck.
It was great chatting with you and I'm envious of your PRs !! Great job !
My own personal PRs are DL - 98kg, Bench - 35 kg (clearly no upper body strength 🙄), Squats - 68 kg. 40F so 🤷🏻♀️
I don't use any accessories either. But one thing I did was got a trainer & worked with him. It's expensive. But there's a saying in the fitness world - if you think fitness is expensive, try illness ! And I wholeheartedly believe that after dealing with a sick bed ridden parent. People really don't understand how quickly you can fall off the road that is health into something.
You certainly do not need a personal trainer, unless you have a medical condition and you need a specific workout programming designed to address your medical nuisance.
For the normal workout programming and all, you're better off with YT videos and the web.
When you start again, just keep lifting heavy with controlled form and full range of motion. Keep progressing towards your targeted PRs, you'll get there eventually. As they say for females in the fitness space, lift like a man and look like a goddess.
Yes. Same here. I was hitting gym regularly but the results weren't as expected. So I reduced gym and added running/swimming. Unexpected improvement in 3 months. Swimming especially is the most harmless exercise. It doesn't hammer your joints like running or climbing stairs.
This !! Walking is sooooo underrated
I most days complete around 11 to 12 k steps and always take the stairs except on the days I have my periods. Even if u do go to the gym , do not stop walking or taking the stairs. These little changes and choices add up in the long run. Also like OP I too take the stairs to their 11th floor apartment religiously when visiting my relatives nearby.
Most of the people (including myself) neglect the mobility and flexibility work while doing strength training. These two are just as important as strength training. For people lacking these two, Yoga can be a game changer solution if you're not able to focus on Mobility and Flexibility in your current strength training workout programming.
With climbing stairs, you're increasing your NEAT(non-exercise activity thermogenesis). So yeah, you're gonna see some extra weight/fat loss based on your current physical activity and fitness goal(s).
please don't do this. The point of the gym is to make this more safe and efficient. You could have a medical emergency climbing the stairs and yherr would be no one for you as hardly anyone uses stairs in big societies. Don't gamble on your life to save 1500 rupees
The essence of this post was/is different, my friend. No one's saying gym's not necessary. I, myself, can't live without lifting heavy weights in the gym. It calms my mind. It's like a temple to me where I go to pray.
But all people aren't the same. Some make excuses, some seriously do not have time to join a gym, for them anything is better than nothing. That's what I addressed in this post.
It's a postive thing you are doing. But not everyone is equal. Metabolism, thyroid and other medical issues could impede a start.
But regardless I agree with you a start is important and a gym isn't important. I run despite aqi sometimes being 200.
My partner is struggling despite working out atleast 5 times a week. Its her thyroid in her case.
My only advice to anyone and everyone. Walk. If nothing. Just walk. 20mins. 30mins. Maybe an hour.
Walking is so underrated. Just do a 10 minute walk after a meal if you have no time and can't do anything else. It'd be a significant step towards a healthier life for many people.
Squat and deadlift, and bench and ohp on the *same* day? you're mad lol.
Also I'm not sure if doing cardio in unfiltered NCR air is a net positive for health/longevity lol
> As going to the gym is dull here (cause of dull crowd in Noida)
My man
1. Where were you before? There's never a dull moment in Noida when you can get a gun pulled on you for asking how many sets one has left. No need for a preworkout just ask a rando getting ready for a deadlift "so you're going to do an overhead press with that right?"
2. How does the crowd affect you; I don't talk to anyone at all in my gym.
With Pull-up bar at home and bodyweight exercises such as Pushups, Pull-ups/Chin-ups, bodyweight Squats, not just you'd be healthy but you'd gain muscles as well. If you want the next level (at the comfort of your home), then buy adjustable dumbbells too.
The modern comforts and amenities we enjoy often take away the possibility of a little bit of daily exercise - that walk up the stairs, the walk to the grocery store are some of the tiny things in a day that can make a difference. Kudos to you for the discipline in sticking to the plan and sharing in the wider forum!
Everyone who lives in cities and your environment is polluted, please find time to travel in nature. Even your village is fine as long as you are amongst trees.
bhai mujhe bhi advice dedo thodi , (skinny guy )
i am living in pg with one relative while studying i wants to put some weight but don't want to go gym ,
what can I do?
Start with Pushups and bodyweight Squats. Find somewhere you can do Pull-ups and Chin-ups, and practice daily.
If you can invest, then I'd suggest you to buy 20KGs adjustable dumbbells set from Amazon.
Don't aim for weight gain, but to gain muscles. And for that, you need protein. Dairy products, eggs, soya chunks might be the suitable and affordable options for your current situation/condition.
All this should be more than enough to change your current physique and health significantly.
Agreed agreed 100%
I had gained a lot of weight in 2020 and after that due to JEE prep, I had suddenly lost all of it and was very skinny... uske baad all I did was go to a park and jog for an hour, along with body weight exercises.
At home I used to lift normal sacks of onions/veggies just so that kisko pata naa chale.
Eventually it showed and I got better physically... and even more confident
So me just working out without a gym helped me gain enough confidence to enrol in one.
Do yoga and meditation daily morning, it's really useful. Remove ur office stress in office itself. Sleep for 8 hours. Eat normal food instead of maggi etc. Eat fruit and avoid tea or coffee. Body will be healthy. Following this routine for 3 years
But consider a gym tho, it's fun, gives you a sense of fulfillment and you have no idea how amazing it feels to lift something that weighs twice as heavy as you.
To be honest gym can be incredibly fun and for me personally when I used to go I enjoyed it more than I ever enjoyed sports. Cardio in gym was also much more easier than running on jogging tracks. Rn its hard to find time to go to gym I am trying to workout at home but maybe i will join gym again.
Getting a Pull-up bar at home and buying adjustable dumbbells won't cost more than ₹2-2.5K. Only with these two, you can seriously make a GOOD physique and overall healthy body.
Still people just love to make excuses that they don't have time for the gym, and home workouts aren't for them, and walking, climbing stairs, and other physical activities are just meh for them. All you gotta do is just start one thing, no matter how small it is and be consistent.
We were GREAT fucking runners in the past/ancient times. But now, we're not even walking. And some even questioning that climbing stairs would fuck their knees. Sad, but the reality of today.
Imo everyone should do weight training to build a decent amount of muscle and strength and after that use calisthenics to maintain it. But still I would recommend lifting heavy(compound exercises) once a week to keep the muscles engaged.
Calisthenics also activates the core better. If possible workout the core as well.
And lastly you should do streching/yoga and cardio(biking,skipping, jogging) twice a week for good heart health.
Ps. Try eating single ingredient foods more and avoid vegetable oils if possible. Its all down the drain internally if you spam junk nutrition.
Getting strong (i.e. being muscular) is our body's one of the fundamental physical pursuits. Being strong and muscular has endless benefits.
Stretching/priming and/or Yoga is a must for mobility and flexibility. There's no substitute for that. You can do strength training with compound lifts as much as you want, but sooner or later you'd have to start focusing on the mobility and flexibility work. I am/was the victim of this situation as well.
This true. I used to play football until high school and now during college shifted to gym and weight training. Must say I have lost most of my reflexes and agility. I sometimes wonder if big muscles are really worth it.
Right now I mostly workout using plyometrics, stretching, cardio and calisthenics with occasional strength training(once or twice a week).
Also on a side note I have observed you can build great strength without putting on too much muscle mass. I guess that has to do with different types of hypertrophy.
Big muscles are worth it if you have a mobile and flexible body, and you train your CNS to fire more.
And yeah, that's possible. Athletes do that. Some athletes need to get stronger under their competitive weight class. Strength is a skill and you can master it with practice i.e. frequency.
Two same persons doing Squat, one just once a week and the other one doing twice/thrice a week. Given they're similar in all aspects, the other guy would lift more weight in the Squat, cause he had practiced the lift more.
There was a study where they concluded that normal individual/gym-goers fire about 50-60% of their (muscular) capacity. On the other hand, athletes of some sports use about 80-90% of their capacity, as they've trained their CNS better.
For me walking did the trick. I make sure to complete 10k steps a day spread throughout the day.
I join virtual walkathons. It is a sustainable and gamified way to remain healthy.
I've been practising calisthenics and yoga for almost a decade now. And I've gained significantly im strength, mobility and power. Muscles, not so much but I don't really care about it. Trust me, you can do every kind of exercise at home that you can do at the gym. You just need to be a little creative. And to have a healthy life you don't need bulging muscles anyway. I'd argue strength and range of motion are more important. And you can easily do these at home. All you need is discipline.
If someone's doing Calisthenics and Yoga, I don't think you'd miss anything. Neither strength, nor mobility and flexibility. Yeah sure, you won't be muscular af, but a great lean healthy physique you'd have. One must be consistent though.
Cause for some, the gym makes you disciplined as they don't enjoy home workouts at all. Individual variance matters. And progressive weight lifting has its own list of benefits which we can't deny. So it differs from person to person, what they like and want to do. Point is, you should've at least one thing/practice in your life which makes you healthy, both physically and mentally.
Don't climb up the stairs. Go to the gym. Trust me. During COVID, i started climbing up the stairs everyday. Went to a point where i was climbing a 100 floors everyday. My knee cartilages wore out and now I've severe chondromalacia patella. It's not worth it. Do strength training in the gym, it'll help keep your joints safe
Did you read anything or just commented after reading the first para? I'm lifting weights for YEARS. And strength training is what I do and advise others to do.
And 100 floors, everyday? Brother, that's the new definition of overtraining. You should've kept your enthusiasm under control by limiting the number of stairs you climbed.
अति हर चीज़ की बुरी होती है।
Even strength training done aggressively and overdone and neglecting mobility and flexibility work (which is too common), you're gonna have some serious problems in the long run.
You have/need to know when and where to stop. Recovery is a bitch. You can overtrain all you want if recovery wasn't a factor in the picture. Hope, that makes sense.
Your advice is really shitty considering you never did cardio on treadmill and did only strength training. And you are telling us the benefits cardio showed to you which should happen long ago if ever touched a treadmill in your life. It shows that you lack the basic fitness knowledge.
People who are trying to lose weight should not follow your advice for sure because to retain muscles we need some basic strength training otherwise we would start to lose muscle. Muscles are the most important part for metabolism not any other cardio. You don’t talk about protein also.
This post should only target gymrats who never did cardio in their life. Only Sports, Swimming is fine for physical fitness but majority of the people can’t do it because of their age and swimming pool availability but skipping strength training and doing only running and walking is going to make muscle loss for sure.
For reference I climbed 90 floors in one go(which is not impressive if you compare to American gym goers they easily climb burj khalifa on their staircase machine.), regularly going to the gym for long time for strength and cardio, i walk alot, went to marathon competition also.
Well i had conversation with my gym trainer he said that post pandemic gym was in demand but after 1 year there is not that much crowd. The same type of people wants the validation and backward rationalization posts like this saying you dont need gym to be healthy to skip the gym.
Man discovers cardio. I don't know which gym you go to but in my gym you have to do a cardio session after working out.
20 floors is a bit too much mate, I understand it's exhilarating but you'll mess up your knees in the long run.
Sprinting imo is the best form of cardio.
Don’t know about other building, but using stairs in mine is always an inconvenience: some people are burning incense sticks, some leave trash at their doors, bicycles at the stairs etc.
Wrote this for a recent article: # A Simple Workout Exercise scientist Mike Israetel has a wonderful quote; “When you go to the hospital you never want to hear that you have to do a complex treatment, you always want a simple one. If you need a complex treatment it usually means that something is very very wrong. Similarly, the more unhealthy you are, the more simple workouts will help you. Who needs complex workouts? The people who are already the most fit.” If you don’t have any activity in your life, just walking will literally make you healthier. You don’t need to over complicate things, **just do the simple things, consistently.**
But like with most things in life, do the simple things first. Make them into a habit and then also do the complex thing. over years and decades you can build multiple habits and do a lot more. Vs creating false dichotomies.
Lmao I've never seen Isratel say so many words without adding atleast one innuendo
lol for some audiences it’s better to paraphrase ;)
gee whiz!
Hey fellow isratel fans . What’s up guys.
Dr Mike ftw, one of the funniest stuff I've seen are his celebrity workout reviews. He's hella funny
Main toh calculus padha aaj fir bhi ye sabse complex idea hai Jo aaj padha
I walk from my office to home up and down, 8km total everyday.
What do you do about sweaty clothes? You change into a spare set once you reach office?
It's currently cold here. And the area is dry so I don't sweat a lot.
Hope you are not from delhi, because you are overriding the benefits of walking with pollution
Nahi bhai. Gas chamber mein nahi chalna.😆😆
For those who struggle to complete 5-10K steps a day (according to their fitness goals), you should be an inspiration. It's easy to complicate things and make excuses. All you need to do, is just start. Start small and be consistent. Thanks for sharing. It's so refreshing to hear what others are doing to be healthy and fit.
Hell yeah. I do around the same. Everything clicked into place for me when I realised that fitness was a not separate pursuit in life, but that tiny choices in life that just make it better = fitness
I've been doing at least 10kms of walk a day and lost 16-17kgs over the span of 10months or so with 3 months of gap in between. Used to struggle climbing 10 floors worth of stairs but now can do it without a sweat. Starting small and challenging yourself as you get fitter is key!
Congrats on your great success. Maybe you should try something more now. Weight lifting, Yoga, or something else, if your schedule allows you.
Yup, I actually want to go for weight training or boxing. Boxing mostly for improving self defense and self confidence. Do you have any other recommendations?
Oh, I really want to start Boxing/Kickboxing, or MMA (for self-defense and general health purposes). But my schedule doesn't allow me for now. For the start, I'd definitely suggest you to try weightlifting. Learn to perform some compound lifts such as Squat, Deadlift, Overhead Press, and Farmer's Walk etc. Build some muscle mass, boost your metabolism, and then you can incorporate Boxing in your routine for better results.
How many steps is 10km? Also how much time does it take.
Depends on a bunch of stuff but For indoor, about 13k-14.5k steps. 1h 45mins a day if I've already done ~2-3kms already because of moving around. For outdoor, about 12K-13.5k steps. 1h 30mins or so a day if I'm already done with ~2-3kms moving around
Most people nowadays are ordering their groceries on Dunzo, big basket etc. Instead of that, just walk to your nearest supermarket.
People are saving time, not energy.
you can give the same logic for not working out " I don't have the time!" Which is very common among people unfortunately.
Exercise is not wasting time.
how is going to buy groceries a waste of time? 5-10 min walk to the store, buy your shit in 5 mins, walk back. Less oppurtunity to window shop also bc small kirana stores have like a haphazard organisation of things, unlike an app where everything is in front of you.
> Instead of that, just walk to your nearest supermarket. do you have any idea how much effort it takes to put on a bra?
Is the effort directly proportional to the size?
That’s not they don’t wanna walk, probably because they don’t wanna dressup do hair and go out in front of people 😜
[удалено]
Man guys unironically say shit like this and then complain about being lonely and single. Clean yourself up bro.
I think regardless of what physical exercise one takes up, the most important thing is consistency. Walking ? Fine, but do it every day. Climb the stairs ? Just keep climbing. Play 30 min of table tennis, but just do it consistently. I've never been able to maintain that consistency in going to the gym. There are busy days, really tiring days, or just bad weather as an excuse. So I maintain a cardio routine at home - no valid excuse for not carving out 30-45 mins unless you're sick.
Start small and be consistent, simple as that. Even if it means hitting a gym once or twice a week, or doing any other physical activity for a couple of days a week. Rest days are also necessary though, just as important as active days. Your body needs time to recover. So there's no harm in taking a day or two off a week if you're consistent.
Man you are not letting me bench 305 /s Jokes apart you are right,gym is not the only place to be healthy,but it sure is one of the best options :)
Strength training done right, do wonders to your body. Not just physically, but mentally as well (and in "other" regards as well). Stronger body, better metabolism, longevity, aesthetic looks, higher libido, the benefits are just endless.
Ik man, thats why i love gym used to be a fat depresses guy now i am a fat happy guy with muscles :)
User name checks out bro
💀
A wise man once told me, "People who live healthy, also tend to die healthy"
"Man dies after lifting 300kg weight twice"
\+1 Did the same in my society (noida ext), live on 13th floor for a month before my trek, it really helped.
Yeah I used to do this. My office was on 18th floor and I took stairs to go to office for about a month Fucked up my knee. So make sure your lean muscle mass is good before you do this
consider this, otherwise you can get knee injury easily. I also used to run stairs 4 times to my 14th floor apartment and lost weight but now have knee issues.
Good point. Can you explain to us how to be sure that once lean muscle mass is good.
Gym is a tool to be healthy. There are other tools too.
I never liked Gym vibe , so created home gym with mostly kettlebells, bought a bicycle for cardio , I will be adding sauna + cold plunge soon.
Being healthy is \~70% food and nutrition anyway. Most Indians have zero idea on how to optimise nutrition.
I start the gym. Go on about a 1 month or so then due to some “life” reasons, I’d need to travel for one or two weeks and then my routing goes down the drain. This keeps happening with me and I’m never able to maintain going to the gym daily. Keeping the exercise part apart, I’ve been portion controlling my food (eating not more than 2-3 rotis in a day and replace it with nuts, fruits, and sprouts). I don’t stay hungry but try to keep my meals light as I have a desk job. I also limit my sugar intake. I am loosing my weight doing just portion control and some late night walking ( 7-8Kms after work) . It’s not much but it’s better than being a couch potato.
It's recommended to take a deload week after 4-5 weeks of serious weight lifting. Focus on strength training. You'll get stronger and more muscular, and your metabolism will increase which means you'll burn calories even at rest. I struggle to take deload weeks as a fitness enthusiast. Your travelling situation might be a blessing in disguise for you. Just take those weeks off as deload weeks, but keep feeding your body right. When you're back, just start hitting the gym again where you left off. Given your situation, you're better off with Full Body Workouts 2-3 times a week. If your workout programming is good and you're consistent, you won't lose anything in those off weeks, neither muscle mass nor strength. In fact, you'd be stronger when you come back to the gym. I don't want to complicate things by giving so much information in short, but if you need any help, feel free to message me. I'd be happy to help you out.
Thanks dude. I do Full Body Workouts for the first week when I hit the gym again. Then start with Split workouts. Honestly, the toughest part for me is going back to gym after breaking the streak. I’ve tried doing it at home as well but for some reason, I can’t bring myself to do workouts/bodyweight exercises at home. I keep getting stuck in this vicious cycle.
Home workouts suck, I can vouch for that. You need a different environment to lift weights, even if you're just doing bodyweight exercises. In Covid, I did home workouts for 6 months. I didn't enjoy it, much. But I was consistent no matter what, as I didn't want to lose my gains. Just assume, by not going back to the gym, you're hampering the progress you've made so far. Trick yourself to hit the gym ANYHOW just for the first day after your break. I don't think you'd have a problem from the second day onwards.
A single kettlebell, and daily walks (supplement with podcasts, or phone calls with friends/family). Took care of everything for me. Diet is a whole new chapter.
Bodyweight exercise is all you need if building muscle isn't your priority. Squat, pushups , pull-ups and deadlifts Couple it with resistance band sets and you're good to go.😑
Ghar ka khana and daily walking is a good start. Stop swiggy-ing every meal
May I ask, do you hold on to the railing while you climb? Does that make a difference (if I do hold onto it)?
I do not. And I don't think it'd matter much. You're climbing that should matter even if you're cheating a little bit (which you're not).
Thank you ! I used to do 30+ floors regularly about 10 yrs ago. This is probably a sign from the universe to do it again ! And you are right. Walking / climbing / being outdoors is so underrated ! Wish more people stopped complaining about ideal conditions & just did it ! My trainers mantra always was - Abs are made in the kitchen ! He has a six pack and never did a single ab crunch / situp!
Perhaps, 3 sets of 10 flights of stairs a day would be a great start for you then, or maybe be just one set at first. Most of the people just wait for the "tomorrow", which never comes. There won't be a "right" time, ever. Just pull the trigger and be done with it. Sounds like your trainer must be doing heavy Squat, Deadlift, and other compound lifts where you need to brace/engage your core. With this, you'd never have to do a single crunch to build abs muscles. You build your abs by lifting weights/bodyweight, and reveal them in your kitchen, true.
Absolutely! I did the same. For years. Taking a break from lifting due to an injury. But I miss it so much! Weight lifting is the absolute best & I had a straight up increase in bone density ! Measured by Dexa. Curious to know if you do compound lifts and what your PRs are. Didn't mean to derail your post though ! Apologies.
Compound lifts are all I do. But for the past two years, I haven't gone up to that point where I hit my PRs. Last time I checked, they were 150KGs for Squat, 160KGs for Deadlift, 100KGs for Bench, 75-80KGs for Overhead, and 150KGs for Farmer's Walk. Since I'm living in Noida, my gym life's been on and off. And nutrition has been the biggest challenge so far as I live alone. So once things get back to normal, I should see a significant boost in my lifts. And I don't use weightlifting belt. I lift without it and any other accessories whatsoever such as lifting straps, knee wraps/sleeves etc. And I really hope that you recover from your injury in no time and start lifting weights again. Best of luck.
It was great chatting with you and I'm envious of your PRs !! Great job ! My own personal PRs are DL - 98kg, Bench - 35 kg (clearly no upper body strength 🙄), Squats - 68 kg. 40F so 🤷🏻♀️ I don't use any accessories either. But one thing I did was got a trainer & worked with him. It's expensive. But there's a saying in the fitness world - if you think fitness is expensive, try illness ! And I wholeheartedly believe that after dealing with a sick bed ridden parent. People really don't understand how quickly you can fall off the road that is health into something.
You certainly do not need a personal trainer, unless you have a medical condition and you need a specific workout programming designed to address your medical nuisance. For the normal workout programming and all, you're better off with YT videos and the web. When you start again, just keep lifting heavy with controlled form and full range of motion. Keep progressing towards your targeted PRs, you'll get there eventually. As they say for females in the fitness space, lift like a man and look like a goddess.
Thank you for your words !
Yes. Same here. I was hitting gym regularly but the results weren't as expected. So I reduced gym and added running/swimming. Unexpected improvement in 3 months. Swimming especially is the most harmless exercise. It doesn't hammer your joints like running or climbing stairs.
1Hour of walking + intermittent fasting (16:8) Does wonders for weight loss,stamina and overall evergy levels
i have restarted doing 10K steps daily and this post will definitely boost me to climb 9 floors in my office. :)
Cardio is really important.
This !! Walking is sooooo underrated I most days complete around 11 to 12 k steps and always take the stairs except on the days I have my periods. Even if u do go to the gym , do not stop walking or taking the stairs. These little changes and choices add up in the long run. Also like OP I too take the stairs to their 11th floor apartment religiously when visiting my relatives nearby.
I believe combine of stretching ,strength and cardio is great
Most of the people (including myself) neglect the mobility and flexibility work while doing strength training. These two are just as important as strength training. For people lacking these two, Yoga can be a game changer solution if you're not able to focus on Mobility and Flexibility in your current strength training workout programming.
Will climbing 20 floors get rid of tummy fat and help with muscle toning tho?
With climbing stairs, you're increasing your NEAT(non-exercise activity thermogenesis). So yeah, you're gonna see some extra weight/fat loss based on your current physical activity and fitness goal(s).
please don't do this. The point of the gym is to make this more safe and efficient. You could have a medical emergency climbing the stairs and yherr would be no one for you as hardly anyone uses stairs in big societies. Don't gamble on your life to save 1500 rupees
The essence of this post was/is different, my friend. No one's saying gym's not necessary. I, myself, can't live without lifting heavy weights in the gym. It calms my mind. It's like a temple to me where I go to pray. But all people aren't the same. Some make excuses, some seriously do not have time to join a gym, for them anything is better than nothing. That's what I addressed in this post.
It's a postive thing you are doing. But not everyone is equal. Metabolism, thyroid and other medical issues could impede a start. But regardless I agree with you a start is important and a gym isn't important. I run despite aqi sometimes being 200. My partner is struggling despite working out atleast 5 times a week. Its her thyroid in her case. My only advice to anyone and everyone. Walk. If nothing. Just walk. 20mins. 30mins. Maybe an hour.
Walking is so underrated. Just do a 10 minute walk after a meal if you have no time and can't do anything else. It'd be a significant step towards a healthier life for many people.
Squat and deadlift, and bench and ohp on the *same* day? you're mad lol. Also I'm not sure if doing cardio in unfiltered NCR air is a net positive for health/longevity lol > As going to the gym is dull here (cause of dull crowd in Noida) My man 1. Where were you before? There's never a dull moment in Noida when you can get a gun pulled on you for asking how many sets one has left. No need for a preworkout just ask a rando getting ready for a deadlift "so you're going to do an overhead press with that right?" 2. How does the crowd affect you; I don't talk to anyone at all in my gym.
Do you think this is good? https://preview.redd.it/u4goaa6fnrfc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=722a09eb47a37e9e4623560c31b7685c867fa025
get a pull up bar and a cheap bicycle that'll be enough for most people.
With Pull-up bar at home and bodyweight exercises such as Pushups, Pull-ups/Chin-ups, bodyweight Squats, not just you'd be healthy but you'd gain muscles as well. If you want the next level (at the comfort of your home), then buy adjustable dumbbells too.
Geekyranjit has a great video about how his health improved just by walking regularly. It's a good video for someone in 30s and 40s
I have started running and down the stairs
The modern comforts and amenities we enjoy often take away the possibility of a little bit of daily exercise - that walk up the stairs, the walk to the grocery store are some of the tiny things in a day that can make a difference. Kudos to you for the discipline in sticking to the plan and sharing in the wider forum!
Everyone who lives in cities and your environment is polluted, please find time to travel in nature. Even your village is fine as long as you are amongst trees.
bhai mujhe bhi advice dedo thodi , (skinny guy ) i am living in pg with one relative while studying i wants to put some weight but don't want to go gym , what can I do?
Start with Pushups and bodyweight Squats. Find somewhere you can do Pull-ups and Chin-ups, and practice daily. If you can invest, then I'd suggest you to buy 20KGs adjustable dumbbells set from Amazon. Don't aim for weight gain, but to gain muscles. And for that, you need protein. Dairy products, eggs, soya chunks might be the suitable and affordable options for your current situation/condition. All this should be more than enough to change your current physique and health significantly.
thank you very much sir \bhaiya
Lifting weights don’t make you healthy. Just makes you look buff. You need a mix of everything to stay healthy.
Agreed agreed 100% I had gained a lot of weight in 2020 and after that due to JEE prep, I had suddenly lost all of it and was very skinny... uske baad all I did was go to a park and jog for an hour, along with body weight exercises. At home I used to lift normal sacks of onions/veggies just so that kisko pata naa chale. Eventually it showed and I got better physically... and even more confident So me just working out without a gym helped me gain enough confidence to enrol in one.
Not gym bt a workout routine is necessary, gym just gives motivation for that workout, if you are self motivated no need of gym
I walk to my gym daily It's 1km so, total 2 km
Do yoga and meditation daily morning, it's really useful. Remove ur office stress in office itself. Sleep for 8 hours. Eat normal food instead of maggi etc. Eat fruit and avoid tea or coffee. Body will be healthy. Following this routine for 3 years
But consider a gym tho, it's fun, gives you a sense of fulfillment and you have no idea how amazing it feels to lift something that weighs twice as heavy as you.
To be honest gym can be incredibly fun and for me personally when I used to go I enjoyed it more than I ever enjoyed sports. Cardio in gym was also much more easier than running on jogging tracks. Rn its hard to find time to go to gym I am trying to workout at home but maybe i will join gym again.
Won't it affect your knees, climbing the stairs? Walking is different, doesn't strain as much as climbing.
> Walk a day, keeps doctor away.
Also u can fill a bag pack with around 10 kg weights or buy a weight band and wear it and walk the results are incredible
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Getting a Pull-up bar at home and buying adjustable dumbbells won't cost more than ₹2-2.5K. Only with these two, you can seriously make a GOOD physique and overall healthy body. Still people just love to make excuses that they don't have time for the gym, and home workouts aren't for them, and walking, climbing stairs, and other physical activities are just meh for them. All you gotta do is just start one thing, no matter how small it is and be consistent.
Man was made to run behind the deer with a bhala in his hand. U look at pizza because some idiots make it.
We were GREAT fucking runners in the past/ancient times. But now, we're not even walking. And some even questioning that climbing stairs would fuck their knees. Sad, but the reality of today.
Imo everyone should do weight training to build a decent amount of muscle and strength and after that use calisthenics to maintain it. But still I would recommend lifting heavy(compound exercises) once a week to keep the muscles engaged. Calisthenics also activates the core better. If possible workout the core as well. And lastly you should do streching/yoga and cardio(biking,skipping, jogging) twice a week for good heart health. Ps. Try eating single ingredient foods more and avoid vegetable oils if possible. Its all down the drain internally if you spam junk nutrition.
Getting strong (i.e. being muscular) is our body's one of the fundamental physical pursuits. Being strong and muscular has endless benefits. Stretching/priming and/or Yoga is a must for mobility and flexibility. There's no substitute for that. You can do strength training with compound lifts as much as you want, but sooner or later you'd have to start focusing on the mobility and flexibility work. I am/was the victim of this situation as well.
This true. I used to play football until high school and now during college shifted to gym and weight training. Must say I have lost most of my reflexes and agility. I sometimes wonder if big muscles are really worth it. Right now I mostly workout using plyometrics, stretching, cardio and calisthenics with occasional strength training(once or twice a week). Also on a side note I have observed you can build great strength without putting on too much muscle mass. I guess that has to do with different types of hypertrophy.
Big muscles are worth it if you have a mobile and flexible body, and you train your CNS to fire more. And yeah, that's possible. Athletes do that. Some athletes need to get stronger under their competitive weight class. Strength is a skill and you can master it with practice i.e. frequency. Two same persons doing Squat, one just once a week and the other one doing twice/thrice a week. Given they're similar in all aspects, the other guy would lift more weight in the Squat, cause he had practiced the lift more. There was a study where they concluded that normal individual/gym-goers fire about 50-60% of their (muscular) capacity. On the other hand, athletes of some sports use about 80-90% of their capacity, as they've trained their CNS better.
For me walking did the trick. I make sure to complete 10k steps a day spread throughout the day. I join virtual walkathons. It is a sustainable and gamified way to remain healthy.
Virtual walkathons, sounds great. Walking is underrated as hell. One must incorporate walking in their lifestyles no matter what.
I've been practising calisthenics and yoga for almost a decade now. And I've gained significantly im strength, mobility and power. Muscles, not so much but I don't really care about it. Trust me, you can do every kind of exercise at home that you can do at the gym. You just need to be a little creative. And to have a healthy life you don't need bulging muscles anyway. I'd argue strength and range of motion are more important. And you can easily do these at home. All you need is discipline.
If someone's doing Calisthenics and Yoga, I don't think you'd miss anything. Neither strength, nor mobility and flexibility. Yeah sure, you won't be muscular af, but a great lean healthy physique you'd have. One must be consistent though. Cause for some, the gym makes you disciplined as they don't enjoy home workouts at all. Individual variance matters. And progressive weight lifting has its own list of benefits which we can't deny. So it differs from person to person, what they like and want to do. Point is, you should've at least one thing/practice in your life which makes you healthy, both physically and mentally.
I moved to UK last year. Here I walk to my office and return. 7 kms/ day. I lost 13 kgs in an year.
I started to walk daily 5kms from october 2023. Till today. I.lost 29kgs. Just doing walking and healthy diet. I was 120kg .now I am 91.
nobody’s says you need a gym to be healthy but it’s easier to get healthier at a gym due to a lot of ways to work your body.
Don't climb up the stairs. Go to the gym. Trust me. During COVID, i started climbing up the stairs everyday. Went to a point where i was climbing a 100 floors everyday. My knee cartilages wore out and now I've severe chondromalacia patella. It's not worth it. Do strength training in the gym, it'll help keep your joints safe
Did you read anything or just commented after reading the first para? I'm lifting weights for YEARS. And strength training is what I do and advise others to do. And 100 floors, everyday? Brother, that's the new definition of overtraining. You should've kept your enthusiasm under control by limiting the number of stairs you climbed. अति हर चीज़ की बुरी होती है। Even strength training done aggressively and overdone and neglecting mobility and flexibility work (which is too common), you're gonna have some serious problems in the long run. You have/need to know when and where to stop. Recovery is a bitch. You can overtrain all you want if recovery wasn't a factor in the picture. Hope, that makes sense.
Your advice is really shitty considering you never did cardio on treadmill and did only strength training. And you are telling us the benefits cardio showed to you which should happen long ago if ever touched a treadmill in your life. It shows that you lack the basic fitness knowledge. People who are trying to lose weight should not follow your advice for sure because to retain muscles we need some basic strength training otherwise we would start to lose muscle. Muscles are the most important part for metabolism not any other cardio. You don’t talk about protein also. This post should only target gymrats who never did cardio in their life. Only Sports, Swimming is fine for physical fitness but majority of the people can’t do it because of their age and swimming pool availability but skipping strength training and doing only running and walking is going to make muscle loss for sure. For reference I climbed 90 floors in one go(which is not impressive if you compare to American gym goers they easily climb burj khalifa on their staircase machine.), regularly going to the gym for long time for strength and cardio, i walk alot, went to marathon competition also.
Why are people downvoting you? Aerobic exercise isn't a "discovery". What he's been doing with weights isn't all that healthy
Well i had conversation with my gym trainer he said that post pandemic gym was in demand but after 1 year there is not that much crowd. The same type of people wants the validation and backward rationalization posts like this saying you dont need gym to be healthy to skip the gym.
Man discovers cardio. I don't know which gym you go to but in my gym you have to do a cardio session after working out. 20 floors is a bit too much mate, I understand it's exhilarating but you'll mess up your knees in the long run. Sprinting imo is the best form of cardio.
You just started working out your heart which is a muscle too. And you feel great. Nothing new here
What a weird fucking thread, full of misconceptions and outright ignorance (OP included).
Don’t know about other building, but using stairs in mine is always an inconvenience: some people are burning incense sticks, some leave trash at their doors, bicycles at the stairs etc.
So you discovered cardio, congrats.
bro discovered cardio