Why avoid weights? They’re the most efficient and effective way to do strength training. Bodyweight exercises are OK but they fairly quickly top out on any benefits, unless you get rings and other gymnastic equipment.
You can get a barbell and 300lbs of weights for under $300 used, with which you can do deadlifts, overhead press, and barbell rows. That’s a complete, full body routine of scalable difficulty which will last you for quite some time and requires no other equipment.
You appear to possess some misconceptions about weight training.
they take space,
A stack of plates with the barbell stored vertically takes 0.2m^2 (~2sqft). Here’s a picture of a 330lb set for demonstration; wine bottle and keyboard for scale. I have a lot more equipment than just the barbell, but that’s because I do powerlifting and it’s a hobby.
are no fun
This is a matter of perspective and preference. I find weight lifting to be extremely fun, especially the sport of powerlifting. Furthermore, it has no bearing on the fact that weight training is the most effective and efficient means of getting stronger.
cannot be combined with useful activity and often encourage too simple movement patterns.
The deadlift, overhead press, and row are three of the most fundamental movements a person can do. In sports science terms, these are highly general movements, which means that increasing strength in these movements will have positive carry over to every other physical pursuit that uses similar movements. Runners use the deadlift to improve their running speed, for example, and throwers use the overhead press to improve their throwing distance. Your assertion that they can’t be combined with useful activity is incorrect, as they are useful activity. And they don’t encourage too simple movement patterns, as they increase the strength of all movement patterns.
I would agree that weight training can be an ineffective choice, if you limit your exercises to machines and single-joint isolations and use too many sets/reps with too little resistance. If you deadlift, overhead press, and barbell row for 3 sets of 3-5 reps 3 times per week and progressively add weight, then you’ll get strong much faster and with less time spent exercising than on any no-equipment routine.
I would agree with this. I have found weightlifting (“Starting Strength” program is a good place to start) tremendously beneficial in real life applications. Eg helping my brother dig trenches at his house, lifting things into the car, my back problems have gone away, I am a lot more flexible and agile etc. Also my blood pressure is a lot better (117/77 this morning).
Key points:
Full body compound exercises. Not “curlbro” isolation exercises.
Weights not machines (I tried machines and found that specific muscles got big but I did not gain real world strength).
Progressive increase in load.
Sufficient rest days. For health purposes 1-2 workouts a week is quite sufficient. It will not get you “toned for summer” in minimum time but you will get good benefits.
Good form—do the lifts properly. And allied to this, do not rush. Newbie gains are good for 6-8 months and then you will slow down no matter what you do. If you take your time you will avoid injury. Lifting weights is one of the safest forms of exercise statistically.
Sufficient nutrition—a nutrient rich diet with sufficient protein and other nutrients.
Unfortunately most personal trainers have minimal training and often give bad advice. You need to do some research.
A stack of plates with the barbell stored vertically takes 0.2m^2 (~2sqft)
Storage isn’t the real problem. You need, for example, a floor which will survive 300+ lbs of steel dropped onto it from more than six feet. Lifting weights without a spotter or a rack is risky, especially for beginners.
The deadlift, overhead press, and row are three of the most fundamental movements a person can do.
Weightlifters keep on saying that, but I see no sense in this. Why in the world, say, an overhead press is a “fundamental movement”?
If asked about highly general fundamental movements, I’d probably say run, climb, swim.
Storage isn’t the real problem. You need, for example, a floor which will survive 300+ lbs of steel dropped onto it from more than six feet.
Unless you’re doing olympic weightlifting (at which point you’d be using rubber bumper plates), you’ll need to drop weights from hip height at most. Any weight you can overhead press, you can safely lower slowly to the ground. A 300lb deadlift will have two 150lb contacts with the floor—if your floor isn’t built to withstand 150lbs of force (an average person jumping), then it’s not fit to live on.
Lifting weights without a spotter or a rack is risky, especially for beginners.
For the bench press or squat, yes. For the deadlift, overhead press, and row, no. In the deadlift and row, the weight is never over you, and in the event of failure, dropping it is simple and easy. For the overhead press, a failed weight is still light compared to a person’s ability to control it to the ground. Furthermore, you should almost never be training to the point of failure if your goal is strength.
Weightlifters keep on saying that, but I see no sense in this. Why in the world, say, an overhead press is a “fundamental movement”?
In an overhead press, you 1) use your shoulders and triceps to move the weight up, 2) use your abs and back to stabilize your torso, 3) use your legs to balance yourself and stay in line, 4) brace your entire body to transmit force from the floor to your hands. Increasing the weight used increases the demand placed upon the entire body to develop strength.
How can that not be a fundamental movement? And how could improving these four points not have carry over to other tasks and movements?
If asked about highly general fundamental movements, I’d probably say run, climb, swim.
These are actually fairly specific movement patterns, even though they’re rather common. If you only trained running, you would not improve your squat much—but if you trained squatting, you’d improve your running, jumping, kicking, and any other motion that involves leg or hip extension. If you train climbing, you won’t help your swimming much—but if you train rows or chinups, you’ll improve both.
Someone runs across a field—using leg and hip extension trained in the deadlift and maintaining good posture also developed by the deadlift. They swim across a river—using pulling muscles developed by the row and pushing muscles developed by the overhead press. They climb up a cliff—using pulling muscles developed by the row, and push themselves over the ledge using muscles developed by the overhead press.
Sports scientists have very good ideas about what has broad carry over (ie general exercises/movement patterns) and what has limited carry over (ie sport specific movements). The idea is termed specificity. Strength training is very general, which means that it has very broad carry over to other activities. Elite weightlifters have very impressive vertical jump and sprint speeds, despite never training for these events.
Any weight you can overhead press, you can safely lower slowly to the ground.
In theory. In practice (especially with beginners) you lose your balance or you get a sudden pain or something else happens—and you would just throw the barbell on the floor.
if your floor isn’t built to withstand 150lbs of force
Force isn’t measured in pounds. What matters is momentum and contact surface. Drop your 300 lbs barbell even from hip height onto a wooden floor and it will leave dents.
How can that not be a fundamental movement?
Maybe we have a different idea of what “fundamental” means :-)
I am not arguing that weightlifting doesn’t develop muscles or that muscle strength isn’t useful. I just don’t see why, say, climbing a tree is less “fundamental” than taking, essentially, a very heavy stick and raising it over your head.
You don’t need a bench. Overhead pressing (and push pressing for intermediate trainees) is sufficient to develop pushing power, and is a better movement for balanced shoulder strength and posture. If you really want to develop the chest muscles, then you can do floor press for most of the same benefits without purchasing a bench.
For what it may be worth, I avoid weights because I want something I can do every day, any time, anywhere. Because I know that if I miss one day, there’s a good chance I will fizzle out.
So I do pushups, crunches, and pullups. I have a pullup bar at work which fits into the door frame and the same thing at home. But sometimes I do pullups on the subway or on one of the many scaffoldings in NYC.
Using weights might very well be superior in some respects but for me the main thing is consistency.
Why avoid weights? They’re the most efficient and effective way to do strength training. Bodyweight exercises are OK but they fairly quickly top out on any benefits, unless you get rings and other gymnastic equipment.
You can get a barbell and 300lbs of weights for under $300 used, with which you can do deadlifts, overhead press, and barbell rows. That’s a complete, full body routine of scalable difficulty which will last you for quite some time and requires no other equipment.
Because they take space, are no fun, cannot be combined with useful activity and often encourage too simple movement patterns.
The only weights I’d consider are those to be worn on arms and thighs and can be continuously worn and are combined with all movements.
You appear to possess some misconceptions about weight training.
A stack of plates with the barbell stored vertically takes 0.2m^2 (~2sqft). Here’s a picture of a 330lb set for demonstration; wine bottle and keyboard for scale. I have a lot more equipment than just the barbell, but that’s because I do powerlifting and it’s a hobby.
This is a matter of perspective and preference. I find weight lifting to be extremely fun, especially the sport of powerlifting. Furthermore, it has no bearing on the fact that weight training is the most effective and efficient means of getting stronger.
The deadlift, overhead press, and row are three of the most fundamental movements a person can do. In sports science terms, these are highly general movements, which means that increasing strength in these movements will have positive carry over to every other physical pursuit that uses similar movements. Runners use the deadlift to improve their running speed, for example, and throwers use the overhead press to improve their throwing distance. Your assertion that they can’t be combined with useful activity is incorrect, as they are useful activity. And they don’t encourage too simple movement patterns, as they increase the strength of all movement patterns.
I would agree that weight training can be an ineffective choice, if you limit your exercises to machines and single-joint isolations and use too many sets/reps with too little resistance. If you deadlift, overhead press, and barbell row for 3 sets of 3-5 reps 3 times per week and progressively add weight, then you’ll get strong much faster and with less time spent exercising than on any no-equipment routine.
I would agree with this. I have found weightlifting (“Starting Strength” program is a good place to start) tremendously beneficial in real life applications. Eg helping my brother dig trenches at his house, lifting things into the car, my back problems have gone away, I am a lot more flexible and agile etc. Also my blood pressure is a lot better (117/77 this morning).
Key points:
Full body compound exercises. Not “curlbro” isolation exercises.
Weights not machines (I tried machines and found that specific muscles got big but I did not gain real world strength).
Progressive increase in load.
Sufficient rest days. For health purposes 1-2 workouts a week is quite sufficient. It will not get you “toned for summer” in minimum time but you will get good benefits.
Good form—do the lifts properly. And allied to this, do not rush. Newbie gains are good for 6-8 months and then you will slow down no matter what you do. If you take your time you will avoid injury. Lifting weights is one of the safest forms of exercise statistically.
Sufficient nutrition—a nutrient rich diet with sufficient protein and other nutrients.
Unfortunately most personal trainers have minimal training and often give bad advice. You need to do some research.
Storage isn’t the real problem. You need, for example, a floor which will survive 300+ lbs of steel dropped onto it from more than six feet. Lifting weights without a spotter or a rack is risky, especially for beginners.
Weightlifters keep on saying that, but I see no sense in this. Why in the world, say, an overhead press is a “fundamental movement”?
If asked about highly general fundamental movements, I’d probably say run, climb, swim.
Unless you’re doing olympic weightlifting (at which point you’d be using rubber bumper plates), you’ll need to drop weights from hip height at most. Any weight you can overhead press, you can safely lower slowly to the ground. A 300lb deadlift will have two 150lb contacts with the floor—if your floor isn’t built to withstand 150lbs of force (an average person jumping), then it’s not fit to live on.
For the bench press or squat, yes. For the deadlift, overhead press, and row, no. In the deadlift and row, the weight is never over you, and in the event of failure, dropping it is simple and easy. For the overhead press, a failed weight is still light compared to a person’s ability to control it to the ground. Furthermore, you should almost never be training to the point of failure if your goal is strength.
In an overhead press, you 1) use your shoulders and triceps to move the weight up, 2) use your abs and back to stabilize your torso, 3) use your legs to balance yourself and stay in line, 4) brace your entire body to transmit force from the floor to your hands. Increasing the weight used increases the demand placed upon the entire body to develop strength.
How can that not be a fundamental movement? And how could improving these four points not have carry over to other tasks and movements?
These are actually fairly specific movement patterns, even though they’re rather common. If you only trained running, you would not improve your squat much—but if you trained squatting, you’d improve your running, jumping, kicking, and any other motion that involves leg or hip extension. If you train climbing, you won’t help your swimming much—but if you train rows or chinups, you’ll improve both.
Someone runs across a field—using leg and hip extension trained in the deadlift and maintaining good posture also developed by the deadlift. They swim across a river—using pulling muscles developed by the row and pushing muscles developed by the overhead press. They climb up a cliff—using pulling muscles developed by the row, and push themselves over the ledge using muscles developed by the overhead press.
Sports scientists have very good ideas about what has broad carry over (ie general exercises/movement patterns) and what has limited carry over (ie sport specific movements). The idea is termed specificity. Strength training is very general, which means that it has very broad carry over to other activities. Elite weightlifters have very impressive vertical jump and sprint speeds, despite never training for these events.
In theory. In practice (especially with beginners) you lose your balance or you get a sudden pain or something else happens—and you would just throw the barbell on the floor.
Force isn’t measured in pounds. What matters is momentum and contact surface. Drop your 300 lbs barbell even from hip height onto a wooden floor and it will leave dents.
Maybe we have a different idea of what “fundamental” means :-)
I am not arguing that weightlifting doesn’t develop muscles or that muscle strength isn’t useful. I just don’t see why, say, climbing a tree is less “fundamental” than taking, essentially, a very heavy stick and raising it over your head.
What about the bench?
You don’t need a bench. Overhead pressing (and push pressing for intermediate trainees) is sufficient to develop pushing power, and is a better movement for balanced shoulder strength and posture. If you really want to develop the chest muscles, then you can do floor press for most of the same benefits without purchasing a bench.
For what it may be worth, I avoid weights because I want something I can do every day, any time, anywhere. Because I know that if I miss one day, there’s a good chance I will fizzle out.
So I do pushups, crunches, and pullups. I have a pullup bar at work which fits into the door frame and the same thing at home. But sometimes I do pullups on the subway or on one of the many scaffoldings in NYC.
Using weights might very well be superior in some respects but for me the main thing is consistency.