How to Build Muscle & Burn Fat Without Weights
Building muscle and burning fat is a goal of many people in the world today. Being able to do this takes a lot of work, dedication and the use of weights. Now take this same situation and eliminate one component--the weights. Now, an already difficult task just became more difficult. But difficult doesn't mean impossible. It just takes a little creativity and some weight that everybody has: your body weight.
Instructions
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Clean up the diet. Eliminate deep fried foods, processed foods, refined foods and foods that are high in saturated fat. Also cut out high-calorie beverages like soda and alcohol. Instead, choose good sources of protein, carbs and fat. Some examples are lean meats, fish, low-fat dairy, beans, legumes, whole grains, fruits, vegetables, seeds and nuts.
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Eat multiple meals. Eat a meal every 2 to 3 hours throughout the whole day. Make sure you get a balance of protein, carbs and fat in each one of them. This will give you consistent energy, and it will also help raise your metabolism.
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Do some aerobic activity. Perform cardio 3 days a week on alternating days. Interval training is a good option. This is characterized by alternating from high intensity to low intensity. Here's an example: Do a 10- to 15-minute warmup, then go at a high intensity for 30 seconds and a low intensity for 60 seconds. Do a series of high and low bursts, then finish with a 10- to 15-minute cool down.
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Work your back. Pull-ups are one of the best body weight routines there is. Not only do they target the back, but they also hit the arms, shoulders and core. Use a pull-up bar to do regular grip pull-ups, wide grip pull-ups, reverse grip pull-ups and close grip pull-ups. There are pull-up bars that can fit inside a doorway (see Resources for perfect pull-up).
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Do some dips. Dips are an exercise that targets the triceps on the back of the upper arms. The way to get the most bang for your buck is by doing them on chairs. Place two chairs apart about the distance from your chest to the floor. Sit on the edge of one chair and grasp the front of it with your hands. Extend your legs out and place them on the other chair. Start with your arms extended. Slowly lower yourself down by bending your elbows. Come to point where your upper arms are about parallel to the floor, then push yourself back up.
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Do some push-ups. Push-ups are a must have in any routine that doesn't involve weights. Do these from three positions. One is a regular push-up, one is a wide grip push-up and the other is an incline push-up with your feet on a chair. Perform all of them on chairs for more intensity.
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Add it all up. Bring the body weight routine together. Do this in a circuit superset. Perform the routines in the following order: regular grip pull-ups/regular push-up, wide grip pull-ups/wide grip push-up, reverse grip pull-ups/chair dips and close grip pull-ups/incline push-ups. Do two reps for the pull-ups and four reps for the push-ups. Go all the way through the whole circuit without rest. When you complete it, do 15 Russian squats and rest for 60 seconds. Then repeat the whole circuit three more times. So you will be doing four total circuits. Do this routine 3 days a week on alternating days of your cardio routine. On the seventh day, do 30 minutes of light exercise like walking or playing catch with a friend.
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Tips & Warnings
The fats you eat should be essential fatty acids. These fats are actually good for your body. Some examples are olive oil, flax seed oil, hemp oil, avocados and nut butters. When you do your cardio, you can do running, biking, stair stepping or any type of activity that you can easily shift from high to low intensities. When doing pull-ups, you can also use an open stair step. When you are doing chair dips, make sure to keep your elbows in tight against your rib cage. Also, to add a variation, every time you lift up, extend one foot straight out in front of you. Russian squats are done by coming into a wide stance, extending your arms straight over your head and performing squats.
Resources
- Photo Credit K/Rail, Sandy Materna
