A sad little gym

[dorothean]

Elsewhere rydra_wong encouraged me to post about what equipment the little gym at my apartment complex has.

The only things I've ever seen people using are the cardio machines:
(1) two stationary bicycles
(2) two treadmills
(3) one elliptical machine

There are weight machines, the sort you sit down on, and that have adjustable weights on pulleys (don't know how to describe them any better):
(4) one that has levers for flyes and other levers for pushing forward
(5) one that has a pull-down bar and levers for pulling forward
(6) one that has something to lift up
(7) one in which you hook your legs over and pull up on the weight with your ankles to strengthen your thigh muscles

And then the saddest part, the free weights (in front of a mirror, but with no room to swing them or a bench to sit or lie on):
(8) two 10-pound dumbbells
(9) two 30-pound dumbbells

That's it! No pull-up bar!

Yet, there must be many much worse gyms out there; and this one is free with my rent. I've never had a free gym in my neighborhood before, so I really should take advantage of it.

Any clever ideas? Tell me about worse gyms you have known?

(If it helps, I am not athletic, not interested in running, and have little upper-body strength, but want to become overall stronger for things like hiking.)

Comments

[abyssinia]

That sounds like a pretty standard little free apartment gym.

You can do good work on the weight machines, if you're careful, but it's too bad there's not really space to *use* the dumbbells.

Also, as someone with knee problems (stupid sports injuries) I have had a lot of trainers tell me to avoid "(7) one in which you hook your legs over and pull up on the weight with your ankles to strengthen your thigh muscles" like the plague - you're a lot more likely to screw up your knees than get stronger.

For what it's worth, I've developed a strength training routine I'm pretty happy with using a sledgehammer, a few rubber resistance bands, and enough floorspace to do planks/push-ups - it's not going to build super strong muscles, but keeps me strong for sports and hiking and general life.

Things I like:
* I use the sledgehammer for shovelglove (you can google that, but pretty much spend 14 minutes swinging it around, doing things like pretending to shovel snow. Start with a sledgehammer that feels on the easy side of heavy and just play around. This doesn't isolate muscles, but ends up using lots of different big muscles and stabilizing muscles.)

* Squats (properly done - don't let your knees get past your toes) and lunges are great for quad strengthening, especially if you try to pay attention to also using your butt muscles.

* Push-ups and planks for core/arms. Also for your lower abs, lying on your back, lift your legs a few inches off the floor, keeping your knees straight, and slowly bicycle them (pulling a knee in, then out again).

* calf raises - just stand on the edge of a step and raise and lower your heels

*

[sporky_rat]

Can I just amen the calf raises? Those are the best ever for strengthening and toning your calves and they're even better for stretching your tendons if you've got that kind of problem (Hi!) The lying on your back, lifting your legs and keeping your knees straight? You can also pull them in until your knees are kinda parallel to your body and then slowly extend them, never letting them touch the ground. Fantastic for core.

If you pick up a yoga pad or something similar (even a blanket to fold up), you can probably do some triceps and biceps curls with the little barbells.

[mongrelheart]

I just looked at the shovelglove page, what a great system! I love how simple and low-tech it is.

* Squats (properly done - don't let your knees get past your toes)
One thing that really helped me with proper squat form was to squat facing the wall. Put your feet real close, like an inch from the wall.

[dorothean]

Thanks!

[dorothean]

Thanks for these tips! Especially for the knee damage one. I think I'm getting enough thigh exercise from hiking that I don't really need a machine for that, and I really don't want to mess up my knees.

[laurashapiro]

For hiking, either the treadmills or the elliptical machine can help you build stamina.

For building overall strength, there's a lot you can do without any equipment at all, using the weight of your own body for resistance. You could start with planks and gradually work up to push-ups; you could start out squatting with no weights and work up to the 10-lb dumbbells, you could do some serious yoga -- all of these will build core strength as well as targeting major muscle groups.

Machines can be good to begin with, but I would advise you to do some online research to learn what the machines in your gym are actually for (if the brand name and name of the machine is visible on it, you can copy that down and then look it up), and how to use them properly. If you're smaller or larger than average, you'll probably need to adjust them, too.

[dorothean]

Planks are amazing!

I should look up the machines. I was spoiled by the university gym that had instructional signs on everything!

[laurashapiro]

Planks are great. I'm a big fan.

[azurelunatic]

The sad little gym at my old apartment complex always had the weight machines breaking, and the pins in some of the weight stacks were replaced by large bolts, which was unnerving although probably mechanically sound.

[rydra_wong]

Oh my, that is dismal.

Personally, I'd be inclined to ignore most of the machines, except the pull-down bar: lat pull-downs can be handy if you fancy working towards a pull-up.

And the levers for pushing and pulling forwards could be useful substitutes for chest presses and rows, if that's something you want to work.

in front of a mirror, but with no room to swing them or a bench to sit or lie on

Is there a free corner of space elsewhere in the gym? Nothing to say you can't move the weights around the gym, as long as you return them at the end of your session.

Is there enough space to lie down anywhere? (I'm thinking about Turkish get-ups, which are wonderful for almost everything. You may want to start these with your home weights or none at all, though; they make a light weight feel much heavier.)

If you've got standing room in front of the mirror, you can at least do squats, which should be excellent for hiking strength.

Also possible and fun, good for back and legs: windmills and one-legged deadlifts.

Btw, here's the Free, gratis and for nothing resource post.

[dorothean]

Thanks for the tip about the pull-down bar!

There really isn't any room anywhere in the gym, but I can do some things in my living room.

[smackshack]

If there's enough room to do squats, you might be able to get a lot of mileage out of those dumbbells.

Dumbbell Clean
Dumbbell Hang Clean
Dumbbell Snatch

[dorothean]

There isn't, but I have some dumbbells at home too, and I have just about enough room in my living room. Thank you!

[mongrelheart]

Aww, that is a sad lil' gym ;) Makes me think of the exercise rooms that some motels have. But at least it's free!

I'd blow off all the machines and just use whatever limited floor space is available, for bodyweight exercises and/or weighted exercises with the dumbbells. If there's enough room, maybe you can jump rope in there too? Also, I'm not sure what kind of "seat" the machines have but if one is stable enough, it could be used for jumps or step-ups.

[dorothean]

Free is very good!

There's no room for swinging anything; I'd have to go outside. But that's okay.