Question: I want to gain some muscle and lose fat but not enough to look like a bodybuilder, just to get in decent shape so I’m not embarrassed to take my shirt off. I know from reading your articles I should focus on high intensity strength training and cutting calories, but I have a few questions. I don’t want to joint a gym in my current condition and want to know what I can do to work out at home if I don’t have a lot of room for equipment?
Also, are there any exercises I can do to specifically work my chest and stomach that will help with my man boobs, belly flab, and love handles? Shouldn’t I also do some cardio to burn more calories?
Answer: There are several cons to working out in a commercial gym versus a home gym, but your current physical condition should not be one of them. Almost every big gym will have a few assholes who mock or ridicule others to bolster their fragile egos, but most members will respect you for being there and making an effort to improve regardless of how you currently look. Everybody starts somewhere, and what matters isn’t where you started on your journey or where you are now, but the fact that you did start it and are on it.
If you prefer to work out at home your most cost and space efficient options are bodyweight, isometric, and dumbbell exercises.
Many bodyweight exercises like squats, push-ups, and crunches require nothing but a few square feet of empty floor space and can be modified to accommodate people of different strength levels or body weights. You can purchase a doorway pull-up bar for chin-ups, pull-ups, and other hanging exercises, which can be removed when not in use and takes up very little space. If you aren’t strong enough to perform pull-ups or chin-ups at your current weight you can use a short stool or step-ladder to perform them with leg-assistance or isometrically.
Plate-loaded and selectorized dumbbells take up very little space and can be used to perform a huge variety of exercises working every major muscle group, including various kinds of squats, deadlifts, presses, rows, and direct arm, shoulder, and abdominal exercises. For example, the following combination of exercises works all the major muscle groups and requires nothing but dumbbells, a pull-up bar, your body weight, and a little floor space to perform:
- Dumbbell or Bodyweight Squat
- Chin-up or Isometric Pulldown
- Push-up
- Dumbbell Row
- Dumbbell Standing Press or Pike Push-up
- Dumbbell Stiff-Leg Deadlift
- Crunch
- Dumbbell One-Legged Heel Raise
- Isometric Neck Flexion
- Isometric Neck Extension
For more info on bodyweight and dumbbell workouts read Project Kratos and High Intensity Workouts. For more info on isometric exercises and workouts that can be performed at home see Timed Static Contraction Training.
While there are several bodyweight and dumbbell exercises you can perform to strengthen the muscles in your chest and abdomen you can not “spot reduce” the fat in these areas. The only way to get rid of your “man boobs, belly flab, and love handles” is to reduce your overall body fat. To do this you must consume fewer calories than your body burns each day to force your body to use your body fat for energy. These areas tend to be the last place many men lose fat, so you will have to be patient, but if you stick with it you can eventually develop a muscular chest and flat stomach and have a body you’ll be proud to remove your shirt to show off.
It doesn’t hurt to perform additional activity for the sake of burning calories if you don’t overdo the intensity and volume and if they are not unnecessarily hard on your joints, but it doesn’t help much, either. Most activities burn very few calories for the time you spend on them and contribute very little to your fat loss efforts. If you’re going to engage in physical activities in addition to your high intensity training workouts you should do them for fun, socialization, stress relief, or other reasons, but not for the sole purpose of burning calories which is a huge waste of your time.
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Enjoyed the response to question.
Hi Drew,
Got a question which could make for an interesting blog article. Due to “busyness” I’ve really cut down my volume of exercise. No “cardio” and my weight lifting workouts consist of a home workout of trap bar deadlifts which I feel in my quads, glutes, hamstrings, lower back, traps, forearms and abs. Supinated grip chin ups which I feel work my biceps, lats, forearms, and abs. Finally, either a flat dumbbell bench or push ups which hit my triceps, chest, and shoulders. It’s quite similar to Mike Mentzer’s consolidation routine. My thoughts are that if I reach a certain level of competence on each lift most of my bodyparts will be as strong/muscular as I’m genetically able to be. Is there any reason to do more than that?
Hey Joel,
The short answer is, yes, there is reason to do more than that, because although these exercises involve all the major muscle groups such a limited number of exercises is not optimal for overall muscular development. I’ll address this in more detail in a Q&A.
Hello Drew,
What’s your take on training on an empty stomach?
On my training day, I typically train first thing in the morning, and I’ve done that for years.
I just feel better that way…my last meal of the night was red meat so it’s not like I’m starving upon waking.
My testosterone is highest during that time anyway (I won’t go further….) and I’ll often sip on some BCAAs during training.
I don’t recommend it. Consume at least a little bit of carbohydrate and protein before your workout if you haven’t eaten within the past few hours. Don’t waste your money on BCAAs.
Would this same workout be performed twice a week?
It could be performed a few times a week or alternated with other workouts, depending on individual recovery ability and goals. For more on program design I recommend reading High Intensity Workouts.