Work-out plan with limited resources?

[tris27]

Hey, i'm a new member, I was checking out your site and it looks great. I was looking at the 5x5 workout, but I don't have most of the equipment. All i have is a bar that I think is 15 pounds and 100 pounds of plate. Either that or the bar is 25 and 90 lbs of plate. I also have two little dumbell bars that you can put weight on. This is pretty much all I have to work with. I'm 5 9 130 decently muscular, some abs that show I really want to get stronger, and lose some fat, but it's hard to find workouts that will fit what I have. I also have a treadmill. Any ideas?

[herf]

I'm 5 9 130 decently muscular, some abs that show I really want to get stronger, and lose some fat, but it's hard to find workouts that will fit what I have.

Lose some fat? Even if your female you would be considered skinny! Sounds like you just need to add some muscle. You can do front squats, over head presses, deadlifts with just that. Not sure on what to do about bench pressing. Check out craigslist or the classifieds and try to get a bench if you are low on cash. Gyms in the US cost about 40.00 a month. The equipment you have now will not last very long with this routine. You can also check out the body weight exercise forum if you really get stuck.

[lovestolift]

I picked up all my weights second-hand for about $0.50/ lb. I got my bench used for about $30 CAD. It's not the best gear, but it does the job. Look around, it'll be worthwhile.

[holvoetn]

When not having a bench, you can always do floor press.
More triceps then chest but it is better then nothing.

[tris27]

I'm a guy, and while I am decently light, I want to remain cut and even cut down more, while still gaining muscle.

[thepole]

I'm a guy, and while I am decently light, I want to remain cut and even cut down more, while still gaining muscle.

And maybe add a couple of inches on your cock? And make some money while your at it as well?

Seriously mate, you are underweight. Extremely underweight. You need to eat a lot, and put on at the very least 20lbs before you even think about reducing body fat. Think long term, if you stay at 130lbs then you will never have a muscular physique. Never. Get on SL 5x5 - most of which can be done with just a bar and plates, and eat loads. If you eat clean then most of what you gain will be muscle anyway, and you will look a lot better for it.

[tris27]

I'm 5 9 130 decently muscular, some abs that show I really want to get stronger, and lose some fat, but it's hard to find workouts that will fit what I have.

Lose some fat? Even if your female you would be considered skinny! Sounds like you just need to add some muscle. You can do front squats, over head presses, deadlifts with just that. Not sure on what to do about bench pressing. Check out craigslist or the classifieds and try to get a bench if you are low on cash. Gyms in the US cost about 40.00 a month. The equipment you have now will not last very long with this routine. You can also check out the body weight exercise forum if you really get stuck.

Sounds good, but I deadlifted with all the weight on, and it still wasn't enough... I'm just gonna start looking around for benches and more weight.

[rocksupreme]

Sounds good, but I deadlifted with all the weight on, and it still wasn't enough... I'm just gonna start looking around for benches and more weight.

Try it with one leg.

[Dada]

When not having a bench, you can always do floor press.
More triceps then chest but it is better then nothing.

Yeah, that's what I did before I got all my equipment. Floor press is a great exercise.

@OP, do what the others said plus the floor press for now. Then start looking on Cragislist and see if you can find some equipment. Might take a while before you find the deal that you want but if you persist you'll be surprised at the deals you can get. Example: I paid $40 for my squat rack (which probably cost 10X that much new).

[DoNotDisconnect]

Hey, you can do floor press for bench press , hack squats for squats ... dips and weighted pushuips with rucksack - put your wieghts inside. Buy a powerbar so you can do pull ups - it attaches to any door !

I'm in the same boat - i dont have any proper gyms near by, and all i have is a bar with 120kg or so of weights.

[GainMuscleMass]

I agree with everyone else on this one. Sure it would be ideal to have access to a full set of free weights, but anything is better than nothing. If you do not have access to a lot of equipment, you can still perform workouts that are completely based around body weight exercises. While it can be a bit more difficult to apply overload to your muscles on a consistent basis, you can build an impressive physique by going this route - you just have to be creative!