Yes, I second Scalvo2's advice. Stick with the basic compound movements. And use free weights instead of machines. Compound movements benefit both the main muscle group being exercised as well as the ancillary muscles.

greenbot

Deadlift, Squat, Bench press, Overhead Press, Rows and pullups.

Do these and you will succeed.

Scalvo2

*Sigh* it's been nearly a year since I last hit the gym :( Pretty badly out of shape now since the only exercise I get is during the weekends when I end up walking for 3-4 hours while taking photos (hobby). I am thankful for my genes; atleast I never grow fat despite my bad diet and lack of exercise.

Neel_Relaxation

One of the best things you can to to improve your fitness level is calisthenics. These make you stronger while making sure you maintain elongated muscles. Also continuing on Scalvo2's advice, if you do not have access to weights, push ups, crunches, step ups, reverse sit ups, and squat thrusts all help to build muscle, even if there is no visual difference.

klarcds92

While the actual article's advice is pretty sound, I am disappointed in Lifehacker's misleading title. Lifting weights increases a muscles strength by forcing/teaching the muscle to activate more fibers when it makes a contraction. Muscles grow in size when all fibers have been activated and the only way to get stronger is to grow more fibers. Therefore, a bigger muscle will usually be stronger than a smaller one, at least for the concentric part of the movement.

And make sure to remember the line: "Those who do try to lift at the gym can end up using weights that are not heavy enough to fully stimulate their muscles." This is one of the most important lines in the article.

Long story short: If you want to be strong and healthy in your old age, lift heavy!

Dom

For those blowing money on the gym, just do simple push-ups (or press-ups as they call them across the pond) in the morning before your morning shower. Start with 15, and increase by 1 every following day. Decrease by 1 for any one day you miss (but never lower than 15).

It won't take long before your shoulders, back, abs, 'ceps, and other muscle groups start showing improvement. Just do the push-ups properly (straight back and legs, hands spaced properly.

If you can't start with 15, start at 10. If you can't start at 10, seek medical attention :)

The routine takes less than a minute out of my morning, and it truly does make a difference. Machines and memberships really over-complicate the issue.

TendoMentis

I agree. I do have sculpted arms and shoulders, but the best thing about weight lifting is not necessarily how it looks, but being stronger. I can open jars by myself now. :)

vered

@vered: No kidding! My wife isn't fat, but at 5'-11" she is heavy. The day I was able to pick her up and carry her upstairs to bed was the day I finally was happy that I started doing pushups.

Of course I was so out of breath that it didn't matter - so I had to start running :-)

Sbudda

@pixelkid: No, I noticed that as well before I posted it. ;)

Kevin Purdy

Am I the only one who found the name "Fitts" quite humorous given the "fitting" subject he's talking about?

...

I'll get my coat!

pixelkid

I don't think push-ups are going to work your back and legs enough, though they are certainly better than nothing. Add some body-weight squats (keep your feet flat), and flutter kicks. Adding 1 every day is a good idea. I agree that 5-10 (or even 1) minutes of working out every day is a whole lot better than 0.

middy

@middy: If you do the push-ups correctly, it does work more than just your arms. Not the legs as much as your back and abs though, so you are correct there.

Agrees that flutter kicks are good for one's glutenus maxmized though :)

In practice, I found that most people who DON'T exercise lose interset in daily exercises if there are multiple exercises to do, that's why I say if you do only one thing do push-ups as it works the most muscle groups (not all at the same strength)....just so long as you do them correctly.

Ideally, it's not a bad idea if you get out walking or biking on the weekends too, but not everyone can do that. Push-ups require a minute out of your already busy morning schedule and only need as much space as your body length on a bare patch of floor.

TendoMentis

I concur, looking big and being strong are two totally different things. I have a thin appearance, always have, but I'm way stronger/healthier with regular exercise including both cardio and weights. Do I look huge? No. Could I lift a car off the ground? Depends what car, but most likely: No. However, I have enough endurance to move out of a 3rd floor walk-up apartment without stopping for a break, which is a much more practical life skill, and it's something that a lot of very strong people couldn't do because they'd get exhausted first.

moore850

I really like the Simplefit plan. I started about a year ago. It's an easy to follow workout plan primarily of pushups, pullups and body-weight squats. Everything is laid out nicely in levels and there are different days that focus on different things (strength, endurance, etc). Be sure to check out the forum. It's pretty active and there're a lot of posts for beginners.

[www.simplefit.org]

gwmccull

Good article. I'd add to the vote for mass doesn't equal strength. I've known hundreds of guys over the years who thought that because they were big (mostly fat) they were some how strong. Many of them were decently strong, but mostly fat. The time in my life when I was the absolute strongest was a college job loading freight. I spent 8 hours a day loading variable weight packages ranging from 4-80 pounds pretty much non-stop. Because of my normal metabolism I was a 140 pound guy who could manipulate his own body weight with ease. I was like a friggin spider monkey!

Jason Fitzpatrick

As a dedicated lifter I can tell you that there are different methods of weight training that produce different results. If you want to increase strength, you lift weights that are heavy enough to bring you to failure somewhere around 2-6 reps (depending on what you're doing). For hypertrophy (increasing size) you typically shoot for the 8-15 rep range. Note that you shouldn't try to go to failure every set.

If you talk to a body-builder - the cut guy with the 6-pack - about his routine it will include many different exercises performed in the 10-15 rep range. A power lifter - those guys with the "kegs" - will most likely tell you he is performing one or 2 excercises multiple sets in the 4-6 rep range most days (after you wave the chalk out of your face).

I and most others who work out for health as well as vanity mix it up a bit and do both. Of the two, powerlifters tend to be more single-track and not bother with the higher rep sets as much, but that opinion is strictly anecdotal.

TechTalk WRLR 98.3FM

I can..
Bench my body weight 30+ times,
25+ pull-ups,
Sprint with the best of them,
And run long distance 20+ miles a week.

And I'll probably die before 50...

But Hey I'm having fun and that is really all that matters ;-)

crabbygeek

Your health is determined by the following factors, in decreasing order of influence:
1) Genetics (great T&A calls for great DNA)
2) Diet
3) Rest
4) Exercise

Exercise can never do as much for your physique as picking your parents can, and diet and rest allow your body to actually improve. Nevertheless, the best anyone can do is focus on training multiple muscle groups at once and not over-training.

When in doubt, ask people in good shape what they do, then adjust accordingly to account for your genetics.

elgilicious

I'm late to the game here, but I'd be remiss to not mention this:

[www.theonion.com]

amfxc

yes this should be followed. Now a days people are very much interested to build their body with six pack muscles. Its just building the body in shape.. but that strain is not necessary i think.. but at the same time for healthy muscles brisk walking, swimming, playing with children are well and good...
------------------------------
[4thesakeofu.blogspot.com]
[divine-thought.blogspot.com]
[technozip.blogspot.com]

gsvvmail

@crabbygeek: In case you have never heard Bill Hicks...if you have a sense of humor, check this out. The Master. Man it sucks he's gone.

+ Watch video

HMGS

I laugh at all the posts who comment: "push-ups are better than nothing. Well, let me tell you, I have a military-inspired push-up routine that WILL punish you beyond your wildest dreams – a few variations INCLUDING girl-style push-ups. Believe it. Lift heavy? Yeah and pay for it with arthritis and bad joints when you hit 40. Calisthenics, push-ups. pull-ups, chin-ups, leg-lifts, dive-bombers, etc are definitely the way to go, especially if you swim alot like me or planning to enter the Military, try it, you'll be singing a different tune.

PearlMule

I train for a living and am astounded by the amount to hogwash I hear on a daily basis. Definition, tone, genetics, size vs strength. The best comment on this post is gwmcculls' regarding simplefit.

@scalvo2
Common, are you serious? Every exercise you named causes extreme injury when performed incorrectly. Use some discretion when targeting people with no training experience. (except the pull up, an exercise that most people cannot complete one repetition of.)

Fitness is a huge topic that cannot be addressed with a simple one line blurb.

When you train with high weight, low repetitions (usualy 2-3 or 2-6 to failure, you train for adaption in your nervous system. your muscles don't get bigger you just recruit muscle fibres that are already there more efficiently(to be completly acurate you will get a little bigger). A low weight 'high' repetition 8-12 range induces hypertrophy. This is harder to explain briefly... I'll just say it causes all structures within the muscle cell to grow optimaly. (Mitochondria, myofibrils & sarcoplasm(Not cytoplasma)).
6-8 rep range induces both efficiency and hypertrophy (most noticibly myofibrial hypertrophy.)
anything over 15 reps (calves and shoulders excluding for other reasons) is more cellular and metabolic, you might as well be running. (This is btw the way we teach injured vets to train when they can no longer perform the cardio they used to prefer,)
This sparks TechTalks fun little debate between Powerlifters and bodybuilders, Powerlifters saying That body builders have big dumb useless muscles(rightly so) and bodybuilders saying they look better naked. (Also rightly so).

I really didn't mean to go on this long, but am willing to field additional questions on fitness topics.

JiffyLube

55 y.o. 300 pushups 6x week. 200 squats. 5-6 pullups 4-5x a day whenever I pass by a couple of bars around the ranch. Despite ranching for a living, I walk 5 miles 5x a week @ 4-5 mph. Dive bombers, Hindu squats, other variations. Don't need a gym, my body weight is my gym. Saves $$, time and better results.

If your intent is to compete in body building, then a gym is necessary for weights and machines that can reach hard to get at muscles for size and definition. But for health, longevity, strength and vitality, go the Charles Atlas way. And look up John E. Peterson on the www. Also Matt Fuery, although his DVDs are pricey. And last ... learn yoga and Tai Chi.

BlackFlag55

THE most important this in acuracy. Proprioception (the sence of position) the more acturate your mm work the better they will do their job. Also strength usualy equals limited motion or movement, at the end of range is where we do most of the trauma. thus if you limit the buffer bw mid range and end range you increase your chance of damage. Strength in stretch is what we want, like a grayhound

sparcs

haha does't Charles Bronson (notorious British criminal who has spent years in a solitary cage) do over 1000 push ups a day?

mental

gorilly

@BlackFlag55: Atlas is an inspiration, but genetics still matters. He died of heart failure at age 80, while George Burns lived to be 100 through a diet of smoking and drinking, and by any Fitness measure you want, that extra 20 years should've gone to Atlas.

moore850

no argument there. in fact, your observation is a favorite theme. my exercise works for me. might not for others. been doing it a long time. was REALLY disheartened when nephew Johnny was born because by age five the lad had perfect washboard abs and could chin himself 10x with no apparent effort. he could do six one-armed. by the time he was 10 he had the body (in miniature) of a professional athlete and all he did was lay around playing video games and eating junk food. very discouraging that he was simply GROWING a body like Terrel Owens by laying around. one of the guys i grew up with drank beer like it was water and ate probably 10,000 calories a day and all he did was work with horses. looks like a million bucks and is healthy as a mule, work all day, dance all night. got a cousin who lives on next to nothing calorie-wise and she gains fat-weight from reading a magazine ad about artesian water. genetics plays a HUGE role. and there wasn't just george burns, how about winston churchill/ you make an excellent point.

BlackFlag55

- Pullups
- Pushups
- Situps
- Squats

End of story.

matthendrix