What are you willing to give up?

[glwanabe]

I've been having a discussion lately on a few topics, and I thought I would throw one of them out in the open.


This picture is of Tommy Kono's home gym. It just seems so raw and real and it inspires me more than a new shiny glossy of the latest high end gym.




Same thing for these pictures of Eugene Sandow. He seems real compared to Arnold. Yet Arnold is what most people look to.






What are you willing to give up?

Could you do without all your cages, benches, and stands?

Would you take the challenge of going 12 weeks and use nothing but a barbell and dumbells?

I know for many people this idea strikes a fight or flee impulse. What would stop you from stripping it all away and going back to just the barebones?

What do you think you would learn from this?

Could you put together your own plan or would you need a program to follow?

How many days a week would you work?


Discuss.

[LtL]

I guess for me this argument runs the same course as the RAW versus geared lifting. I would rather embrace the new developments in lifting than try to recreate times past. If you're comparing natural and steroid physiques then that's something different but in terms of actual lifting, I will use all of the tools available.

LtL

[BendtheBar]

Interesting challenge. I think a lot can be learned.

What do you think you would learn from this?

I've learned a lot from working with limited equipment over the last 5 years. I've played with exercise variations, primarily legs, and found a few that were noteworthy.

I think the hardest challenge for me would be dealing with the lack of a flat bench. I rely on it for so many things. Without it though I am certain I could make due.

[glwanabe]

Originally Posted by LtL

I guess for me this argument runs the same course as the RAW versus geared lifting.

It's not an argument. It's a friendly discussion of the tools we use and why.

I would rather embrace the new developments in lifting than try to recreate times past.

That's part of the point. Could you not find a way to work given a limited amount of tools?

If you're comparing natural and steroid physiques then that's something different

No, thats not what the discussion is about. Exotic supps could still be employed with a minimalist approach. This is strictly about a period of time of going back to a very basic format as a learning tool, or exerience.

[glwanabe]

Originally Posted by BendtheBar

I've learned a lot from working with limited equipment over the last 5 years. I've played with exercise variations, primarily legs, and found a few that were noteworthy.

I think the hardest challenge for me would be dealing with the lack of a flat bench. I rely on it for so many things. Without it though I am certain I could make due.

I think most people would find giving up the flat bench to be the hardest part of the challenge.

Flat bench for most people is like breathing. They will simply fight you all the way to have more of it.

Stop benching? Heratic!

[BendtheBar]

Could you put together your own plan or would you need a program to follow?

I think suggestions for legs and pressing movements might need to most suggestions.

This is actually a good idea for an article/workout, because I do receive a lot of questions from guys with only barbell and dumbbells.

[BendtheBar]

Originally Posted by glwanabe

I think most people would find giving up the flat bench to be the hardest part of the challenge.

Flat bench for most people is like breathing. They will simply fight you all the way to have more of it.

Stop benching? Heratic!

When I first started back into things before buying equipment I did pushup variations supersetted with dips between chairs. I was going to work up to a 10x10 until the wife gave me the credit card.

[Fazc]

Originally Posted by glwanabe

It's not an argument. It's a friendly discussion of the tools we use and why.

That's part of the point. Could you not find a way to work given a limited amount of tools?

No, thats not what the discussion is about. Exotic supps could still be employed with a minimalist approach. This is strictly about a period of time of going back to a very basic format as a learning tool, or exerience.

I think what Ltl is getting at, and what I'm thinking when I read is... why? The tools are there, why would we train like they aren't? For me this would be nostalgia just for the sake of it.

I have trained for 1 year while at Uni with nothing more than a barbell and weights. And I can tell you it sucked.

Just training isn't enough, just going to the gym isn't enough. What I would ask is can you give up the idea that discomfort in the gym is a bad thing? Can you give up the idea that sitting on your ass for recovery is the only way to get better? Can you give up the idea that recovery workouts are not just the realm of steroids abusing lifters? Can you give up the idea that if you don't dirty bulk, you're losing out on gains?

These are, I feel, questions which need to be asked. Are you really willing to do what it takes, or would you rather lay the blame on genetics and *life*? People inevitably talk a great game especially on the internet. Actually doing it is a different kettle of fish.

[glwanabe]

There are more than a few ideas I've been thinking about in regards to both of these aspects.

I see that question a lot as well from people both young and old, as well as them saying they are limited becasue they don't have multiple racks and stands. You have weight, lift it!

There is actually a lot that can be done with nothing but a barbell. Lately I've been thinking that especially for newer lifters, they should not use any assistance racks. Work with what you can lift.

Learn to lift the bar first!

[bruteforce]

I'm pretty bare bones as it is. I user barbells and DBs, only machine I use is a lat pulldown, which could be replaced by pullups. Those would take some time to get good at, but they are the end goal. Also a leg press now that I think of it, but I've been running without that for over a year until recently. Honestly, I like being able to push my legs with it after finishing my squats.

I squat in a rack so I don't get squished when I fail. I would be more than happy to squat from stands with saw horses set at a height that works for safety.

I don't really see a reason to give up benching, but I also get in plenty of overhead pressing. With a custom made set of parallel bars for dips I could still hit my chest pretty well, but its hard to come by a set wide/tall enough to accommodate me. No one likes that sort of strain on the joints or banging their knees on the floor trying to get to depth.

It would be interesting to me to do nothing but deadlifts, drags, presses, and carries, with no barbells. Some of the strongest, most beastly people I know never touched an official weight in their life, but have done heavy labor on the farm since they were children. Then I look back at the Lock-up bench room in Taylorville and think that I can progress more quickly using the tools available.

I'll never go all machines, but I'm not likely to give up my barbells and safety apparatus. I like my yoke and tire. So what's stopping me from going all barbells and dumbbells? Nothing, I've already done it.