Hi,
I used to go to the gym but have now been working out at home. I have a chest expander with 7 springs and a pair of dumbbells with 4 2.5kg plates and 4 4kg plates. I'm able to train my chest, shoulders, back, and arms. I want to train my legs more as the dumbbells are too limited and I don't feel much when using them. I don't want to have an unbalanced physique. The problem is that I have limited space in my current house. My budget is $500. Do you have any recommendations?
Cheers.
Thank you, however, space is a problem at the moment. But will consider it when I move
dont really need a great amount of space - i have a 3 x 3m room for my internal gym, its a tight squeeze but i fit:
renpho exercise bike
projector
small desk
5 kettle bells (12-28kg)
adjustable bench
fixed bench
squat stands (free standing with no cross bar)
olympic bar and couple of plates
water bag (20kg)
2 x 24kg adjustable DB
2 x 45kg adjustable db
straight bar with adjustable concrete filled plates totalling 20kg
2 sets of resistance bands
Legs
Try out some single leg work. Lunge variations, single leg squats etc. Will ramp up the difficulty without needing to load on weights.
Okay, I will give this a try
Jump!
Calisthenics won't cost you anything.
Squat, pistol squat, forward and reverse lung, box jumps, speed rope, calf raise, glute bridges etc
I've heard of calisthenics but would it provide the same results and definition on legs?
It's still working the muscles and therefore building and conditioning them. All it's doing is using your own body weight instead of external weight/resistance. If you can already do 3 sets of 10 reps of pistol squats on each leg then maybe you'd benefit from more weight/resistance but otherwise you'll be benefiting from it. You can always hold your existing dumbells in your hands while you're doing it to effectively increase your body weight.
TBH, if your current equipment is a chest expander and 21kg of weights, I suspect you are a long way from having to worry about definition on legs.
However, calisthenics is the way to go. Once you can do a pistol squat holding 20kg, come back to us
In the interim, buy a couple of kettlebells. Suggest on around 15kg and the other, well, depends on where you are. Could be 10kg or could be 22 or 28kg. Kmart has some cheap KBs and Rebel isnt bad either. Use for swings, goblet squats, well, just about everything.
Your legs are the strongest part of your body. Are the dumbbells still too light if you combine them together? i.e. two dumbbells loaded with 13kg each. Grip the dumbbells and do squats.
Yes, they are still light for me because as you said legs are the strongest body part…
If you do not have space for a barbell, maybe have to invest in some heavier dumbbell plates.
Weighted wall squats with plates across lap i felt worked quite well too
Try split squats instead of normal ones.
$500 will last a while for gym membership with proper setup and the probability of meeting someone who can spot you. Squatting with weights is pretty much all you need for legs for the first two years or so. Compounding >> isolation.
500 you can practically get a 20kg Olympic bar, 2 x 10 weights and a set of squat stands.
Good mornings
Deadlifts
Squats
Weighted calf raise
Split squats
Etc
If you have a suitable bench or similar you can do hip thrusts too