Student Fitness

By: Veljko Petranovic

What if you didn’t have the time to visit a gym on a regular basis? What if you’re short on cash? What if you just don’t like the gym scene at all?

A good idea for someone who would like to be fit without equipment is to do bodyweight exercises. These can be done without ever leaving your dorm room. An understanding roommate is required for this to work. You also need a touch of creative thinking. Will and discipline would be nice, too. Once the proper ingredients are ready, you’re on your way and the sky is the limit.

OK, maybe that’s an exaggeration. If you’re looking for huge, rippling muscles, the kind you see in contemporary bodybuilding publications, bodyweight work may not be enough. But if your goals are more about sleek lines, muscle tone and that fit, powerfull look, you’re in luck! Brad Pitt’s Fight Club physique is perfectly attainable through this type of exercise. Girls who worry about adding excessive muscular bulk can greatly benefit from this, too.

Let’s start with the pull-up. This is the single, most important exercise for your upper body. It works your lats, biceps, rear deltoids and forearms. The pull-up will give your torso that “V” shape that is much sought after. Be warned, though, that it is a difficult exercise. This is good, because it means that it works. You can pull up to a simple bar affixed in your doorframe, or find a substitute. This is where that touch of creativity comes in. Think parks and monkey bars. Think anything that is horizontal, sturdy and handy to grip onto. While we’re talking about grip, yours should be pronated (palms away from the body) and your hands should be apart just a bit more than your shoulders are wide. Aim to get your chin over the bar, then drop down to a dead hang, arms fully extended. It should take you a second to pull up, and two seconds to lower your body. A chin-up is done with a supinated (palms facing you) grip, arms shoulder-wide, and is a great biceps builder.

Next up, we have one-legged squats. These are for your quadriceps and hamstrings, though the abs and the lower back also recieve stimulation. One of your feet should be behind you, toes touching the seat of a chair, the other on the ground. Squat down with a full range of motion and extend your leg. After a set, you switch legs. It’s a good idea to aim for high reps with this one, as in 15 to 25.

Remember Phys Ed? Those God-awful Jumping Jacks? Well, turns out these are a great method for developing strong, shapely thighs. Your calves also get a workout of their own. Remember, it doesn’t really matter that you’ll look ridiculous in your room, as longs as your legs are looking impressive when you’re outside.

Pushups are great for your chest, triceps and front deltoids. Your hands should be placed about 10 inches wider than your shoulders. Keep your body straight at all times. Lower yourself until your chest touches the ground, then extend your arms. Repeat. If this get easy, consider putting your feet up on a chair and doing pushups from that position. This places more stress on your upper pectorals. A narrow hand stance stimulates your triceps even further.

Dips done between two chairs are the absolute best exercise for the tris, bar none.

Abdominal muscles can be worked in a wide variety of ways, here, I’ll explain my personal favorite. Lie on the floor, on your back. Hang onto something stable with your hands, like a leg of the bed. Lift your legs together until they form a 90 degree angle with your torso. From there, prop your butt in the air about 5 inches and hold for 3 seconds, lifting up your legs even further towards the ceiling. Reverse the motion, but don’t let your legs touch the ground. We are aiming to keep a constant tension in our abs. 10 reps of these are a good start.

The delts can be done in the old-fashioned, prison-cell-block-C way. First, we need some water bottles, one liter size. Fill ‘em up with water, or sand if you’re feeling frisky. Your strength determines how much of these should be put in two shopping bags. Stand relaxed, feet apart at about 10-15 inches, arms holding the weight and hanging by your sides. Next, do a flying motion, until your arms are parallel to the ground and hold for a second. Think eagle. Lower the weight, slowly.

These makeshift weights can also be used for curling. Not the traditional Canadian sport, dummy, I mean bicep curling.

Toe raises off a step of stairs, one leg at a time, work your calves very nicely. Just remember to lower to a full stretch, then lift up your body to a ballerina-like stance. We’re talking tip-toes. Calves do not grow with half-assed partial reps.

Let’s make a program out of all this.

Chins or pull-ups, 5 sets of maximum reps

Curls, 4 sets of 10-20 reps with each arm

One-legged squats, 4 sets of 25, 20, 15 and 10 reps

Jumping Jacks, 2 sets of 30

Pushups, 5 sets of 10-20 reps

Dips, 4 sets of max reps

Abs, 3 sets of max reps (do not exceed 50, though. Make the exercise harder by doing it slowly instead)

Delt flyes, 4 sets of 10-20 reps

Toe raises, 5 sets of maximum reps

Rest for 1 minute between sets.

A bit on maximum reps. In layman’s terms, this means as much as you can perform. You should stop just before the pain becomes unbearable. This isn’t an S&M session, it’s a workout, and you’re not out to hurt yourself. However, don’t take this as an excuse to cop out early in your set. Muscles need adequate stimulation in order to get stronger, harder and more shapely.

Do the workout 3 times a week, and in your rest days, run, run like the wind for 20 minutes at a time. As you get more fit, increase the running time to 30, then 45 minutes. When you can run for 45 minutes with ease, increase the intensity, IE run faster.

This, combined with a proper, healthy diet should produce a body that will turn heads wherever you go. The diet is paramount, though. It will make up 70 percent of your results. That’s why we’ll talk about it in my next post. In the meantime, here’s a hint: put the ice cream back in the freezer.

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Posted in Dorm Room Workout | By Veljko |

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