You can do resistance exercises without the gym and get a good chunk of benefits from it. It’s easier with a gym though, and in my experience more fun.
If you just want to dip your toes in it, look into calisthenics. Should you find that enjoyable and hit a plateau in your progress, consider joining a gym at that point.
Joint health, bone density, and strength/muscle mass are things you will miss out on if, say, you just play ultimate frisbee. But getting stronger doesnt have to be 3 sets of 8 on bench. You can get essentially the same health benefits by engaging in sports that train strength, like martial arts, acrobatics, or rock climbing. That said, many people who do any kind of physical activity aggressively typically find that they enjoy lifting at some point in their athletic careers, as lifting itself can improve athletic performance and ward off sports injuries, due to the controlled and progressive nature of gym work, as compared to the more chaotic nature of real-world activities.
Its about control. Being active is great overall but could leave some weak spots or even be wearing things out. Certain muscles might not get worked quite right or to their full range of movement. Working out with good technique and variety should hit all your muscles and identify any tight or painful spots you need to work on.
If you’re after results, like increased strength, endurance, or a better physique, then thats where training comes in. You have to push to near failure to demand muscle growth. If you start biking 5 miles a day, those first few weeks and months you might grow a bit, but eventually that 5 miles won’t be as challenging and you’ll plateau in terms of strength and endurance. Thats where training, either training the muscles or doing more cycling, really starts to work. Thats how you grow and start improving again.
So “general activity” I can only assume is stuff like going on walks and hikes, playing sports, enjoying the outdoors, and so on. This will generally fall under the umbrella of cardiovascular exercise which is extremely good, and you should do
Resistance training is typically performed in much shorter bouts of intense activity. It’s very convenient in a gym, but you can do pretty much everything you need with the right setup (bench press is very similar to pushups, for example, which don’t require equipment.)
The biggest challenge outside of a gym is how to progress movements. For example, once you can do 50 pushups, how could you make it harder so that the movement would be appropriately challenging, and not take all day? And then another issue sometimes can be training the muscles of the back without equipment, typically done via pull-ups and rows.
But ultimately everything is doable! Check out the youtube channel “Hybrid Calisthenics”, he’s got a ton of excellent content aimed directly at this question. He also sells cheap gymnastics rings which handily solve the muscles-of-the-back problem, if you have somewhere to hang them from (even a tree!)
I mean, the limitation of calisthenics isnt the back, but the legs. Not to say there arent good leg exercises, but the legs are so strong that you have to get pretty creative pretty quickly if you want to keep progressing them.
The other thing I want to note is that a lot of people gravitate towards calisthenics because you can do it at home, and they feel uncomfortable in a gym, so they decide to try calisthenics rather than face their gym anxiety. And while this can work for some people, for most it will hamstring their progress since exercising alone at home is almost custom-designed to kill motivation and habit formation, and thus will stop people from staying consistent and getting the results they want. In addition, calisthenics progressions are often pretty big leaps, and it can be frustrating to be able to rep out 20 on one exercise, and then be shut down by the progression.
If you think that calisthenics is cool, or you dont have the money for a gym membership or equipment, or if there are no gyms around you, then go for it! But I would suggest you do your workouts somewhere other than at home (like at a local park) and that you try your best to meet up with others with a similar interest, as these are the things that will make the habit stick.
Another vote for checking out hybrid callisthenics. They also have a website with a basic routine including instructions and links to videos explaining all of the progressions for each movement that is free to use and a great resource for people who are new and need some direction.
It’s quite possible to do resistance training at home, and it’s particularly affordable if you use resistance bands, which also take up extremely little space.
Does it have to be with the gym? Is there anything that generally being active doesn’t cover?
You can do resistance exercises without the gym and get a good chunk of benefits from it. It’s easier with a gym though, and in my experience more fun.
If you just want to dip your toes in it, look into calisthenics. Should you find that enjoyable and hit a plateau in your progress, consider joining a gym at that point.
Joint health, bone density, and strength/muscle mass are things you will miss out on if, say, you just play ultimate frisbee. But getting stronger doesnt have to be 3 sets of 8 on bench. You can get essentially the same health benefits by engaging in sports that train strength, like martial arts, acrobatics, or rock climbing. That said, many people who do any kind of physical activity aggressively typically find that they enjoy lifting at some point in their athletic careers, as lifting itself can improve athletic performance and ward off sports injuries, due to the controlled and progressive nature of gym work, as compared to the more chaotic nature of real-world activities.
Its about control. Being active is great overall but could leave some weak spots or even be wearing things out. Certain muscles might not get worked quite right or to their full range of movement. Working out with good technique and variety should hit all your muscles and identify any tight or painful spots you need to work on.
If you’re after results, like increased strength, endurance, or a better physique, then thats where training comes in. You have to push to near failure to demand muscle growth. If you start biking 5 miles a day, those first few weeks and months you might grow a bit, but eventually that 5 miles won’t be as challenging and you’ll plateau in terms of strength and endurance. Thats where training, either training the muscles or doing more cycling, really starts to work. Thats how you grow and start improving again.
A commercial gym is not necessary!
So “general activity” I can only assume is stuff like going on walks and hikes, playing sports, enjoying the outdoors, and so on. This will generally fall under the umbrella of cardiovascular exercise which is extremely good, and you should do
Resistance training is typically performed in much shorter bouts of intense activity. It’s very convenient in a gym, but you can do pretty much everything you need with the right setup (bench press is very similar to pushups, for example, which don’t require equipment.)
The biggest challenge outside of a gym is how to progress movements. For example, once you can do 50 pushups, how could you make it harder so that the movement would be appropriately challenging, and not take all day? And then another issue sometimes can be training the muscles of the back without equipment, typically done via pull-ups and rows.
But ultimately everything is doable! Check out the youtube channel “Hybrid Calisthenics”, he’s got a ton of excellent content aimed directly at this question. He also sells cheap gymnastics rings which handily solve the muscles-of-the-back problem, if you have somewhere to hang them from (even a tree!)
I mean, the limitation of calisthenics isnt the back, but the legs. Not to say there arent good leg exercises, but the legs are so strong that you have to get pretty creative pretty quickly if you want to keep progressing them.
The other thing I want to note is that a lot of people gravitate towards calisthenics because you can do it at home, and they feel uncomfortable in a gym, so they decide to try calisthenics rather than face their gym anxiety. And while this can work for some people, for most it will hamstring their progress since exercising alone at home is almost custom-designed to kill motivation and habit formation, and thus will stop people from staying consistent and getting the results they want. In addition, calisthenics progressions are often pretty big leaps, and it can be frustrating to be able to rep out 20 on one exercise, and then be shut down by the progression.
If you think that calisthenics is cool, or you dont have the money for a gym membership or equipment, or if there are no gyms around you, then go for it! But I would suggest you do your workouts somewhere other than at home (like at a local park) and that you try your best to meet up with others with a similar interest, as these are the things that will make the habit stick.
Another vote for checking out hybrid callisthenics. They also have a website with a basic routine including instructions and links to videos explaining all of the progressions for each movement that is free to use and a great resource for people who are new and need some direction.
It’s quite possible to do resistance training at home, and it’s particularly affordable if you use resistance bands, which also take up extremely little space.
This is true, but you failed to mention that resistance bands are the least satisfying form of resistance
They feel fine to me, and are a little safer to use for noobies in some positions since they have progressive resistance.
I believe they are also considered better suited to the elderly or those who sustained shoulder injuries in the past.
Look up calisthenics. You can do it for free with 0 equipment and gravity. Stuff like pushups are under this category. I’ve been doing it for years