If there’s a will to get fit there’s a way—even without a fancy gym membership. Here are seven totally “gym-less” and kick-ass workout plans for men to help you shed pounds and get in shape.
7 Gym-less and Free Workout Plans For Men
Cardio, Baby!
Cardio is more than a necessary evil and Snooze Town of workout plans. With the right combination of routine and pacing, consistent cardio can help improve your health, endurance, and overall heart health. Here are some ideas (items 1-3):
1. Cycling
Aside from improved cardiovascular endurance and lower body strength, cycling can also help with your mental health. It can boost your mood (because of adrenaline and endorphin release), improve your confidence through achieving new challenging goals, and broaden your social circle (nothing like almost dying on a bike together to forge a bond).
If you are a cycling newbie you can follow this 12-week free workout plan from Cyclingweekly.com.
2. Swimming
“Plunging into cardio” sounds pretty badass right? If you love the water and have easy access to a pool, you should give swimming for exercise a try. With aquatic exercise, you get to improve your strength, cardio, and resistance while being gentle on your joints. You can follow this weekly plan from Mensjournal.com.
3. Plyometric Cardio
Plyometrics is just a fancy term for those movements your favorite NBA and NFL players do in those workout videos. Nothing complicated, just good ‘ol jumping and footwork exercises paced and structured into heart-thumping high-intensity interval cardio. Here’s a sample workout:
Go all out for 20 seconds, rest the next 10 seconds, repeat.
- Alternating Rope Slam – 2 minutes
- Jump Squats – 2 minutes
- Alternating Rope Slams – 2 minutes
- Jump Split Squats – 2 minutes
- Cool Down – 2 minutes
4. Dancing
Dancing as exercise isn’t a girl thing. Besides, have you seen how ripped male dancers are? Their strength and endurance are comparable to pro athletes. Depending on your style (and goals) here are some dance disciplines you might want to try (but we don’t blame you if you don’t want to tell your friends just yet).
- Ballet for strength, endurance, posture, enhanced flexibility.
- Tap dancing for cardio. (Captain America, Chris Evans, himself does this!)
- Hip-hop for a toned ass and legs.
- Afro-Cuban for back and shoulder development.
- Pole dancing for a full body workout.
5. Body Weight Exercise
Well, you’ve got to make use of the available tools at your disposal—your own body weight. The possibilities are actually endless. From push up variations to bench dips, to burpees, you can create a permutation of men’s workout plans that suit your goals. If you want to make this more interesting, add plyometric movements, too!
6. Parkour
Are you feeling a little bit adventurous? Parkour might be able to scratch that itch. Consider it a full-on body workout with all the running and jumping, aside from the strength, endurance, and speed required to pull off stunts. Doing parkour can also improve your quick-thinking skills, creativity, and overall mental health. Here are a few resources:
- Improve your strength with this beginner’s training guide.
- Learn the basics from this definitive guide to parkour.
7. Boxing
Learn self-defense while training to be fit. Get out of the gym and get inside the boxing ring. The benefits of boxing training include improved:
- Cardiovascular endurance
- Total body strength
- Hand-eye coordination
- Body composition
- Stress levels
Ready to hit the ring? Read this boxing training primer from Mensjournal.com.
Wanna learn how to box? Watch this video from Mike Rashid below:
Whatever your reasons may be for deciding to ditch the gym, there are a lot of workout alternatives around that can suit your fitness plan as evidenced above. Just always remember the holy grail of gains—workout, rest, and nutrition. You’ll only get the most optimum results if your needs for these three factors are efficiently met.
Do you have any “gym-less” workout ideas in mind? Share them with us in the comments section below!
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