going gymless

just had lunch with a nephew of mine. he recently completed training with a well known US military special ops group.

he looks solid, great aerobic capacity, very flexible etc. he claims they train with only running, calesthenics and dumbells. To work the chest they do dumbell presses and pushups and so on. anyway i would like your opinions on training in a similar matter rather than spending time in the local gym with its many distractions.

sure you may not get huge but if your goal is total fitness and good size and definition is the gym required. i think the gym thing has alot to do with marketing protein shakes, tanning sessions, workout gear etc. he did quite well on three squares a day and no supplements.

your thoughts??
JK
,

Q. Is a gym required for general health & fitness?

A. No.


Q. Is a gym required to go beyond what a push-up & pull-up will do for your size and strength?

A. Yes.


Q. Is three square meals a day enough?

A. Not really, even for general health & fitness you should be eating 5-6 small meals per day.


Q. Are supplements necessary?

A. No, not if you're eating well balanced meals.


Q. Can supplements help?

A. Yes.

I agree with Prince, it all depends on your goals, his training (your nephew) will get you so far and if thats all you want then go for it.

Military physical fitness, especially the special forces, is focused on muscular endurance.I think if your goals are increased muscle mass and/or strength, your best bet would be to train with weights.However, if you are looking for muscular endurance and a lean physique, calisthenics are just as good.Navy SEALs and UDT's are a prime example of the how well fit simple calisthenics can make you.All these guys basically do are push ups,pull ups,dips,sit ups and log drills.That and long distance swims and running in the sand.Anyone familiar with Matt Furey, whose is a martial artist/wrestler, knows that his core routine is focused on hindu squats,hindu push ups,pull ups and neck bridges and this guy is built.Calisthenics are definetly underrated.As for the three meals per day,if you are taking in enough calories, you should be fine.During marine core boot camp, we got 3 meals per day and everyone in my platoon gained atleast 5 ibs or so.I gained close to 10 in just the first 6 weeks and I can guarantee, very little of it was fat.Gyms and fitness centers are way over-rated and their primary purpose is to sell supplements and clothes with the gym logo on them.Look at the lifters from the 30's,40's and 50's.Most of them lifted in their basements or garages and achieved phenomenal size and strength on a bare minimum of equipment.

I agree with everything you said ballast except that 3 meals per day is fine.

Eating smaller meals (5-6) more frequently is much better than eating 3 large meals.

I concur Prince.What I should have said was that three meals per day would be adequate for some people, but you're right.For optimal growth, 5-6 meals per day is the way to go.