How NOT going to the gym has helped transform my body
The story of my 13 kilograms (29lbs) weight loss transformation was previously detailed in Fit And Functional. Go have a read of those articles!
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Going to the gym was a normal routine for me in the last couple of years before the pandemic swept the whole world. The pre-pandemic workouts that I did were enough to keep my weight down.
I also suffered from a yo-yo diet, which I attributed to bad eating habits and a lack of discipline to exercise. Because of this, my weight usually hovered around 80 kilos (176 lbs), which is still considered obese at my BMI.
After I had moved to Germany back in 2018, I managed to drop it down to 75 kg because I walked a lot more while I was there. Alas, I gained it back ever since I returned to Malaysia in early 2020. When I say I gained it back, I meant it in a disastrous 83 kilos kind of way:
Around mid-2021, I came across a sport called calisthenics while I was scrolling through Instagram posts and I got intrigued by it.
Coincidentally, the Malaysian authority at the time had already ordered to close the gyms because COVID cases were on the rise.
Luckily for me, calisthenics doesn’t need the gym or any fancy gym equipment.
What it does need is my body weight.
At the time, I had 83 kilos worth of weight. So, it was kind of like a blessing in disguise.
So what is calisthenics?
You definitely have seen someone performing calisthenics in your lifetime. A “push-up” or “press-up” is one of the basic calisthenic exercises. You can drop down to the floor and do one immediately right now (assuming if you’re physically able to). Grab a bar somewhere in the park and pull yourself up. That’s calisthenics too, and it’s called a “pull-up”.
That’s how easy it is to perform calisthenics exercises anywhere. Not only does calisthenics forces you to fight against gravity and your own bodyweight but your hand grip and body positioning will also be severely challenged, regardless of how big or small your workout space can be.
Workout From Home
Exercising in my bedroom and sometimes in my backyard has its own pros and cons. But the benefits outweigh the negatives:
My gym setup was way cheaper than the gym membership that I have invested in for years.
Home workouts are quick, easy, and time-efficient. After office hours, I got into my gym clothes and immediately sweat it out. After that, a shower is only a few steps away.
Also, I don’t have to wait for other gym patrons to return the dumbbells to the rack before I begin to use them. It’s all mine. Zero interruption.
The initial workout routine that I did was a standard variation of push/pull/legs rotation with Sunday as my rest day. For example, in the first 2 months of my weight loss journey, the routine looked like this:
Monday, Thursday (Push)
Normal push up, decline push-up, diamond push-ups, toe touch, crunch
Tuesday, Friday (Pull)
Bicep curls, hammers curls, band face pulls, running plank, crunch, toe touch
Wednesday, Saturday (Legs)
Squats, lunges, Bulgarian squat, archer squats, HIIT session
It’s a workout routine for beginners but it was effective nonetheless.
I also practiced yoga as a way to improve my flexibility and mobility. I was sitting a lot during work so yoga was a welcome change in my sedentary lifestyle.
Later on, my workout routine gradually evolved to using equipment such as the gym rings and pull-up bar. Both pieces of equipment are easy to set up and conveniently placed at my bedroom’s doorway like so:
Feeling like working out in the outdoors? No problem. Hang the gym rings someplace up high and you’re good to go:
I’ll admit that I do have a pair of dumbbells. But the only time that I’m using those is when I needed to perform isolated arm exercises. For the majority of my workout, it’s all body weight.
There is a variety of bodyweight training that you can do at home: push-up, chin-up, dip, ring row, ring curl, handstand, frog pose, L-sit, and the list goes on. These were much more fun, dynamic, and engaging than my usual workout routines from the past years.
Even better, it encouraged my body to build a significant amount of muscle mass. This is due to the training’s tendency to utilize compound movement and it is an effective way to get a lean body through and through.
It’s Not About Quantity, It’s About Quality
Believe it or not, I learned calisthenics from some of the well-known calisthenics communities on YouTube and Instagram.
What surprised me the most was how supportive these calisthenics communities can be. They were very generous in sharing their knowledge, starting from beginner level all the way to advanced. This was also where I learned about the importance of body form, workout progressions, and muscle recovery.
As any fitness professional will tell you, you need to leave the ego out of the door. As much as you think that you can do a chin-up on the first attempt, you have to first learn the basic progressions like scapula pull and band-assisted chin-up.
The same goes with a regular push-up. Sometimes I would catch myself not depressing my shoulders. Sometimes I noticed I’m flaring my elbows too wide rather than turning them at 45 degrees angle. These tiny adjustments make a whole lot of difference.
It was a very humbling experience for me because back when I was still going to the gym, I was ego lifting. If I can’t even lift my body weight up nice and clean, then I truly don’t deserve to lift the barbell.
This kind of mentality has opened up my mind about why my form is more important than how much weight I can carry in the gym. In fact, if you don’t adapt to this kind of mindset, I can guarantee that you will get injured very often.
So, don’t save your ego. Save yourself from injury instead.
As a result of my regimented calisthenics workout plan (and let’s not forget good diet and nutrition too), I lost 13 kilos in 5 months. Now, I weighed 70 kg or 29lbs, which is equivalent to a normal weight in my BMI:
I certainly have learned a lot throughout my fitness journey which I hope that some of you can benefit from:
It’s About Sustainability
Calisthenics was a personal life-changing experience. I realized that lifting heavy metal bars as a regular workout routine wasn’t exactly my thing.
The dynamics of calisthenics and yoga has replaced the mundane workout that I usually do in a public gym. Each progression of calisthenics is rewarding. It gets more challenging but fun at the same time.
I’m not saying weight lifting has no place in my routine at all. As a matter of fact, I do use weights for progressive overload in some of my bodyweight training. Both combinations have provided me with a sustainable daily workout routine. Thus, it yielded a much better result than I could ever expect.
It’s A Balancing Act
Fitness is a balancing act between consistent routine, safe workouts, and good nutrition. You can’t just have only one of them. If your routine got disrupted all the time, you won’t be making much progress. If your form is bad, you’re going to suffer from injury. If you don’t manage what you eat and drink, you might sabotage your weight loss progress.
Listen to your body and manage your fitness and nutrition program.
It’s Not About The Location
Had I waited for the gym to reopen, I would have lost months of actual progress. Instead, I focus on exercises that I actually enjoy doing daily.
No boring routines. No annoying grunts. No sudden loud, heart-attack-inducing sounds of metal plates being dropped by the fellow gym bros. Just me being in the zone and diligently doing my workout.
However, the gym still earns its place. There’s nothing wrong with going to the gym if that is the place where you will make a lot of progress.
Ultimately, it’s a matter of preference and hard work in achieving your fitness goals.
At the end of the day, you want result, not location.
Thanks for reading and I hope that was a fun and informative read! Once again, be sure to leave a CLAP and hit the FOLLOW button for more!!
