[gym or no gym] What's your opinnion?

In this fitness board I see everyone talking about weightlifting, gym workouts etc.
Just wondering if it's a known fact that you can't be in good shape without going to a gym?

And is it always iron that you workout with and not your own bodyweight (pull ups, push ups etc.)

After all this is fitness forum and you can be fit without going to the gym. So in this thread I'd like to see if you have routines that are not gym orientated, but are still well balanced (building muscle, cardio, flexibility wise).

what do you mean by good shape?

Yeah you can certainly be fit cardio wise and have reasonable lil muscles without lifting weights but uhh yea

take up yoga fag

The problem is that with bodyweight, eventually you will see little to no gains in strength and will only be increasing muscular endurance. I prefer to increase muscle size and strength, as well as endurance.

If you have one of those big infltable gym balls, somewhere to do pull ups and a medicine ball you should still be able to do a reasonable workout without lifting any iron, but you aren't gonna look like Heman at the end of it.

I do yoga :( (and pilates)

so yea, no-one around to defend the bodyweight division ?

paying money for a gym is one way to keep yourself honest. if you're spending $200+ a year for a membership then you'll probably try to use it. It helps mentally. can you be in shape hitting the local track and doing stuff like pushups, hindu squats, situps, running, etc.? sure thing. whatever works for you is good.

using resistance bands for push-ups can give you a decent workout.

You'll quickly be too strong for body weight exercises if you work out consistently. The only body weight exercises I do are all weighted now and I'm running into a problem because I can't hook up more than 45 lbs to my weight belt (dips, pull ups, ab work) ... so I mean I guess I could like 50 body weight dips every day but I don't know where that would really get me strength wise ...

why can't u hook up more than 45? time to get a better belt. :P

It's a piece of shit belt the gym has available, it's a leather and chain model and I'm already taking a risk with the well-being of my testicles by hooking up the 45 to it.

Do not risk your balls Rayn the Armsmen.

gym

It's a piece of shit belt the gym has available, it's a leather and chain model and I'm already taking a risk with the well-being of my testicles by hooking up the 45 to it.

I've seen people hook multiple plates up to a leather and chain type belts.

personally as long as you have a bench where you can do squats and have adjustable dumbbells a gym isn't required

im more focused alone though so that might be why i feel this way

i dunno i focus too much on banging the girls when i go to a gym lol

i also don't work in a office

gyms can be distracting and a hassle but it's all about focus. if you have the equipment/resources to workout elsewhere then do it and if that's your preference then do it.
if you add one of these SEAL Training - Workout Videos, Fitness Equipment, Private Fitness Training with Scott Helvenston (http://amphibianathletics.com/index.php?screen=prod&id=HHE-002) to your ensemble you can do a lot of things at home. Welcome to CrossFit: Forging Elite Fitness (http://www.crossfit.com) is a nice place. it's all about preference and where you are comfortable. personally during the winter i stay in the gym because it's too cold here to run outside, otherwise i run 5 days outside, workout 2-3 days in gym. when i go i slap on my ipod, tune everyone out, work hard, and go home to my girl.

I think I'll have to explain my situation little better, and why I don't go to gym.

It's all about what you're aiming for, and I my goal is to become physically independent. Meaning that I'll be physically capable of doing movements that sports demand. If I want to do ballet I can lift my leg as high as need be and hold it there or if I want to play icehockey I can tackle and be physically competetive with everyone on the field. On practice this is ofcourse impossible, therefore I'll have to find a good compromise between strength, flexibility, agility etc. So I've settled on being able to do anything with my bodyweight. (one hand standing, pull-ups and push-ups etc. is damn strenght demanding even without extra weights)

Hence doing only own bodyweight excercises will allow me to move my body the way I want it to move. I don't need to go around pushing trucks or lifting cars. And practicising strenght elements with technique will help me obtain the kind of strenght I want. (For example climbing, no matter how physically though you are at the gym, go climbing for few hours and notice how you can't hold on to the wall anymore).

Here's my routine:
2x week Capoeira (to practice moving directions, I want to be able to take off back first + move beautifully also using hands in the ground)
2x week gymnastics (pretty self explatory flipping, sommersaulting and the like)
2x week parkour (still the ability to move without losing speed)
2x week Tai Chi (health & flexibility, static muscles aka supporting muscles)
Then I do Brazilian Jiu-jitsu when I have the time + some kickboxing + jogging + climbing.
+I stretch alot at home & practices
(and for the gay factor I even did ballet this autumn, but had to drop it due to it being too expensive + no time)

I train twice a day 6 days a week. once in the morning and once in the evening, the evening practice contains muscle excercises (pull-ups etc). And there's just no time to go to gym, and when I do I feel I don't get complete workout in there. The equipment just doesn't train all the muscles I want to train or I suck at using them :( .

I am currently in the best shape of my life at 23 years old, but I've lately felt like I haven't improved much (in last 6 months or so). My flexibility is going up which is easing my problems with sommersaults etc. but what I lack is explosive power to really make higher jumps + faste flips. I could put up few pounds to be in my optimal weight (preferably muscles of course :D ), but I don't want to put up too much as it will hurt my other areas.

So after reading my grunt, what's your opinnion should I try to hit the gym more often and train more on my strenght?

Are you aiming to be a dancer or a ninja?

can I be both ? :D
I want a body that's capable of doing both things as good as possible.
Technique comes with practise....

there comes a point when you must use weights to increase strength, whether at home or at the gym