In Wit’s roadmap to fitness we have already mentioned the 3 kinds of fitness. I think it is important to comment on this again. Each kind of fitness is important and reaching a balance between these will contribute to the overall fitness in a more beneficial way:
- Muscle strength: Muscle strength means having stronger and long-lasting muscles. This is acheived through weight AND endurance training. Some only do weight training without endurance which leads to poor development of muscle fibers responsible for lastingness. Such kind of muscle is not what I call “high quality”. What are they good for if they get tired and useless after few minutes of hard work?
- Aerobic fitness: conditions your heart and lungs which improves oxygen supply to your muscles and makes them last longer. Any activity that raises your heart rate for a longer period of time (25-40 min.) improves your aerobic fitness.
- Flexibility: With time, your muscles get shorter and less flexible, especially when you do strength training. It can promote injuries and related diseases. That is why stretching is so important. If you never did stretching before, give it a try. Gaining flexibility is like slipping from an uncomfotable suit into relaxing sportswear.
All these are complementary to each other and improving one automatically benefits the other in some way. For example, doing aerobic training improves your oxygen supply system which will increase your performance in strength training.
Final note: Some activities target multiple fitness types:
- Yoga increases your flexibility and muscle strength. (Moreover, some minor muscles targeted in yoga cannot be easily targeted with conventional weight lifting routine)
- Interval training: high and low intensity running targets endurance and aerobic conditioning.
- Martial arts is another great way to combine flexibility and strength.
If you live in a city, like me, you should seriously consider buying a bicycle. How many of us actually take our car to drive to work? An average American citizen lives only 6.5 miles away from his/her workplace. It’s a 15-20 minutes ride if you drive a bike instead of using your car or the bus!
Even if you live far away from your workplace and a bike trip may take you over 40 minutes, you still shall consider the benefits this lifestyle could bring. Sure, you may have to get up 20 minutes earlier, but even then bicycle provides the necessary exercise that could significantly improve your sleep. Your sleep may become more deep and relaxing and you would feel far more energized in the morning than with 20 minutes of extra sleep.
Further benefits include:
- Cardio exercise improves your general health
- Never worry again about your weight
- Your muscles and figure in general becomes more toned and slim
- You don’t spend money for gas or public transportation
- A bicycle is far cheaper than a car
- Your 2 cents to save the environment
- Be different, be cool!
You could use your bike to go anywhere! It’s not only about your work. You could go to your grocery store, visit your aunt in a nearby city during the weekend or even take a road trip to Canada on your next vacations.
Cheap and healthy lifestyle: a bicycle fits perfectly a bodytweaker’s non-consumer approach to life. You’ll have to invest a few hundred $$, but it’s still a far more beneficial investment than a car.
Note: A bicycle is a bodytweaker’s second pair of legs
Cost: You could get a bike from 120$, but look for quality not just for the cheapest price.
If there is a difficult muscle group for home workouts, then it’d probably be the back. You’ve got relatively few exercises you can do to target your back muscles. Some of the exercises are the same as in other muscle groups (e.g. deadlifts in legs workouts), so you usually don’t do them twice in a week.
Usually I do 2 exercises for the back: one for the lats and one for the middle back. The lower back gets its training on the leg workout days (deadlifts).
Pullups
This exercise trains your lats. Usually to do this exercise at home you need an adjustable pullup-bar. I’ve got an old one I bought years ago:
However, you’ll also need a space where to put this bar. After a few thousands of pullups a part of my wall literally came off.
So, since it seems that the walls in my apartment are too weak for the spirit of a bodytweaker, I had to look for alternatives. And I fianlly found one: Now I’m using the closet above my bedroom door to do the pullups. It’s a little bit tricky and hurts your fingers a lot the first few times, as you can’t really grab the edge. After some time it gets easier though. Look at the bright side of it! You also train your hands and fingers (see this article, too)!
Usually I do 4 sets of 20, 15, 10 and 10 repetitions. For starters 5+ sets of 4-5 reps may be a good idea.
Dumbbell Rows
This exercise is for your middle back. 50-70+ lbs is my standard weight here. Usually you do 3-4 sets of 20-25 repetitions each for each side. Be aware that you also hit biceps and lats here. One word of advice (although it doesn’t look like it on the photos due to my complete lack of photography skills 
), it’s important to keep your left arm and your back locked, fixed in the same position. Concentrate on doing this correctly moving your right arm only. Focus on your middle-back muscles.
There are a few other exercises with dumbbells you can use to train your back. I’ll post them at a later date. Notice that this workout is relatively short. It shouldn’t take you more than 20-30 minutes. Bon chance!
Notice: A real bodytweaker always finds a way
Cost: 0$ per pullup