I Have No Weights To Workout - What Can I Do?

If your like me you have visions of a dedicated workout room with a rack of hex dumbells. Unfortunately that is not always an option. More importantly, not really needed. Sure it would look nice and make things a lot easier, however weight is just weight. Remember that trick question: What's heavier a pound of feathers or a pound of lead? A pound is still a pound.

So for those who are just starting out with a little weight training, and feel you cannot get started because you do not have all that fancy equipment, fear not.
First off - if you are just starting out you may not need weights to workout certain body parts. You can very easily use your own body weight to work your chest (push-ups), triceps (dips), shoulders (v Push-ups) and even legs (squats & toe raises). Believe me, if you have not done any resistance training yet, these exercises will get you started very nicely.

Still want to add more weight to your workouts? Here are my suggestions for homemade ("Poor Man's") weights:

• Grab some can goods of all different sizes. Great for curls and working your obliques while doing crunches. Think of mini medicine balls!
• Use plastic jugs (that have handles and caps) and fill with water or sand. A gallon of water weighs roughly 8.3 lbs and a gallon of sand 12.5 lbs. These work great for kettlebell exercises and lateral raises.
• Along with the jugs you can use 5 gallon pails. A lot more weight and can be used while doing squats.
• Add a galvanized steel bar and you can use both the jugs and pails for curls, dead-lifts and back work. If you are really serious you can grab a couple cement blocks. * Always make sure jugs/pails are secure on the bar.
• Want to add some weight while walking or running? Grab a backpack and fill it with some heavy books. (Ouch! Flashback to college . . .)
• Need some wrist weights? Grab an old sock (preferably clean) and fill with sand. Add a strip of Velcro and you are ready to go

Now, obviously there are some limitations with using these homemade weights. At the same time you have no reason to put off starting your weight training because of a budget or waiting to find the perfect set of weights. Just get started and let the momentum grow. You'll start to see results and in the end, isn't that what matters?