When you are away on vacation, on a business trip, or when you just can’t make it to the gym, it can be very difficult to keep up with your bodybuilding workout program. The result of missing workouts often will be slower muscle gains, or even muscle loss. Your bodybuilding workout program need not suffer though, as there are some great muscle building exercises you can do anywhere without any specialist weight training equipment.

Why Bother With a Bodybuilding Workout Without Weight Training Equipment?

Weight training equipment makes muscle building convenient, but there are many people who never go near a gym and still managed to build a lean muscular body.

Many bodybuilders may argue that the only true way to increase muscle mass is to lift heavy weights, but I’ve found that varying my bodybuilding workout between high and low reps can stimulate muscle growth. Weight free exercises have been used for decades by all varieties of sportsmen and women to build both strength and muscle.

At the end of the day, if you can’t make it to the gym then an alternative bodybuilding workout without using weights can be very beneficial to your overall muscle gains.

Here is an example of a bodybuilding workout that takes about 30 minutes to complete (doing 3-4 sets of each exercise until failure):

Push-ups

When was the last time you did push-ups? For many of us it was in high school, but push-ups are a great exercise to build muscle and strength in the arms, shoulders, and chest.

You can make push-ups more difficult by balancing a heavy object on your back, or using a backpack filled with objects, like books.

Squats

High repetition squats without weights are great for muscle definition in the quadriceps (thighs). Squats also hit your hamstrings and glutes.

As with push-ups, squats can also be made harder by wearing a backpack filled with heavy objects, such as books, or even bottles of water.

Calf Raises

All you need for calf raises are a sturdy object that is 3-4 inches off the ground that you can stand on with the front part of your foot. You can also place your hands against a wall for balance when lifting up and down with you feet.

As the name suggests, calf raises are excellent for developing the calf muscles at the back of the lower leg.

When doing weight free calf raises, do them slow and be sure to stretch your calf muscles at the bottom of the movement, and squeeze the calf muscles at the top of the movement.

Pull-ups

I recommend pull-ups as part of any bodybuilding workout, including workouts in the gym. This is because pull-ups require a great amount of of upper body strength. Pull-ups require a strong grip as you are lifting your entire bodyweight.

Pull-ups develop the entire back, plus the biceps, triceps, and shoulders. They are an all-round strength and mass building exercise.

Pull-ups can only be performed where there is a bar that can support your bodyweight. You can buy a relatively cheap extendible chin-up bar if you don’t have anywhere else to perform these exercises.  If you struggle with your grip then I suggest you buy a pair of wrist straps.

Crunches

Crunches are a superb all-round muscle building exercise for the abdominal muscles. You can do them anywhere, but I prefer to place my feet on a low chair and table to help keep good form.

Summary

A bodybuilding workout without specialist weight equipment is simple to do and can be performed quickly just about anywhere. So the next time you can’t make it to the gym, spend 30 minutes doing weight free workout instead.

I recommend Adding Muscle Mass if you would like to know more about creating a great bodybuilding workout, including the best muscle building exercises, nutrition tips, and complete training guides.