No gym? No problem.
Sometimes you just can’t go to the gym, but that’s no excuse to completely throw your shredding dreams in the dumpster.
There might be a number of reasons why you can’t train:
“My school doesn’t have a free gym”
“I’m traveling right now and don’t want to pay for a gym membership”
“My ex-girlfriend works at my gym now”
Well, I’m hear to tell you that if you can’t get your butt to the gym, you’re not dead in the water.
In fact, I can show you some awesome dorm exercises you can do in your own dorm room with very limited equipment that will build muscle and help you to get lean.
I’ve gotten a few requests for exercises that you can do without going to the gym and I gotta say…
I’m pretty disappointed in these colleges that don’t have a public, campus gym!
However, I might be making assumptions and maybe the guys who asked were simply a little shy like Nate who lost over 100 lbs working out in his dorm.
The truth is… there are plenty of ways to train to get started with that shredded lifestyle even if you’re not doing it in a commercial workout facility.
Either way, you shouldn’t have any problem building up some strength with the purpose of getting lean with these dorm exercises.
7 Dorm Exercises to Build an Impressive Lean Body
Now I’m gonna be perfectly honest up front and say that in order to get shredded you need to have a good diet too.
No one got a killer body eating a bunch of garbage.
Strength training will only get you so far, but if you follow advice like I have in my Muscle Foods Cheat Sheet for Poor College Students or in Kevin Kreider’s Lean Body Fat Fix program, you’ll be on the fast track to Shredsville (population: you).
But anyway here are 7 killer dorm exercises you can do to help you get lean like a mofo.
1. Chin-ups/Pull-ups
Chin-ups/pull-ups are one of the best ways to display overall upper body strength and you look like a freakin’ bad ass doing them too.
I would recommend these in or out of the gym and if you’re working out in your dorm, you can still bust out a set of chin-ups with a common door-frame pull-up bar like the Iron Gym.
Iron Gyms are really easy to attach to a door frame (no installation required) and then you have the opportunity to perform one of the best exercises for your biceps, upper back, and abs.
And if you don’t think you can do a chin-up yet, make sure you check out this video I made, How to Do Your First Chin-Up (By Cheating the Right Way).
2. Push-Ups
I don’t know why everyone always shits on push-ups, but they’re still one of the best bodyweight dorm exercises for working your chest.
You don’t need any equipment for this one, but you will need to clear a space on your floor where that moldy Hot Pocket is right now.
And there are so many variations that you really can increase the difficulty without have to do hundreds of reps each day.
These are some of my favorites:
- Standard push-ups
- Raised leg push-ups
- Diamond push-ups
- Cobra push-ups
- Side-to-side push-ups
3. Planks
Planks are incredible for working your abs directly and can be performed anywhere also.
Simply get down into a plank position with your legs out and resting on your elbows, tighten your abs and back, and hold the position for 30, 60, 90 seconds… or for however long you want to hate yourself.
And the simplest way to add more resistance is to add more time under tension. Start with 30 seconds, then try to hold longer and longer until you have abs of steel.
This is also an exercise that can be varied to increase the intensity.
- Roll onto your side to hit your obliques primarily
- Try raising one leg off the ground
- If you’re really advanced, try raising one arm off the ground too
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4. Bicep Curls
Curl bros… I didn’t forget you.
Just because you don’t have a set of dumbbells nearby doesn’t mean you can’t pound out a set of the greatest exercise known to man.
It’s actually really easy if you have a set of bands like these. The bands even give you the opportunity to take advantage of one of my favorite bicep tricks.
Just step into the open loops on the floor, hold a band in each hand, and do a few reps. As those arms start to grow, increase the intensity by double-banding or using thicker bands.
5. Tricep Extensions
It would be a strength training sin to only work your biceps if your goal is “bigger arms”. That’s why you gotta hit those triceps too, bro.
You can actually do a tricep push-down by attaching bands to the top of a door or you can kneel down on the ground and do overhead tricep extensions like I show you in the video.
Either way you’ll be able to hit the triceps directly and control the resistance as needed.
6. Overhead Presses
Building up round shoulders is a crucial part of a shredded physique since it helps to widen your frame and reduce the size of your waist by comparison.
And overhead presses are one of the best shoulder exercises IN the gym, so why not take the same approach OUT of the gym?
Again, whip out those bands.
Using the same setup as bicep curls, after you pin down one end of the resistance bands with your feet, simply raise the other end up over your head and perform a press.
Tip: You really gotta stretch those bands to even bring them up to starting position so I suggest starting with a thinner band for less difficulty otherwise this will be one of those dorm exercises that really kills ya.
7. Pistol Squats
Almost anyone can perform a standard, bodyweight squat… and the problem with adding resistance to a standard squat… is you need a LOT of resistance.
That’s why these are performed with barbells and hundreds of pounds if you’re in the gym.
So a simple way to make squats more challenging outside the gym is to isolate each leg using pistol squats.
The idea is you actually perform a one-legged squat while holding your other leg out in front of you for balance.
If you’ve never done these before, start by standing in a doorway, leaning back, and holding onto the door frame balance and assistance (if you need it at first).
Eventually work your way up to full pistols squats without using anything for balance.
Are You Looking for a Full Workout Using Dorm Exercises Like These?
I recently did a review on the Lean Body Fat Fix program for cutting fat and getting defined muscles without going to the gym.
This could be the solution you’re looking for to shred down in your own dorm room.