Hi as you guys can see in my introduction that i have recently moved from a nice country to a 3rd world country. That means i don't have my Gym equipment here and neither had it in Canada. I used to go to YMCA but it is not available here. I am losing my muscle and the dumbbells are too expensive here. Anyone have ideas on what i should do to maintain my muscle.



This post has been edited by BuffaloHELP: Jan 6 2007, 04:12 AM

I think some creative thinking can help you the best here. The first is the isometric exercises to strengthen your current muscle mass.

I recall the movie, "Rocky" where couple of makeshift equipments helped to build body mass. Rocky, in the movie, made huge dumbbells with two large stones and one iron rod. Or pulling even heavier object with pulley and rope.

According to some exercise catalogues, there are traveling DB's you can purchase that can be filled with either water or sand to give you customized weight experience.

Although it may not be a YMCA quality weights, I think your body would not know the difference when its being pushed to the limit.

I actually love the part where you said about the sand. Iam going to do that. Unfortnately i cannot do flys. It wouldnt matter i would get my biceps in shape. Thanks a lot for the help. I will find empty bags fill em up with sand and tada

But you CAN do flys Take a small metal pipe (hollow) about a dumbbell bar's grip in length and pass a rope through it and tie both ends of the rope to a bag - make two of these, filling each with the same amount of sand (try to get the weight exactly the same - measuring them on a scale if possible). You've made two small dumbbells. Now grip the two pipes and do your flys - Be careful not to let the weight swing into you when you bring your arms down.

This thing about dumbbells being too expensive is bad - the government should realize that weights are a public service it needs to provide and subsidize them on every street. Right, JUST kiddin, heh.

Hmm, weight equipment costs about 18 U.S. cents a pound in the east (where I am) - really! I wonder what shipping em' by ship to you (rather than by air) would cost, hehe. I can find out, if you want, it'll be amazing if it costs less to buy the weights here and ship them around the world than it costs to buy them where you are - you'll just have to wait 3 months for it to arrive. Well, just thought I'd make the offer.

This post has been edited by Yratorm, LightMage: Jan 6 2007, 01:58 PM

I cant shop online my parents dont think its safe so yah. That is the only problem or amazon and other shops are always around. Thanks though

Oh, and before I forget, a strong plank resting on some concrete blocks makes an acceptable bench. The plank should be about a foot or so wide and four feet or so long.

Hmm, you said you're in a 3rd world country? I live on the tibet-india border, are you anywhere near by?


Where I am weight equipment cost 18 U.S. cents per pound, as I said - things are usually really cheap in third world countries, not expensive. I'm puzzled why they should be expensive where you are. Well, by third world I meant africa or asia - perhaps you're somewhere else. If you're in africa or asia I can give you some tips on where to go to get equipment cheaper (don't buy from stores, buy from open air flea markets, is one easy tip).

Learnt this in my "Physical Active Lifestyles" class: buy 2, 4 litter bottles of water from any corner store (about a dollar each) and empty the water or drink it since it is good for you . Anyway add a little bit of water in each one and increase it as your strenght goes up, After water isant a problem then start puting sand/concrete in them. They work well and not expensive at all.

A dumbbell is a piece of equipment used in weight training, and are considered a type of free weight. It is a weight that is usually held in one hand. Hence, dumbbells normally come in pairs. The forerunner of the dumbbell was used in India for more than a millennium, shaped like a club - so named Indian club. The design of the "Nal" as the equipment was referred to can be seen as a halfway point between a barbell and a dumbbell. It was generally used in pairs, in workouts by wrestlers, bodybuilders, sports players, and others wishing to increase strength and muscle size.

"Dumbbells" as a word originated in Tudor England—the devices used for ringing church bells were widely known for their impact on increasing muscle size, creating a trend in the 16th Century which saw rich young men installing similar devices in their homes, consisting of a pulley with a weighted rope which the user pulled as though he was ringing a church bell[citation needed]. These were known as "bells", but as there were no actual bells on the end of the pulling ropes and were silent, they came to be known colloquially as "dumb-bells". Over the centuries, the pulley and weighted rope fell out of fashion, leaving just the weight.

Dumbbells of the weight type, without the pulley, have been used in America since the 18th Century.

By the early 19th Century, the familiar shape of the dumbbell, with two equal weights attached to a handle, had appeared. There are currently two main types of dumbbell:

This post has been edited by zak92: Jun 18 2007, 02:00 AM

In many parts of the world, exercise is called work. You can even get paid to do it!