This is a routine I have been working on, with the goal of saving money by not going to the gym, saving space (no complicated equipment) as well as making exercise more convenient. It uses mostly dumbbells, with some other cheap equipment.

Every day:

Pullups: get yourself one of these: https://www.kmart.com.au/product/chin-up-bar-42259992/
Note that they will punch a hole in your wall if you have gyprock. I reinforced my door frame by putting a 70 X 35 block of wood above it, and a 30 X 30 aluminium angle above that, for the top to sit in. This has the added advantage of making it higher. I do pullups, then leg raises (stomach muscle exercises) then switch to palms forward and do shoulder raises - like a pullup, but not bending the elbows.

Pushups: get yourself something like this:
https://www.kmart.com.au/product/push-up-bars-43643974.
The one I have is slightly inclined.

I noticed that when I started out I could only do a small number of each. As I increased that number, it prevented me from having to get larger dumbbells for biceps and triceps, as I did not have the energy left.
They double up on the muscle groups, except that pushups are the only pec exercises I do.

3 day cycle:

day 1: run Once you are fit and lose some weight, get some 1 kg foam covered weights to run with, or even 2kg. Try kmart. I read some advice online saying this was bad for your joints and gait, however I find that they slow me down a bit and I suspect I put less stress on my knees when I use them. So I am not thrashing my knees by going flat out on the shorter runs.

day 2 and 3: dumbbell workout

Aim for 3 X 10 for all the arm and shoulder exercises. Increase to 1 X 30 then switch to larger weight (I didn't buy a full set of dumbbells). Some of them I do half with a heavy weight then switch down when I cannot do 10 reps.
The back and leg exercises I typically do a straight 30 reps, to keep the weight a bit lighter. This is more of an aerobic exercise.

Bicep curls.

Tricep raises. Be careful with these - google some youtube videos and check the advice for not damaging your shoulders.

Deltoid raises. Same advice as above, and listen to the bit about shoulder impingement in particular. I do 4 different directions, 2 on each day. Day 1: scapular plane (thumbs pointing up, slightly in front of shoulder) and then bent forward with my back horizontal - be careful also not to stress your back by flexing it while carrying weight. Day 2: halfway between previous 2 to avoid shoulder impingement, ie bent forward slightly, back straight, then 4th direction is straight out front. Do not lift above shoulder height.

Shrugs - will need 2 heavy dumbbells for this. Be extra careful to do it slowly and no 'drop' the weight onto your joints. Elbows slightly bent.

Calf raises - use the same 2 heavy dumbbells that you use for shrugs. Put the front of your feet on a block of wood to get more range.

Hamstring raises. This is one of the tricky ones to do without a machine. See youtube vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dY7BmNR7RJk
I do mine on a small single step rather than flat ground, with my legs hanging out over the step, and use lots of padding so I am not resting on my kneecaps. I use a whole 4 pack of these, still in the plastic:
https://www.bunnings.com.au/eva-50-x-50cm-black-solid-interlock-foam-mats-4-pack_p0126584
as well as something like this, but from aldi:
https://www.bunnings.com.au/trojan-extra-large-kneeling-pad_p0280914

Back and glut exercise: this one I came up with myself, initially based on advice from a physio on lower back strengthening. Start standing straight with arms out straight in front. Keep hands together. Swing arms up above your head and then further back, to stretch your back backwards, then reverse. Then, bend at hips only to touch the ground (keep arms straight, back straight and shoulders at 90 degrees). Then, bend at knees and ankles to get into a squatting position (again, keep arms straight, back straight, and shoulders at 90 degrees). Then reverse to get back into starting position.
general advice: do not bend your back with load on it. In particular, do not do situps.

Lunges

Another lower back exercise: lie on stomach on a table or bench, with your legs hanging over the edge. Lower your toes to touch the ground. Again, bend only at hips, keep back and knees straight. Then raise again and hold in planking position for a second.

freediver wrote on Jan 18^th, 2026 at 9:00pm:


I studied sports science at Institute of Technology in the late 1980s.

Muscles contract concentric (getting shorter) and eccentric (getting longer).
Most people make the mistake of ignoring the eccentric phase you can always lower more weight than you can lift so work eccentric phase by lowering over 4 seconds.
Nautilus was a gym machine in the 80s they really pushed the negative contraction phase.

I have weights bench with lat pulldown bought it when i was 18 still have it.
1 Barbell a couple of 20Kg weights a few dumbells.
It's cheaper than gym membership you can't really wear it out.

I work out every second day you need rest day to recover you start going soft around 96 hours after last workout.

Chest- i do bench press flat and inclined with barbell.

Back- i do close grip Lat pulldowns and wide grip in front of head which are just like a pullup.

Shoulders- Lateral Raises with dumbells followed by military press with dumbells. No rest in between.Doing it in this order pre exhausts deltoids with lateral raises so lighter weight for MP. Triceps assist with MP and not used in LR so shoulders are not limited by triceps failing before shoulders.
Finish with rear delt flys with dumbells ( bent over upper body horizontal to floor)

Biceps- dumbell curls and finish with supinated curls (starts palm down turning to palm up)
Biceps have 2 heads long head bends elbow and raises arm forward at shoulder short head supinates hand.

Triceps- Start with dips then tricep push downs with lat pulldown attatchment.

Legs- Squats with barbell a lot of walking and bike riding with martial arts kick workouts on full contact pad. Usually on day off from upper body.

Abs- Leg lifts raising lower back off the ground sit ups (leaving lower back on ground) and knee rock backs.
Legendary ABS PDF free download here- https://www.google.com/search?q=legendary+abs+pdf&sca_esv=651164c6481fa95a&ei=lt...

When i was younger doing the usual 3 sets of 10-12 reps with exercises now doing 2 sets around 20-25 reps working to failure.
Dr Schoenfeld has done studies showing weight isn't as relevant for muscle growth as long as you work to failure.
Heavier weights will build fast twitch muscle fibres for explosive power lighter weights will build slow twitch fibres for endurance.
https://www.google.com/search?q=Brad+Schoenfeld%2C+PhD%0D%0A%0D%0A&sca_esv=0d39a...

If you're doing weights with good form and slower you will be using lighter weights which will reduce chance of injury.
Bring it up over 2 seconds lower it in 4 seconds.

I find really good results doing 20-23 reps with burn starting around 19 and failure to do anymore at 23 reps.It was a study Dr Terry Ly showed me
Burning is Lactic Acid which is Oxygen deprived muscle.

Dr Terry Ly was our main teacher for Sport Science be was built like Bolo in Bruce Lee movie Enter the Dragon.
He did one set to failure his thoughts were once lactic acid starts building up you have used all the muscle has no point doing any more.He also stressed consistancy so no missed workouts.

I have worked in Gyms where owners pushed Steroids which gave incredible gains on 6 week programs. Long term they were not better off.

Nutrition is a vital part for building muscle and losing bodyfat.
Don't eat pre packaged junk get back to home cooking with lean beef/lamb/chicken/fish/pork veggies and fruit.
A Cardiologist friend said if food package has more than 3 ingedients you don't recognise put it back on the shelf.
Real food doesn't need ingredient list.
You need around 1 gram protein per Kg bodyweight 100 grams of chicken/beef/lamb/fish only yields around 28 grams protein therefore a 90Kg person needs at least 300 grams of this per day.

You can get good results without much equipment a small investment for bench and weights would be cheaper than gym membership and last a long time.
16 year old kids were bench pressing around 250Lbs when i went to high school in the US they had their own gym at home.

RFK Jnr was in a recent video doing 25 pullups at 78 years of age none of the younger people who challenged him could match that.

I use really light ones, pretty slowly.
Light as in 2.5 kgs all up, this is the bar, locks and the weights themselves.

they so small, light and 'unintimidating'  they are emotionally very easy to pick up .

I use them more, because they are more inviting.

A few baseline things to keep in mind.

Exercise is not effective for weight loss, you can't outrun your fork.
If you're older than 50 you need to be very careful not to injure yourself, the recovery time and opportunity cost of not working out is bigger than any benefit of doing hero weights.


After a few years of analysing the programs of online trainers, I've moved to full body workouts with mostly compound exercises and a few extra focused exercises. I do the extras every 2nd workout or if I'm pressed for time or tired.

Compound exercises in bold (which I never skip) and it's important to do in this order.

Squats - mix of goblet and sumo squats with a kettlebell
Glute kickback
Calf raises
Dead lifts - I use a dead lift machine
Chest press - most of the time I use a chest press machine, sometimes do dumbbell press and sometimes I prework the chest with pecdeck.
Lat pulldown
Bicep curls
Triceps on cable machine
Dips
Pushups
Farmers carry (lucky last)

Baronvonrort wrote on Jan 18^th, 2026 at 11:54pm:


So much for health and safety then.
Hubby works for a food  industry, and recently, 20 kg buckets (gravy, sauces etc) were scrapped and not allowed, now it’s down to 10 kgs in plastic bladder bags!

Sophia wrote on Jan 19^th, 2026 at 1:56pm:


The union limit for Qantas was 35 kg back then.

Largest Hindquarter i saw was 178 Kg the one on my right shoulder is 165 Kg.
Export meat to Japan was Grain fed Mitsubishi was owners name on invoice.

One of the Meat inspectors was a former Pro Wrestler Sid who wrestled Hulk Hogan a few times.
Hulk Hogan was around 144 Kg i could have body slammed him no worries.
I was around 98Kg 8% bodyfat which is really lean.

Not many people could do this for a few hours each morning pay was just over $100 per hour.
Pay for leading Aerobics class was around $25 back then

aquascoot wrote on Jan 19^th, 2026 at 6:26am:


I had older friend in Qld a Cane farmer he was ridicously strong at 80.

Big problem some have with stretching is they only hold it for 10 seconds they should hold stretch for at least 30 seconds.
You have to relax when stretching it's obvious you can't stretch a tense muscle.

Proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation stretching is best for faster results you relax and stretch for 30 seconds then tense muscle up with isometric (not moving) contraction.

More here- https://www.google.com/search?q=pnf+stretching&sca_esv=75946126d91b099d&source=h...

Wow. You were earning enough to afford to go to the gym after work.