I’m one of those guys who become frustrated while working out in a gym. It not because I don’t know what I’m doing or don’t know my way around a gym. Actually, it’s just the opposite, and that is what I find frustrating about what I call the “mega-gyms”. You know the ones, full of lights, mirrors, music, posers, and those who are trying to find their next victim/date. I hate those places. I’m old school, get in, sweat, no goofing around, no hysterics, and defiantly NO POSING. That makes me retch.

So, I’m always on the lookout for exercises I can do outside of a gym, but I have wondered if I was getting enough out of the workouts. Was I truly improving my fitness or could I be fooling myself into believing I was getting some benefit.

It turns out that in a recent study from University of Texas at El Paso shows that skipping the gym is okay.

 In a new test of manual resistance exercises, where a training partner provided the resistance, researchers found the strength training to be just as effective as using weights.

During a 14-week period, the scientists monitored 84 college students who were assigned to either a traditional program of weights-based exercises, or manual resistance workouts. Both groups were given six exercises and performed eight to 12-rep sets two to four times. By the end of the study, the two groups showed no significant differences in strength development.

So, you may not need a gym, but you will need a buddy. For most people, that isn’t a problem, and the good news is that you don’t need to be of equal strength. Read more on the study here and here.

By the way, I found a site that you all may be interested in reviewing. If you have an interest in the topic of non-weight lifting resistance training or pylometrics, then please check out http://www.healthline.com/blogs/exercise_fitness/labels/fast%20fitness.html