Weight Lifting without Weights

There are several terms for it, but I prefer to call it isotonics.
The key to keeping your weight where you want it is burning calories with the largest part of your body’s muscle mass. Typically, lifting weights does this best, but to get the most from it, folks have taken the time to study ways to maximize the benefits. We have developed particular body movements which engage more or fewer muscle groups, depending on the purpose. There are particular motions, along with proper form, and even a measure of mental concentration to make sure we kick the muscles the adapt to various needs.
It has been found weight machines are convenient, but free weights are by far the superior means, because they engage a lot of need for fine motor control, which encourages a broader base of development. But what if your arthritis makes weights hurt too much? Or other types of injuries to the joints and muscles? How about you simply don’t have access to free weights?
What follows assumes you have had some experience with weightlifting and already know something about proper focus, form and such. No amount of writing can replace learning from your buddies, so if you haven’t done this before, it’s going to be exceptionally difficult to benefit from this post. That’s because this method requires you to be your own coach. You are in total control, and the amount of work you do is a function of your body awareness.
One more caveat: You surely should realize you will not get quite the same balance as with free weights. Your muscles will be working against each other, and only the resistance available between them is all you have. Then again, you have full control over the intensity and resistance, and can back off without having to change anything more than the flicker of decision in your head.
Isotonics is toning with movements in isolation of any external resistance. It’s the same basic movements you might use in free weights and on machines, but without anything other than your own body parts. It can be so intense you’ll need days off between sessions. Since the whole scheme is full of interlocking resistance against muscle groups, you’ll do it all at once or not at all, and you can’t divide between pushes and pulls. Each exercise motion is no less than two exercises.
Start with the imaginary bench press. It must be done in conjunction with an imaginary rowing exercise. I recommend you try to do this in front of a mirror so you can observe your own motions and concentrate better. You get to do this standing up straight (as with almost the movements). Extend your arms, noting your hand positioning; I recommend shoulder width. It won’t matter if you close your fingers, except to help you visualize and imagine you are working that bar. Think of all the smaller motions — when you pull, you rotate your shoulders back; pushing rotates them forward. Set the tension in your muscles and slowly pull back as in rowing, until you can’t go any farther. Then in your mind switch over to the bench and push it away to full extension. Ideally, you concentrate on the working of the muscles and move slower than necessary. Repeat as needed.
At first, you’ll probably find this whole thing so odd, I often recommend folks start with low tension and perform 12 or more repetitions. Do one set for now. Then do overhead press/pull downs, then upright row/bar dips. Wait thirty seconds or so between exercises. Add some curls/arm extensions. If you are really ambitious, you can do very heavy midriff exercises the same way, simply by bending at the middle with proper form, then straightening back up. All this is under as much tension as you can bear. I recommend you not do neck exercises unless you take great care to reduce tension to a minimum. Most folks end up pulling neck muscles too easily.
After a couple of weeks doing this no more often than every other day, add a few shoulder exercises: Without bending your elbows, do flys (that’s how they spell it) back and forth, overhead, and to the front. Try adding a reverse grip on the curls, or put your arms overhead and drop the hands behind for your curls/extensions. Because we aren’t handling any heavy weights, build your grip by various combinations of hand squeezing and finger extensions, twisting the wrist, etc. You can add for the legs if you don’t have any other heavy work out for them. Add other exercises which mimic activities which need greater strength.
I note this is effective enough I am still able, with my arthritis, to swing that double-bit ax at all sorts of angles, ambidextrously, and maintain my reputation as a heavy hitter.
Again, you control the tension, the repetitions, the number of sets, the rest time between, etc. It’s all in your head, but the results are an excellent tone to the muscles. Keep the tension as high as you can bear, keeping in mind the number of repetitions you need: 6-8 for size and power, 10-20 for endurance and injury prevention.
Go for the burn, baby!