As a 60+ triathlete, I realize I should be doing some base strength training, but don’t want to spend the time or money to go to the gym. What strength training is available just doing body weight and maybe some small dumbbells? Chad mentioned some basics but a more complete set would be good.
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YouTube “D3 multisport coaching”. A series of 80 short videos/exercises. Some are irrelevant to triathlon/cycling, but I pick a few of them and add in a few other basics like squats and SL deads etc and you’ll be flying!
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I’ve got a book You are your own gym by Mark Lauren. It has plans with progression plenty of exercises.
Download the Keep app on your phone and get started right away. It’s free and has different levels, structure and progression just like TR. Workouts are all video too 
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/appadvice.com/app/keep-fitness-workout-trainer/1287964023.amp
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This is similar to me (I’m 36 yr old), have no intention of going to gym or getting equipment but would be interested in best body weight exercises (or maybe using 4-6 pint milk bottles filled with water as dumbbells!).
The ‘Spiderman push ups’ on @chad video look good but hard…and the pistol squats on his video…Just can’t comprehend how they are possible to get that low!!! 
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Gyms are great and it’s fun to throw a barbell around, but there is plenty of strength work you can do from your living room. My wife really likes the free Nike Training Center app and I’ve been following along the last couple months with her. The videos are great and a lot of the exercises involve body weight and are what I would call ‘boot camp’ style. It’s a very functional kind of fitness and I’ve felt better about my overall strength.
People overestimate what they can do in the short term but vastly underestimate what they can do in the long term if they consistently stick with something. Lots of plans and great workouts to be done, but none will work well without consistency.
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You can do a lot with resistance bands and TRX/ Suspension Trainers too. They don’t take up much space, it’s really just something to anchor them too.
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I have a set of the elastic stretch bands and I am looking for exercises I can do with them, especially for upper body - (biceps/triceps).
I like going to the gym but no time at the moment.
Check out this Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/
There should be more than enough info in there to keep you busy for a while – good luck!
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You can stand in them and then just do bicep curls. Lower down you grip, the more resistance.
Triceps - if you hang them/ loop them over something above head height, you can do tricep extensions.
I just turned 59 and am adding in some bodyweight/strength to my winter training. I’ve started by adding in a quick (8 min.) core routine after every TR workout. Got the routine from my daughter who’s a college runner. 1 min. each of the following: plank, leg raises, crunches, Russian twists, penguin crunches, suitcase crunches, side planks (30 sec/side), plank. Also adding on a short metcon, 5x10 of pushups, situps, squats for time, 2x per week for the next 3 weeks. If all goes well, I plan to add in some weights (squats, deadlifts, bench press, shoulder press) after that. Good luck with it. Please share what you decide to do.
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Here’s a list of things my PT gave me… “If you’re gonna keep riding this is stuff you can always work on.”
- mini-band lateral walk. if I don’t have that I lie on my side with my butt and back against a wall and do side leg raises
- mini-band monster walk (Forward and backward)
- Single leg squat / “penny pick-ups”
- plank / side plank
- donkey kick
- lunge
- step-ups
- push-up / single-side medicine ball push-up.
- scapular push-ups and any serratus exercises you can find.
- sword draw (need elastic band)
For me these are all about maintaining stability and keeping myself out of pain. I don’t have to do a lot (2x10 maybe) to benefit from them.
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Here’s another body weight litmus test I use as a basis for overall fitness, which translates to on-bike endurance really, really well in my experience.
I have never read this anywhere, nor do I know if there is any scientific basis for the correlation of these exercises to on-bike stamina – I just know that I used to really struggle with shoulder/neck pain and lower back pain, and if I achieve this level of baseline fitness all of that goes away.
Be able to do the following, or work towards them as a progression:
– 15 over-hand pull-ups without stopping (10 is honestly, probably enough)
– 50 push-ups without stopping
– Plank for 90 seconds before failing
– Be able to comfortably touch your toes and hold it for a 3 count while sitting on the floor.
If you can do these things, or use them as a strength training goal to work towards, you will get a lot of muscle fitness along the away without gaining much weight at all. Also, for the hamstring flexibility, there are a ton of dynamic stretches to do that increase flexibility in you posterior chain that are better than seated toe-touches, but that is the benchmark I use to test flexibility (which, for me, doesn’t come naturally)
Like I said, once I could hit these benchmarks, my on-bike stamina was never a problem again.
Good luck!
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I’ve got 2, 3, and 4. But those pull ups. That’s gonna be a while for me 
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I can do 1, 2 and 3. I might be able to do 4, but I’ve not tried in years. Which probably means I can’t do 4. 
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I have access to a lot of training video courses, etc and of course there’s a lot of stuff on YouTube…
But, I read or see recommended exercises for cyclists and I’m after a way to compile this into a workout or set of workouts (Android app preferably).
Essentially, it would be nice to add exercises to a workout (which i can save), and specify a time or number of reps for each exercise. When i start the workout, a video with inductions appears to help guide. For reps , the video / instructions repeats until I tap a button to move to the next exercise.
I feel like this would allow me to tailor workouts and hopefully optimize exercises a little. Does such a thing exist?.. I’ve seen a few apps now, but they often only have text instructions or otherwise don’t provide much guidance.
The Nike Training app seems to be fairly close to what I’m after, but minus the ability to string together exercises into your own custom workout…
Hello fellow TR users
I have been intrigued by Convict Conditioning and Overcoming Gravity approaches for strength training. I haven’t been doing much strength training for past 2 years. I also swim.
It seems that Convict Conditioning is easier for beginners. Has anyone used either of these 2 approaches to build strength without bulking up excessively?
…oh 
I used Convict Conditioning for about a year, it was a great resource for starting bodyweight training. Now I do my own program 45-60 min, 3 days a week. Strictly bodyweight exercises, mostly upper body. I usually lay it out like:
3-5 sets, to failure of each:
Push
Pull
Push
Pull
Shoulders
Core
Core
Core
Often I will super set the core exercises. Breaks between sets 45-60 seconds.
This has worked for me quite well. When I started I could do maybe 6 or 7 pull-ups, now I’m up to 25.
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Which actual exercises do you do for each?