when I was at university the student gym had a wonderful contraption for back muscles (no idea what it was called - supported me face-down at the waist and legs, and I could hang down and pull myself up like upside-down sit-ups)
You can replicate that if you can get access to one of those inflatable exercise balls; lie with your hips over it and wedge your feet under something secure.
But the same muscles get worked in yoga locust pose and the "superman" exercise (same thing but with your arms held out in front of you).
Exrx.net has a great directory of exercises, including a lot of bodyweight options; you could do worse than just dive in there:
But planks, push-up progressions, and locust/superman would all be ideal for what you want to do.
Are you considering lats and so forth as part of the back? If so, it might be worth starting progressions towards pull-ups, too (pull-ups look more like an arm exercise, but a lot of the work's actually done in your back).
a squalid, underequipped gym at my apartment complex
*rubs hands gleefully*
What's it got? I mean, you could actually do everything you want to do just with bodyweight exercise, with no problems, but I have a fondness for plotting just how much you can do with crappy equipment.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2011-08-18 08:42 pm (UTC)You can replicate that if you can get access to one of those inflatable exercise balls; lie with your hips over it and wedge your feet under something secure.
But the same muscles get worked in yoga locust pose and the "superman" exercise (same thing but with your arms held out in front of you).
Exrx.net has a great directory of exercises, including a lot of bodyweight options; you could do worse than just dive in there:
http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html
But planks, push-up progressions, and locust/superman would all be ideal for what you want to do.
Are you considering lats and so forth as part of the back? If so, it might be worth starting progressions towards pull-ups, too (pull-ups look more like an arm exercise, but a lot of the work's actually done in your back).
a squalid, underequipped gym at my apartment complex
*rubs hands gleefully*
What's it got? I mean, you could actually do everything you want to do just with bodyweight exercise, with no problems, but I have a fondness for plotting just how much you can do with crappy equipment.