I fell in love with powerlifting during my first year of serious strength training. I read everything I could get my hands on from guys like Louie Simmons, Dave Tate, and Jim Wendler. I loved lifting heavy and spent lots of time at grungy, powerlifting-centric gyms. These gyms were loud, covered in chalk, and owned all kinds of cool equipment I never saw at other gyms.

powerlifter deadlifting 315 in a grungy basement gym — *Me circa 2013*

I also developed an unfortunate attitude about “hardcore” training. I believed my way of training was the best and only way to get results. I looked down on people who didn’t train for strength or, god forbid, belonged to a gym without barbells. I read articles making fun of these gyms and nodded in agreement, patting myself on the back for knowing better.

Over time, my attitude toward commercial gyms has done a complete 180. Two main factors contributed to this change. First, I started dating my boyfriend who was a longtime member of Planet Fitness. I had to stop making fun of him when I started going with him to train. I expected to see lots of ridiculous behavior from members and staff alike, but all I saw was a bunch of normal people doing their best. In my years of visiting multiple locations, I’ve never once heard the notorious lunk alarm used.

Second, the longer I worked in the fitness industry, the more I realized the value of doing what you can with what you have. Not everyone has access to a fully equipped gym. Some people can’t afford fancy gyms or travel too much to justify the cost. Some train at bare bones gyms out of convenience. Still others resonate with Planet Fitness’s marketing – their gym is a “safe space”, free of the macho swagger which is still widespread at many other gyms.

Who am I to judge the decisions people make for themselves? The most important thing is to find a workout routine that fits with your life, challenges you appropriately, and keeps you moving toward your goals. And thankfully, most people can see great results training at a bare bones commercial gym without any barbells or heavy weights. This post is all about how to have effective and challenging workouts with limited equipment.

Learn to use the tools at hand

Before we discuss how to modify your training, let’s review the equipment you will have at your disposal at a typical low budget commercial gym:

Dumbbells

Just about every gym has a set of dumbbells. These are incredibly versatile and can be used to train every movement and muscle group. Dumbbells provide a solid alternative to barbells if your gym doesn’t have the latter.

Most hotel gyms only have dumbbells up to 50lbs. At bare bones commercial gyms like Planet Fitness, dumbbells are typically capped at 75 lbs. Lack of access to heavier weights forces you to get creative with your training when you get stronger (more on this below).

Straight bars and EZ bars

Most commercial gyms have a handful of light fixed-weight bars lying around. You may be able to use these to load a variety of exercises depending on your strength.

Cable Stacks

Cable stacks are the tall towers with movable pulleys located in the center of most weight rooms. The pulleys can be set to multiple different heights and hooked up to a variety of different attachments. Most cable stacks are also attached to either seated low row and lat pulldown benches. I use cable stacks all the time with my clients, especially for pulling and core exercises.

Weight Machines

Weight machines allow you to train a particular muscle or movement. Most weight machines are single-use, meaning they can only be used to train one thing. For example, if you want to train your legs and your back on the same workout, you’ll need to use multiple weight machines.

Machines are a great choice if you’re new to lifting or out of shape. They can be problematic, however, if you try to force yourself into a machine that isn’t built well for your unique body. Be smart and never push past pain.

Smith Machines

Smith machines use attached barbells which move up and down. I recommend avoiding smith machines for traditional barbell exercises like squats, benching, and deadlifting unless you are a very experienced lifter. You can, however, use the smith machine to perform bodyweight exercises like hands-elevated push-ups, inverted rows, and even pull-ups.

I recommend doing a brain dump of all the exercises you know and use regularly for each movement or muscle group. You may be surprised just how many exercises you can do with this limited list of equipment. Keep this list on your phone or in your training notebook. Be sure to have a few alternatives in case the equipment you normally use is occupied.

What to do when you run out of weight

Perhaps the biggest challenge to effectively training at a bare bones gym is the lack of heavier weights. Below are some of my favorite strategies to increase difficulty without increasing weight.

Learn new exercises

This seems like a no brainer, but if you’re only using the same 20 exercises month after month, you can make your workouts more interesting by trying to master something new.

The pull-through is a great exercise to learn if you train at a gym without barbells.

Perform more reps at the same weight

If you’ve never tried to push yourself with high rep sets, you’re in for a big challenge. I regularly have clients who train at bare bones gyms perform sets of 20 or more squats with the heaviest weights available.

Group similar exercises together

I often program supersets with non-competitive exercises, such as pairing a dumbbell RDL with a dumbbell bench press. However, you can make exercises significantly more challenging by pairing similar exercises together in bigger sets. For example, one of my coaches used to program dumbbell RDLs, pull-throughs, and 45 degree back extensions into one giant set. Because these exercises are so similar, each exercise was more challenging than if it was performed by itself.

Increase time under tension

Time under tension refers to the total amount of time you spend during a set loading your muscles and joints. Any technique that drags out a set longer than normal increases the time under tension.

Rest-pause sets, also called clusters, are a great tool to keep intensity high while doing more work. You could perform six challenging reps of an exercise, pause for 20-30 seconds, perform three reps, pause for another 20-30 seconds, and perform a final two reps to get to 10 total reps. This would allow you to use significantly heavier weight than you could for a normal set of 10.
1.5 reps force you to do 50% more work for each rep. A 1.5 rep squat has you squatting all the way down, coming up halfway, going all the way back down, and then coming all the way back up.
Ratchet sets are similar to 1.5 reps but with more steps. For example, you could do a ratchet set squat where you go all the way down, come up ¼, go all the way back down, come up ½, go all the way back down, come up ¾, go all the way down, and finally come all the way up.
Drop sets are another tool to get more out of a set. Perform a set number of reps with one weight, then drop to a lower weight and perform more reps. I usually use 2-3 drops, but you can do as many as you want.

Other considerations

I always recommend following a program. You won’t get the best possible results if you regularly show up to the gym without a plan. A good program is flexible and takes any limitations of your gym into account.

Your workouts will go more smoothly if you use equipment located in the same area. Don’t walk back and forth across the gym to perform supersets if you can avoid it. Groups of exercises which use the same equipment or only need dumbbells (which you can move anywhere) are ideal.

Keep moving. You won’t need to take as much rest if you aren’t performing heavy, neurologically demanding exercises. Reducing your rest intervals is another way to progress from week to week and increase the intensity of your workouts.

Finally, don’t neglect conditioning. Your gym may not have fancy toys like kettlebells, battle ropes, or sleds, but you can still reap the benefits of higher heart rate training. Perform intervals on cardio machines or using bodyweight exercises like squats and pushups.

Your membership to a gym without barbells isn’t an excuse for poor results. With a bit of creativity, you can continue to grow and challenge yourself in any gym setting.

If you want some help creating an effective workout for a bare bones gym, you’re in luck. I created Full45, a done-for-you program to take you through three months of strength training workouts using only the equipment found at Planet Fitness. Learn more and grab your copy at this link.