What if you can't make it to the gym?

I'm starting to realize more and more that with my current schedule I just don't have much time to really go to the gym. At least not as much as I'd like to. And with some upcoming situations, I may have even less time. So, I need to find some other things I can do at home rather than going to the gym. Here are few ideas that I've come up with but if anyone reads this and has some more ideas I'd appreciate them:

Varied Position Pushups
Pullups (probably on the park equipment near my apartment)
Get a set of around 30lb dumbbells, that would allow for a decent workout for arms and shoulders.
Chair Dips
Lunges
Calves on the stairs.

That's all that I can think of right now. I'm just hoping that I can gain the muscle I'm after by doing more of these kinds of workouts, but I'll still need to find a way to work in some good bench work and squats.

I Think I Really Like Dead Lifts!

I have to admit something. I've read a lot of articles that claim that dead lifts are one of the main lifts that you have to be doing to help pack on muscle. But the only type of dead lift I've done until today are straight-leg dead lifts. So today I decided to do the real ones and I can see why they would be important! Talk about an exercise that works out your whole body!

For those of you who don't know what a regular dead lift is, basically you place a barbell on the floor in front of you with the right poundage. Then, you bend down and grasp the bar with one hand in an overhand grip and the other in an underhand grip. This was something that I wasn't aware of until I looked into it in Schwarzenegger's book The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding : The Bible of Bodybuilding. Next you stand up with the bar! So, as you stand up you have to use your back to straighten out and your legs to lift. Holding the bar takes arm muscles as well. Now, this isn't a very good description I know, but after doing just 2 sets I was breathing pretty good. I'm now a believer that dead lifts are important. Check them out and work them in to your routine as well!

When I Can't Make it to the Gym....

I try to get in some sort of workout at home anyway, if I can!

So, this Saturday I slept in and didn't make it to the gym. Being that with my current schedule I can only make it to the gym twice a week, I didn't want to miss out completely. So here are some exercises you can do at home without a lot of equipment if you aren't able to get to the gym.

1- Pushups
Use different hand placements for a varied workout.

2- Chair Dips
Grab a chair and do some dips on it!

3- Resistance Curls
My wife has a set of 10 lbs dumbbells. A little light for doing curls. So, to pre-fatigue the muscle, I would hold them in place for as long as I could, then do some regular curls. This made it a lot harder to do the curls and also gave me a bit of a pump even though I was only using 10 lb weights.

4- Crunches
You just need a floor to do these.

The whole point here is that even though I wasn't able to make it to the gym this Saturday, at least I was able to do something. When it comes to motivation and dedication I've found that at least doing something is much better than doing nothing.

Looking for Tips

Being a hard gainer, I'm always on the lookout for tips and advice. And after reading as much as I have, I feel I'm getting better at being able to cut through the crap and the same old same old stuff. So every now and then I read something that actually makes me go "huh, that's interesting...."

So here's the article that I read, check it out sometime and it may make you go "huh" as well.
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1608/is_9_20/ai_n6242981

The interesting things that I took from this was the concept of not doing as much bench but doing dips instead. I sort of disagree with this because everything I've read over the years recommends that the bench is great for building mass. But, I do agree that I need to incorporate more dips into my workout. So really, in the quest to gain muscle, I'm willing to experiment from time to time but I'm also smart enough to not revamp my whole routine based on every article that I read!