How this homeless bodybuilder’s simple street training turned him into a beast

Everyone thinks you need the best gym, the most complex training plan, and bags of expensive supplements to get in incredible shape.

You don't. Nobody has proved this more than homeless French bodybuilder Jacques Sayagh, who is in his fifties and in the best shape of his life. When it comes to fitness, Sayagh has hardly anything - no fancy gym membership, no big weights machines, and no nutritionist to plan his diet - but he does have one thing: heart. It's this determination to train against all odds that has helped him forge an enviable physique using the street as a gym and his own body as weights. When he was younger he would train with his brothers - weights, judo and karate, as well as athletics. Now he sleeps on the pavement with his dog, but with a few bits of basic equipment and some simple supplements he has all he needs to keep his exercise regime going. His workouts are based on callisthenics - which are basically bodyweight exercises that get you stronger, fitter, and in Sayagh's case, more muscular.   It appears he doesn't follow strict reps or sets, but trains intermittently through the day on the patch of pavement in Paris he has made his gym. Press-ups are a big part of his callisthenics routine: they have been used for decades by the likes of the Royal Marines to build strength and muscular endurance, and they serve Sayagh well too. He switches the width of his hand position to vary the stress on his muscles on the press-ups and also uses bars so he can get more depth. Sayagh doesn't use dumbbells - he has something equally, if not more effective: resistance bands. They're great for adding progressive resistance to a movement - so the more you stretch it, the harder it works your muscles. And you can work in any plane of motion just by stretching it - where dumbbells rely on gravity to add resistance. He uses the bands to work his biceps, doing curls, and also hits his delts. He has also created two suspended slings which work as arm rests so he can work his abs doing slow knee raises, keeping the tension on his core. It also works as a makeshift pull-up bar, allowing him to work his lats and back. His diet is less clear - although it appears he eats a lot of green beans and cabbage and puts any money he has into buying whey protein, slow releasing casein protein and creatine for strength gains. Just because you don't have a gym, doesn't mean you can't get a good workout in. Remember that next time you're on holiday or away from the gym. https://youtu.be/_cYAWnWwVgA Read more...