I’m going to India in a few weeks for a year-long field study, and I was hoping to take the opportunity to whip my pudgy academic ass into really, really great shape. I’ll be staying in a reasonably small room, and since I’m going to a fairly rural place I can’t expect a gym or free weights to be readily available.
Given that, I was wondering what kind of exercises, beyond running my arse off on a regular and progressively longer basis, I should consider integrating into my workouts?
Bodyweight exercises.
I’m a member here.
They do have a bit of hard-ass culture going but there’s lots of good stuff to be had.
Or here
I mostly use Isometric type exercise’s while driving long distances to keep blood circulating.
Plain old fashioned situps and pushups will get you ripped if you can stick with it. Plenty of good programs online to help you get started and guide you, like TwoHundredSitups.com and their companion site, HundredPushups.com.
So that (along with planks – arguably a better core exercise than sit-ups) takes care of everything above the waist.
Below the waist? Google “Hindu squats” for some good leg exercises.
Also, check out this guy:
You could also look into plyometrics as you get stronger as well.
You can get a pretty excellent workout from just sit-ups, push-ups, lunges, and squats. By “sit-ups”, I actually mean a series of crunches working all aspects of the abs. And for pushups, vary your hand position. You can also work the tris with dips off a chair.
In addition to the other posts, a resistance band (elastic rope with a covering to prevent skin burn) and a door knob to hold the end or middle works wonders. I do several sets a day to get my arse out of my cubical. I vary upper body and lower body days. The bands are inexpensive <$15 and pack well for travel. I hate lunges but they are great for the butt and legs.
Along with all the other great recommendations I heartily second the suggestion that you look into Hindu Squats. Those, combined with a variety of push-ups will give you a surprisingly thorough workout.
True. Lots of guys can benchpress their body weight but can’t do a one-arm pushup off the floor.
:raises hand: Guilty. I’ve benched almost double my bodyweight but can’t do a one-armed push-up. Not starting from the bottom position at least.
And likewise, I can do one-arm pushups but not sure if I can bench my own weight. I don’t have a barbell to test my strength using that motion. I’d like to think I can do it but not 100% sure.
I’ve used exactly this workout for the last two years. I lost 25 pounds (starting from 197) and added a lot of muscle. It’s free, you can do it anywhere, and the results are almost instant.
The sites I mentioned also have a sister site called TwoHundredSquats.com/. I didn;t mention it because I don’t do it. 
Bench pressing is overrated if you ask me. I’d rather be in your shoes.
There are lots of resistance books and you can get in shape without weights. The issue with them is not using weights gets very boring fast, so you tend to quit.
Remember in any weight training program the key is variation. You can’t just do pushups. You need to vary HOW you do a pushup and yes, there are lots of way to do a push up differently.
Go to your library and get some books on it and follow it. You will also need a very sturdy chair. That will go miles in aiding your progress for doing things like back and triceps. Make sure that chair is darn well sturdy so you don’t break it and injure yourself.
A bar you can do pull ups on is handy too. If you are going to an area where you have a play type jungle gym for kids that’l work well too
We (New York kids in the 60’s) always used to call those things “monkey bars.” Is this a regionalism, or a time-dated thing?
Sadly, in the nanny-state mentality now, the damn things don’t even exist in parks any more.
[Mod: I apologize for that tiny insertion of political commentary. It can be removed if you so wish.]
It wouldn’t matter if they did. If a man tried to legitimately exercise on them, paranoid parents would call the police thinking there’s a pedophile in the park preying on children.
Monkey bars here in Chicago, growing up in the 80s.
Same here, 60’s kid in California. Also “jungle gym”.