One of the best forms of exercise is using Charles Atlas's method of weight lifting exercises as Isometrics AKA VRT. Yes you can use a stick, I use a five foot red oak fighting staff as a barbell and new red oak foot rollers (Reflexology foot rollers) as dumbbells. No weight set or Gym needed. I use the method 3 workouts per week. My uncle trained Boxers and taught me the art in te 1950s. A modern version VRT as a manual and a dvd.
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Health, Fitness, Non-Apparatus Exercise, Unarmed Self-Defense, Firearms Self Defense
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John,
For ~10 years, my workout consists of only self-resistance exercises. In the beginning, I used Atlas'dynamic tension then moved to co-contraction exercises like DVR/VRT. Last year, I use only dynamic and sometimes isometric self-resistance exercises with a stick. I've described my dynamic exercises for the upper body muscles in this thread (see my post on p. 2). Periodically, I switch to multipoint isometric performance of these exercises. I believe that this "periodization" helps to reach higher muscle tension in dynamic exercises. You can easy design any exercises for other body muscles, basing on this principle of opposite tension (just a little fantasy). If you apply sufficient muscle tension (70-90% of max), you certainly will get excellent results. Good luck.
P.S. To train some muscles, which cannot be affected by opposite tension, you can use co-contraction exercises, using VRT or DVR.