Bodyweight workouts

[Ogre717]

It's probably been posted before but the concept of a bodyweight only regiment has always intrigued me.

50 Best Bodyweight Exercises YouTube

 

[luckyvenkat]

Body weight exercises don't beat up your joints as much as traditional weight training exercises do. However, there are still those who argue that body weight training isn't as effective as weight lifting when it comes to building muscle. That's because it's often associated with high reps, endurance and the military(indianworkouts).

 

[CFM]

Most jails no longer have weights, even some prisons only have pull up bars, dip bars, yet those guys get big as f*ck. Peanut butter, tuna , 1000's of reps and then laying around in a cell for 23 hours a day obviously works.

 

[SAD]

Since I herniated a disc on the 4th day of the year, I haven’t touched a weight. Half or more of my gym sessions haven’t even had a push-up or pull-up,

I’m still 6’3”, that was expected. But I’ve also only dropped ~5lbs (from 246-250 to 244-247) and I’m at the same-ish bodyfat as before the injury, which I did not expect.

Test has been trt-ish (trying a version of a pulse method). 100mg/2x/wk for 3 weeks and then 200mg/2x/wk for a week.

Been on proviron at 12.5mg/day as well but that was also started before the injury.

So what I’m saying is, barring some usual factors like getting fat and/or running a bunch of gear, I’ve managed to keep most of my muscle, without touching a weight. And I feel and look as good as I have in a long time, with the exception of my L4/L5.

Been doing copious planks, nasty HIIT cycle sessions, and a ton of yoga based stretches that I piece together into what people call “flows” (whatever you want to call it, they make you more limber and also can be wicked exhausting if done right). Also the obvious pushups and pullups. No running, no rowing (unfortunately),no cardio besides the stationary bike sessions and some drills with ropes.

I’ve lost a little size in my legs and glutes, but I’ve gotten more dense in my shoulders, upper chest, and core.

Back injuries are humbling. Some days I just go in and stretch and talk to the gym family. Some days I force myself not to go. But the new challenge of getting more mobile/flexible/limber and being able to hold plank variations for 10+min and so on, THAT is my focus. Keeping the size was/is a nice surprise.

 

[Tuffoldman]

Those guys were kind of dorky but yes BW can be the way to go. I have had to modify a lot of exercises to BW only because of joint issues. I actually have built more muscle, I should say more dense muscle since I moved away from heavy weights and have started doing more body weight and low weight super high sets and reps. My joints don't hurt as much either. Now the tradeoff is I miss doing heavy squats and have lost a lot of mass and power in my glutes but it beats being on pain pills all the time.

I am leaner and look more fit than ever.

 

[Jin]

Most jails no longer have weights, even some prisons only have pull up bars, dip bars, yet those guys get big as f*ck. Peanut butter, tuna , 1000's of reps and then laying around in a cell for 23 hours a day obviously works.

Agree 100%. But they have one big advantage.

You get locked up you’re in a precarious situation with all men. Life or death sometimes.

I guarantee you those guys have impressive testosterone totals because that’s what you used to need in life: to be a manly, tough man; because life was survival.

Now we don’t need to be masculine and are even told it’s inappropriate because it’s consisered insensitive.

I’ll think about BW exercises once I lose some weight.

 

[SAD]

I guarantee you those guys have impressive testosterone totals because that’s what you used to need in life: to be a manly, tough man; because life was survival.

Yeah, I’ve seen a couple studies on that. Test levels go up when males are placed in any environment that is heavily male and stressful over a period of time. Basic training and jail are two of the more common places this has been measured. It’s not a drastic increase, like being on gear, but its measurable.

 

[musto]

BW exercises are awesome, based on my experience. It was what I did when I was starting out and didn't have the confidence to go to the gym. It does the job!