Body weight vs weights strength training

beastmode2718

i enjoy body weight strength training but I was wondering if lifting gets you better results or is it about the same. I am in the toning stages of my fitness journey and don't really want to loose more weight but I would like to be more sculpted. Note I just want to have nice lean muscle mass I'm not going for body builder status.

piperdown44

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1120789/females-only-lifting-weight-training-results#latest
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/977538/halp-heavy-lifting-made-me-supah-bulky/p1

^^^read those from beginning to end.

galgenstrick

Weights > body weight for overall strength and definition. It will get you to your goal a lot faster.

yirara

True. Though to chip in for bodyweight: I think it's more interesting. I can easily think of 20 types of pushups, or equally high numbers for squat-type varieties.

rybo

Neither is really any better than the other. It mostly comes down to what you prefer. A good strength program often has a combination of both. You can get strong and lean via both routes.

mbaker566

While I hear weights are better, I only do body weight. I like it better
I like having the active weight as opposed to the static feel. Dead weight

ninerbuff

All muscle is lean. Definition is dependent on your body fat percentage. Whether you weight train or just use body weight, resistance is resistance when it comes to exercise. The issue is whether or not the resistance is enough. Sometimes body weight may not be enough once you've achieved the hardest exercises available. But usually most people can get by with just body weight exercises.

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charitys_aloette

I recommend doing both.

47Jacqueline

A combination of both is good - push ups are great for your arms, but weights will be faster, for example.

rick_po

The key is to keep progressing. As long as you keep pushing yourself to more difficult moves, you can keep with body weight exercises.

For me, I stalled out in body weight exercises because I don't have the balance and flexibility to do some of the advanced body weight moves. It was a whole lot easier to switch to free weights. Progression with free weights is so easy anyone can do it - just add another 5 pounds onto the bar. Progression with body weight squats can be extremely hard, if you don't have the body control to do things like a pistol squat.

Pinnacle_IAO

beastmode2718 wrote: »

i enjoy body weight strength training but I was wondering if lifting gets you better results or is it about the same. I am in the toning stages of my fitness journey and don't really want to loose more weight but I would like to be more sculpted. Note I just want to have nice lean muscle mass I'm not going for body builder status.

I do both and get stellar results.
I like bodyweight, because you don't need a gym

tomatoey

rick_po wrote: »

The key is to keep progressing. As long as you keep pushing yourself to more difficult moves, you can keep with body weight exercises.

For me, I stalled out in body weight exercises because I don't have the balance and flexibility to do some of the advanced body weight moves. It was a whole lot easier to switch to free weights. Progression with free weights is so easy anyone can do it - just add another 5 pounds onto the bar. Progression with body weight squats can be extremely hard, if you don't have the body control to do things like a pistol squat.

+1

If, for whatever reason, you can't do e.g. handstands or other kinds of more or less gymnastic stuff, options for progression are pretty limited. You can add some difficulty, depending on ability - e.g. doing single leg movements, slowing down your pace / pausing, or using resistance bands, but that's about it, and it doesn't take long to adapt to that. Doing hundreds of reps alone won't help build muscle mass. That just helps w muscle endurance, but it also increases risk of injury.

That said, if it's all you can do (my situation right now), it's better than doing nothing at all. Even if you're stagnating, at least you're maintaining a (very) basic level of fitness.

tomatoey

But if you are able to do the progressions and can make improvements in coordination, proprioception, and balance, I think that's great, and I think bodyweight stuff like that can offer something a little different from lifting weights, in that way.

natlierees

I do weights in the gym and body weight at home - weights have made a significant difference to me.

frankiesgirlie

If you do a body weight program that progresses in difficulty you can definitely get the same results, I personally feel that the "active" nature of body weight exercises cannot be beat for maintaining your sense of balance and are less likely to lead to boredom like the static "dead weight" of Dumbbells and bars. Plus add in the High intensity of bodyweight programs that mimic Tabata type programs and you've got one killer workout. The 2 programs I follow are the Betty Rocker( she has a free 30 day challenge on YouTube) ,you can choice to purchase her 90 day program which I did (worth every dime) and the 12 minute athlete, which is a 2.99 app that's worth a million bucks as far as I'm concerned. Krista at 12 minute athlete has a new website that I plan to join in the near future. The combinations of bodyweight exercises are staggering when you follow someone like betty rocker or krista. Message me if I can be if more help.

MarlyIc1

Depending on your goals. I do both. Body weight mainly for arms as I don't want too much muscle there, just some tone and weights for legs, focus area.

BusyRaeNOTBusty

Yeah, it's much easier to progress with weights.

cafeaulait7

I think it is simpler to progress with weights, because they come in measured chunks of weight. But bodyweight exercises can certainly put on muscle just fine (until you need to get quite big). It is harder to get in many of the positions bodyweight lifts require, though, yeah. Form is really important to hit the right parts, but that's true in either case.

Not all bodyweight exercises are created equal, so it's not like you just choose any 'toning' workout from Self or anything, either A lot of those are only good to be moving, really.

It takes as much resistance to do serious bodyweight training as it would using weighted resistance, so it'll feel as heavy! A lot of times it'll feel much harder than just taking a plate off and trying again, because there aren't little chunks of weight you can take out of the move like with iron. So it's harder to build up to doing the move, I think.

ltworide

I enjoy both free weight and bodyweight exercises. I think they complement each other not take away from the other. Both types of training have numerous advantages as already previously posted by others on this thread.
One of the things I like to sometimes do is on a day where I've doing some strength conditioning work, metabolic circuits or speed/agility training is to deliberately practice some bodyweight exercises/skills for a few minutes (for example headstands, bird dog on a stability ball, 2 point plank, beginner hand balancing, etc) at the end of my session when I'm fatigued physically and my CNS is low. This helps build mental toughness and strength.