Bodyweight equivelant to SS/SL

samammay

So I and a few friends have been doing SL5x5 for a while and are thrilled with the results. I have another friend (female if it matters to the answer) who likes the results she is seeing on us but has zero access to fitness equipment/gym.

Is there a program or alternative exercises that she can do with bodyweight resistance and achieve similar results? Maybe cheap bands?

JenMc14

She won't build significant muscle with a progressive heavy lifting program. But, if her goal is to lean out, ie get "toned" and lose bodyfat so her existing muscle shows, then doing modifications of the compound lifts with bands would probably work. Adjustable dumbbells are an option as well. She could also try a progressive bodyweight program like You Are Your Own Gym or Convict Conditioning. Nerdfitness has some good stuff as well. If she eats at a deficit and does some sort of resistance training, she'll lean out and see more muscle definition, more than likely. If she wants to actually gain muscle, she'll need to eat at a surplus, realize fat will come with it, and find a way to lift heavy.

kinmad4it

Bodyweight squats with a rucksack on her back, filled with progressively heavier stuff, one bag of sugar, two bags of sugar and so on. That'll only get you so far, then it'll be time to move onto a harder modification, single leg squats or split squats and then use the increasingly weighted rucksack routine again.
You could probably do the same at first for the press up instead of the bench press, then again, move onto progressively harder variations.

It's not ideal as the whole ethos of 5x5 is constant linear increase of the weight you're lifting. However, I see no reason why it can't work with bodyweight, just that it might not be so linear and will require some thinking outside the box to think of substitutions for exercises.

rybo

The short answer...YES

The longer answer...yes, sort of, but it will take some effort & research to develope the proper prgression.

There are BW equivalents of Bench, OHP, Squat, & Row. Just find the variant that allows you to do the proper rep range. There are other moves that can be done to develop the posterior chain instead of traditional dead lifts.

JCLondonUK

Cheaper equivalents of TRX straps aren't too expensive (I got a set for £40) and they enable you to increase resistance with just bodyweight. It wouldn't be quite the same, but would be a good place to start, perhaps? (The ones I have are Woss brand, and excellent quality.)

astronomicals

bodyweight training can get you very far, but, its completely dissimilar from SS and SL.... the only real thing in common is that their both strength training...

i wouldnt try to use the ideas of one to program the other


pushups, pullups, chin ups, dips, squats, goblet squats, single leg squats, inverted rows, box jumps, agility work, ab work, etc.

you can get a lot done.. add some dumbells from craigslist for pretty cheap and you can add curls, overhead presses, skull crushers, bent over DB rows, kroc rows, DB floor presses, etc..

the list is long...

gyms are nice for adherence, but, they are completely unnecessary to make a lot of progress.... if you want to be good at marbell exercises you'll obvously need to train with a barbell... if you want to be fit and have a great physique you just need dedication and a proper program.

jwdieter

bodyweight training can get you very far, but, its completely dissimilar from SS and SL.... the only real thing in common is that their both strength training...

i wouldnt try to use the ideas of one to program the other

Pretty much.

You can do progressive training, but that's primarily #rep increases, rather than low rep weight increases.

astronomicals

FTR, I;m not biased... I do 5-3-1 and its mostly barbell work.. Im just not buying that BS that elitists spew about barbell training being the only way. Its complete BS. Ive done stretches of pure BW training and made excellent progress