Bodyweight Exercise vs. Lifting Heavy

kateowp
kateowp Posts: 103 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Are the results drastically different?

Replies

  • Sam_I_Am77
    Sam_I_Am77 Posts: 2,093 Member
    Are the results drastically different?

    Yes, the results to one's strength can be different; it depends on your goals.

    Bodyweight: Can build strength endurance and a good way to help manage your strength to body weight ratio

    Lifting Heavy: Focuses more on one's absolute strength and also forces one's neural transmitter to engage in the lift more than other weight loads or bodyweight loads. Although it has been said that individuals that have the highest percentage of fast-twitch muscle fibers are the morbidly obese because they have to manage so much weight.
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
    Are the results drastically different?

    It depends on what the goals were to start with.
  • GetSoda
    GetSoda Posts: 1,267 Member
    The strongest people in the world lift barbells and other heavy objects.
    Many very strong people use bodyweight nearly exclusively (gymnasts)

    Consider your goals, and what you enjoy.

    I do both.
  • kateowp
    kateowp Posts: 103 Member
    I have seen pictures of great body changes when people start lifting heavy. I would prefer not to join a gym or buy weights and wondering if bodyweight exercises are a reasonable alternative.
  • GetSoda
    GetSoda Posts: 1,267 Member
    I have seen pictures of great body changes when people start lifting heavy. I would prefer not to join a gym or buy weights and wondering if bodyweight exercises are a reasonable alternative.

    sure, save you some money. I'd look at a suspension trainer too (like jungle gym xt)
  • dorkyfaery
    dorkyfaery Posts: 255 Member
    As others have mentioned, it depends on your goals. That said, I have heard good things about "You Are Your Own Gym". I haven't reviewed it yet but as I understand it is a program that relies on little or no equipment that helps you build strength using your own body weight. I've also heard good things about Convict Conditioning but again, no direct experience.
  • bwogilvie
    bwogilvie Posts: 2,130 Member
    I'm no expert, but in my experience, lifting heavy (progressive weigh training) produces results more quickly, since you're constantly increasing stimulus on the musculoskeletal system (and not too much, if you're doing it right). Bodyweight exercises are slower, especially since after a while you need to come up with more difficult variations on the exercises, or add weight (in You Are Your Own Gym, Mark Lauren suggests using weighted backpacks, etc., for some exercises). Elite-level gymnasts use weight training as part of their routine, even if their events are bodyweight.

    That said, I generally prefer bodyweight exercises for my own goals, which right now are more modest. And if you look at serious swimmers, cyclists, and runners, you'll see that even cardio, done often enough and intensely enough, can produce larger muscles, though the gains are primarily endurance and only secondarily strength.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
    Are the results drastically different?

    Sure.
  • westcoastgrl21
    westcoastgrl21 Posts: 172 Member
    As a beginner, you can achieve a lot with just bodyweight exercises. However, there is going to come a time where you'll have to add some weights if you want to continue progressing. Strength and size are the body's adaptations to being exposed to exercises that challenge it's current capabilities. Once your body has adapted to being able to move your body weight, you'll have to use some outside form of resistance to continue to progress in strength and size. Of course, you may be happy with your physique and strength at that point, in which case the whole "it depends on your goals" response comes into play.
  • yogicarl
    yogicarl Posts: 1,260 Member
    - or change the exercise slightly to keep the intensity up and keep progressing.
  • TheWorstHorse
    TheWorstHorse Posts: 185
    As others have said, it depends on your goals. I am a big fan of bodyweight strength training: you can do it anywhere; you don't need any equipment; if you do compound movement bodyweight exercises, as described in Your Body is Your Gym and Convict Conditioning, you can really improve whole body fitness and strength in a slow and steady way; and at the beginning stages it is easy on the joints and tendons. Bodyweight training won't give you big popping muscles but it can help you be, and maintain, a strong and healthy body.

    I'd recommend Convict Conditioning as a place to start. The photographs and prose are macho-cheesy but the exercises are described very carefully with lots of photographs and the progressions start with very easy versions of the exercises, which all focus on compound movements. Your Body is Your Gym is very good but harder for a beginner but you can always "graduate up" to it.
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
    I have seen pictures of great body changes when people start lifting heavy. I would prefer not to join a gym or buy weights and wondering if bodyweight exercises are a reasonable alternative.
    Body weight exercises are more than a reasonable alternative. They are highly under rated. Mostly because people just don't know the proper progressions. There are a lot more resources out there now. Some already mentioned, others include strength unbound and information from al kavadlo.
  • shmerek
    shmerek Posts: 963 Member
    If you want to look at body weight exercises in the extreme check out Frank Medrano on youtube.
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
    ....serious swimmers, cyclists, and runners, you'll see that even cardio, done often enough and intensely enough, can produce larger muscles...

    Serious swimmers, runners and cyclists generally also do resistance training of some kind to complement their discipline training.

    The balance of weight and reps will vary according to goals; long distance runners and cyclists will tend to work on endurance so are more likely to be on the bodyweight end of the spectrum. Sprinters will tend towards heavier lifting.
  • giggitygoo
    giggitygoo Posts: 1,978 Member
    They were drastically different for me. Bodyweight exercise was always really challenging, but lifting heavier is a whole different ball game. I went into it thinking I was in pretty good shape, and got totally schooled.

    I made pretty good progress with bodyweight as a starter, but when the progress stagnated I switched to lifting heavy.

    ETA: Having a background with bodyweight and endurance training has been a big helper with my strength training. I feel pretty well rounded which is a good place to be. Just made a blog post showing 4 weeks of heavy lifting prog. Never had these results with bodyweight.
  • smantha32
    smantha32 Posts: 6,990 Member
    I prefer lifting. I don't get results as fast doing bodyweight exercises.
  • version45
    version45 Posts: 35 Member
    Personally, I found bodyweight exercises more difficult than weightlifting, and with much slower manifestation of visible change. Difficult because you have to crank out a lot more reps to feel like you're progressing. More reps translated to more time and more extended pain for me. It was pychologically much easier to do 8 reps of a very heavy weight, really struggling with it, than to do an endless set of 50 pushups.
  • geebusuk
    geebusuk Posts: 3,348 Member
    Using barbells makes it easier to monitor and keep consistent progress - keeping effort in the desired rep range.
  • Lofteren
    Lofteren Posts: 960 Member
    The only problem that I see with using only bodyweight movements is that you really don't have enough resistance to train your lower body as well as your upper body. Even doing pistol squats will become pretty easy at some point, especially if you are losing weight and wind up not weighing much. The upper body can become pretty well developed doing pull ups and dips but, again, if you don't weigh much then you won't be able to become very strong doing them either.

    Training with weights AND bodyweight exercises is obviously the best option. I especially like to do a hanging bodyweight exercise on my heavy squat and deadlift days to decompress my spine. I usually superset pull ups, dips or hanging leg raises with squats and deadlifts because I was getting shorter.
  • Lofteren
    Lofteren Posts: 960 Member
    Personally, I found bodyweight exercises more difficult than weightlifting, and with much slower manifestation of visible change. Difficult because you have to crank out a lot more reps to feel like you're progressing. More reps translated to more time and more extended pain for me. It was pychologically much easier to do 8 reps of a very heavy weight, really struggling with it, than to do an endless set of 50 pushups.

    Doing 50 reps of anything won't build any noticeable amount of muscle mass, either.
  • 3laine75
    3laine75 Posts: 3,069 Member
    I have seen pictures of great body changes when people start lifting heavy. I would prefer not to join a gym or buy weights and wondering if bodyweight exercises are a reasonable alternative.

    I think you can get equally good results as long as you find a way to make the exercises progressively harder.
  • GetSoda
    GetSoda Posts: 1,267 Member
    I have seen pictures of great body changes when people start lifting heavy. I would prefer not to join a gym or buy weights and wondering if bodyweight exercises are a reasonable alternative.

    I think you can get equally good results as long as you find a way to make the exercises progressively harder.

    unfortunately, there's no way to really replicate barbell squats or deadlifts effectively. And don't say pistol squats.
  • yogicarl
    yogicarl Posts: 1,260 Member
    - pistol squats

    ... well, somebody had to.
  • geebusuk
    geebusuk Posts: 3,348 Member
    - pistol squats

    ... well, somebody had to.
    As previously discussed; problem is for many that it's hard to do them because of balance issues.
    Then there's that for many, it's not a significant weight at all.
    And finally - how do you handle progression with pistol squats?

    So, again - how do you replicate barbell squats or deadlifts?
  • yogicarl
    yogicarl Posts: 1,260 Member
    - pistol squats

    ... well, somebody had to.
    As previously discussed; problem is for many that it's hard to do them because of balance issues.
    Then there's that for many, it's not a significant weight at all.
    And finally - how do you handle progression with pistol squats?

    So, again - how do you replicate barbell squats or deadlifts?

    Its an interesting area which I am sure is going to rage on in MFP for a good while. I would say there is benefit in both BB squatters trying Pistols occasionally - for the balance issues you mentioned - and BW enthusiasts trying BBS squats for the direct and simple route to safe overload that squats offer; also deadlifts.

    For myself, focussing on advancing in yoga, the pistol meets my needs more directly than squats because pistols are still offering me overload and they also demand one-legged balance which many yoga postures require. I also need the core development that pistols demand.

    For many, pistols would be progression enough and would never need to progress further if they - or I - even manage to pull off 3 sets of 6 unaided pistols in good form. I guess I would progress to pistols with dumbbells and this is where BW meets weights and the definition line becomes blurred - and that's ok, because its not a case of one or the other, but finding the method that meets your goals the best.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    As a beginner, you can achieve a lot with just bodyweight exercises. However, there is going to come a time where you'll have to add some weights if you want to continue progressing. Strength and size are the body's adaptations to being exposed to exercises that challenge it's current capabilities. Once your body has adapted to being able to move your body weight, you'll have to use some outside form of resistance to continue to progress in strength and size. Of course, you may be happy with your physique and strength at that point, in which case the whole "it depends on your goals" response comes into play.

    +1

    It's not about the type of exercise per se, it's about the intensity of the stimulus. (and your goals)
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    - pistol squats

    ... well, somebody had to.
    As previously discussed; problem is for many that it's hard to do them because of balance issues.
    Then there's that for many, it's not a significant weight at all.
    And finally - how do you handle progression with pistol squats?

    So, again - how do you replicate barbell squats or deadlifts?

    Different sized cars?
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
    - pistol squats

    ... well, somebody had to.
    As previously discussed; problem is for many that it's hard to do them because of balance issues.
    Then there's that for many, it's not a significant weight at all.
    And finally - how do you handle progression with pistol squats?

    So, again - how do you replicate barbell squats or deadlifts?

    Hold a weight.

    When that gets too easy. Hold a bigger weight.

    But then it's not a bodyweight exercise anymore.

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