does strength training have to involve weights or will my ow

moejo3

I do a lot of excersizes where I am holding my own body weight is this good enough for the strength training? For example push ups, pull ups, plank, tricep push ups, any kind of calisthenics (sp?). Please comment

meshashesha2012

I do a lot of excersizes where I am holding my own body weight is this good enough for the strength training? For example push ups, pull ups, plank, tricep push ups, any kind of calisthenics (sp?). Please comment

IMO opinion yes you will eventually need to use added weights for strength training.


the way i see strength training, it's about continually challenging yourself and increasing the maximum power of your muscles. if you're only going as high as your own body weight then you're going to place a limit on your strength unless you gain weight.

besides that, your muscles become more efficient, so you might start off building muscle in your quest to do 50 lunges or 10 unassisted pullups. but once you reach the point where you can easily do that, your muscles will figure out how to use less muscle fibers to do the same amount of work.

moejo3

Thanks for the comment, I have gained definition and strength but, I am at a plateau. I used to lift years ago but, had some injuries so, I was trying to avoid it but, might be time to break out the weights again!

meshashesha2012

if you dont want to do lifting with dumbbells and such, you can always look into things like weighted vests and sandbags. i think the best part of vests andbags is that they have options where you can add more or less weight, whereas a 20lb dumbbelll is always going to be a 20lb dumbbell

cyncetastic

IMO opinion yes you will eventually need to use added weights for strength training.


the way i see strength training, it's about continually challenging yourself and increasing the maximum power of your muscles. if you're only going as high as your own body weight then you're going to place a limit on your strength unless you gain weight.

besides that, your muscles become more efficient, so you might start off building muscle in your quest to do 50 lunges or 10 unassisted pullups. but once you reach the point where you can easily do that, your muscles will figure out how to use less muscle fibers to do the same amount of work.

I agree with the above.

moejo3

if you dont want to do lifting with dumbbells and such, you can always look into things like weighted vests and sandbags. i think the best part of vests andbags is that they have options where you can add more or less weight, whereas a 20lb dumbbelll is always going to be a 20lb dumbbell

Great idea, I could use the weighted vest when I walk. I was also thinking of the kettle ball work out etc.

rileysowner

While you will not build muscle the same way as one does with weights, all you need to do is look at gymnasts and you will see the effect of purely bodyweight training. What you need to do it find ways to increase the intensity/difficulty of the exercises. Much of that can be done without adding weight. For example if a standard push-up is easy for you, do decline push-ups (ie place you feet on a raised platform like a bench, stair step, etc) or work on doing them one handed, or start working on getting to a planche push-up. Pull-ups are pretty difficult no matter what, but to make them more so, get a set of straps, or rings, or do a towel pull-up (towel over the pull-up bar). Most bodyweight exercises can be made more difficult. The only exception I can see to that is the leg work. You can go to one leg squats, split squats, pistol squats, and one legged deadlifts, but beyond that you need to add some sort of weight to get stronger. I would recommend things like the book You Are your own Gym by Mark Lauren for a great deal of information on bodyweight training. I don't know if you realize it, but it is not just gymnasts who train pretty much only with bodyweight exercises. Special forces do as well. Their primary training modality is bodyweight training. Having said that, they also have to push and pull large objects like boats, but their PT is bodyweight.

moejo3

While you will not build muscle the same way as one does with weights, all you need to do is look at gymnasts and you will see the effect of purely bodyweight training. What you need to do it find ways to increase the intensity/difficulty of the exercises. Much of that can be done without adding weight. For example if a standard push-up is easy for you, do decline push-ups (ie place you feet on a raised platform like a bench, stair step, etc) or work on doing them one handed, or start working on getting to a planche push-up. Pull-ups are pretty difficult no matter what, but to make them more so, get a set of straps, or rings, or do a towel pull-up (towel over the pull-up bar). Most bodyweight exercises can be made more difficult. The only exception I can see to that is the leg work. You can go to one leg squats, split squats, pistol squats, and one legged deadlifts, but beyond that you need to add some sort of weight to get stronger. I would recommend things like the book You Are your own Gym by Mark Lauren for a great deal of information on bodyweight training. I don't know if you realize it, but it is not just gymnasts who train pretty much only with bodyweight exercises. Special forces do as well. Their primary training modality is bodyweight training. Having said that, they also have to push and pull large objects like boats, but their PT is bodyweight.

Thanks for the advice. Using the weights is very had on my shoulder and knee injuries. At this point I do a lot of yoga and the plank series can be quite difficult. I will check out the book, much easier to travel with than weights!

bcattoes

Those people on the Insanity commercials seem to do okay without weights.

rileysowner

While you will not build muscle the same way as one does with weights, all you need to do is look at gymnasts and you will see the effect of purely bodyweight training. What you need to do it find ways to increase the intensity/difficulty of the exercises. Much of that can be done without adding weight. For example if a standard push-up is easy for you, do decline push-ups (ie place you feet on a raised platform like a bench, stair step, etc) or work on doing them one handed, or start working on getting to a planche push-up. Pull-ups are pretty difficult no matter what, but to make them more so, get a set of straps, or rings, or do a towel pull-up (towel over the pull-up bar). Most bodyweight exercises can be made more difficult. The only exception I can see to that is the leg work. You can go to one leg squats, split squats, pistol squats, and one legged deadlifts, but beyond that you need to add some sort of weight to get stronger. I would recommend things like the book You Are your own Gym by Mark Lauren for a great deal of information on bodyweight training. I don't know if you realize it, but it is not just gymnasts who train pretty much only with bodyweight exercises. Special forces do as well. Their primary training modality is bodyweight training. Having said that, they also have to push and pull large objects like boats, but their PT is bodyweight.

Thanks for the advice. Using the weights is very had on my shoulder and knee injuries. At this point I do a lot of yoga and the plank series can be quite difficult. I will check out the book, much easier to travel with than weights!

I use both since I have a whole weigh set at home. Often I alternate between them four weeks of weight, four weeks of bodyweight. As you said, it is much easier to do bodyweight stuff when travelling. I don't know if I linked to it before, but there is a bunch of good stuff linked in the bodyweight training group http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/166-bodyweight-training