Bodyweight Exercises vs. Lifting Weight
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rjd9266
Posts: 15
So I'm relatively new to this, I've been working on my diet and adding exercise to my routine for the past month and a half. I've been mostly walking/jogging and swimming just because they fit in my life and aren't hard to learn. I'm feeling better, with more energy and whatnot and I'm ready to kick it up a notch.
I keep hearing that doing weight lifting will provide the best results, in relation to cardio. I want to learn how to incorporate both in my workouts, since they have different benefits (even tho attempting to jog/run is building muscles on its own right now, my legs limit my abilty not my lungs). I have less than no experience with weights though...as in I might have actually touched a machine/dumbells a dozen times in my 22 yr long life.
My question is, will bodyweight exercises give me the same benefits as actually working out with external weights? I don't have a gym membership and money is a little tight as I'm still in college. I don't want to pat myself on the back for doing bodyweight exercises if they aren't really going to give me the same benefits, but if they will then I don't want to spend the money on other types quite yet. Thoughts?
I keep hearing that doing weight lifting will provide the best results, in relation to cardio. I want to learn how to incorporate both in my workouts, since they have different benefits (even tho attempting to jog/run is building muscles on its own right now, my legs limit my abilty not my lungs). I have less than no experience with weights though...as in I might have actually touched a machine/dumbells a dozen times in my 22 yr long life.
My question is, will bodyweight exercises give me the same benefits as actually working out with external weights? I don't have a gym membership and money is a little tight as I'm still in college. I don't want to pat myself on the back for doing bodyweight exercises if they aren't really going to give me the same benefits, but if they will then I don't want to spend the money on other types quite yet. Thoughts?
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Replies
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In relation to bodyweight vs external weight. I believe that adding external weight is better and you will be lifting more, working harder and there for burning more There are alot of excersises on youtube that could help (use onw body weight and external) for example burpees squats lundges push ups squat thrusts0
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To START body weight exercises will be good. But eventually you get diminishing returns. It would be kind of like saying, well, I am walking, there isn't any reason to run or jog.
I started here:
http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2009/12/09/beginner-body-weight-workout-burn-fat-build-muscle/
But eventually you will have to make it harder still:
http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2009/12/17/advanced-body-weight-workout-warning-this-will-kick-your-*kitten*/
And eventually even harder. But you don't have to have alot of money or a gym membership to lift heavy things. Make sand bags, fill up bags with books or canned goods. It really depends on your creativity.
But short answer, YES, start with body-weight exercises.0 -
Yes.
Besides the nerdfitness links, there are also
YAYOG
Shot of adrenaline.net
global body weight exercises
unique bodyweight exercises
You have to progress a REALLY, really long ways before you run out of ways to make body weight stuff more difficult and unless you want to be a power lifter, you will never run out of body weight exercises.0 -
I agree with the other poster that body weight excercises are a great way to start. You do need to make the moves progressively harder or they will stop being useful as strength training, so it's helpful to be on a structured program. I've checked out the workouts on nerdfitness they look good. I however use You Are Your Own Gym via the ap on my phone. I do my squats with a weighted backpack though, because I can do about a million squats with my butt all the way down to the ground, but pistol squats are so impossible to me (if I use a chair for balance, I seem to put too much pressure on it). I do plan on going the heavy lifting route once race season is over, but I am seeing a difference now using YAYOG, not in weight but in size.0
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To START body weight exercises will be good. But eventually you get diminishing returns. It would be kind of like saying, well, I am walking, there isn't any reason to run or jog.
I started here:
http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2009/12/09/beginner-body-weight-workout-burn-fat-build-muscle/
But eventually you will have to make it harder still:
http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2009/12/17/advanced-body-weight-workout-warning-this-will-kick-your-*kitten*/
And eventually even harder. But you don't have to have alot of money or a gym membership to lift heavy things. Make sand bags, fill up bags with books or canned goods. It really depends on your creativity.
But short answer, YES, start with body-weight exercises.
Pretty much this. Whatever you do has to be progressive and eventually, you're going to have a great deal of difficulty progressing on body weight only.
Also, weight training is a bit more efficient because you simply overload with weight...with body weight, it takes more time to workout because you're essentially overloading with more repetitions...thus taking more time. It is a good place to start, but ultimately, if you want to have continued progress, you'll have to do more...but that also really depends on your goals.0 -
I agree with everything everyone has said. Very good advice!
Walmart and Target sell dumbbells for a reasonable price. You can work so many parts of your body just using those and will probably see faster results than doing strictly body weight.0 -
Thank you for asking this, it's something i've been wondering too!0
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I agree with pretty much everyone as well. Both have benefits and using both would be ideal, but if cash is an issue, there's certainly nothing wrong with doing body weight exercises. I do them all the time.
One great thing about body weight exercise is that it can help you make smart nutrition choices - you know that whatever you eat today, you will have to lift tomorrow!!
Good luck!
Joe0 -
Yes.
Besides the nerdfitness links, there are also
YAYOG
Shot of adrenaline.net
global body weight exercises
unique bodyweight exercises
You have to progress a REALLY, really long ways before you run out of ways to make body weight stuff more difficult and unless you want to be a power lifter, you will never run out of body weight exercises.
I have been doing, Body by You (same author as YAYOG). I basically agree with the previous posters. Just as with lifting you need to increase intensity. You don't want to be doing low intensity with lots of reps. If you can do more than say 3 sets of 10 (in good form) and not get to failure and not have at least some mild soreness the next day then you need to be doing a harder exercise. I like Body by You because it gave me a system with increased intensity to follow (I live 70 miles from a gym). Although if I would've known about it at the time I would've started with maxcapicitytraining.com .
I've lost 15 pounds and 5 inches off my waist since I started BBY in March. It's the only thing I've changed, I was already running and watching my intake. Strength training really is all that.0 -
Bodyweight has the potential to get you comparable results, but the issue is that progression doesn't just happen through increased load like with weights. With bodyweight training, as your strength goes up, balance, flexibility, coordination, and control have to go up as well. There's a lot of skills work involved with progressing via bodyweight training that most people aren't willing to attempt to work on. If you choose to stick with bodyweight only and are willing to work at it, you CAN get the results you want. But it will mean eventually progressing to exercises that require near-gymnast levels of flexibility, balance, and coordination as well as just focusing on strength. With weights, it's as simple as adding more weight.0
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I think you've gotten some good advice, but I have to ask ... are you taking classes online or attending on campus? If the latter, your college probably has a gym you can use, and you are usually paying for it through your tuition and fees, whether you use it or not. You might check into that.0
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I do both. You can always make body weight exercises harder, with increasingly difficult variations. I'm doing squats with a barbell right now, because it's easier than single leg squats, not because it's harder.
I prefer body weight exercise, because I'm interested in strength that I can use in sports like dance and climbing. It's much cooler to be able to do chin-ups than lat pulldowns, or to be able to walk on your hands than to do overhead presses.0 -
They do not produce the same results, but you can get good results with either. Which is "better" really depends on your goals.0
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You can probably do body weight exercises for as long as you want.
Once squats becomes easy do pistol squats. Once push ups become easy do one arm push ups. Once pull ups become easy do muscle ups. You can progress for a very long time on just bodyweight exercises.0 -
I would say that body weight exercises are a great place to start, and that eventually you'll either need to move on to more complex body weight exercises, or lift weights. Personally, I find it easier to just lift weights.0
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Bodyweight has the potential to get you comparable results, but the issue is that progression doesn't just happen through increased load like with weights. With bodyweight training, as your strength goes up, balance, flexibility, coordination, and control have to go up as well. There's a lot of skills work involved with progressing via bodyweight training that most people aren't willing to attempt to work on. If you choose to stick with bodyweight only and are willing to work at it, you CAN get the results you want. But it will mean eventually progressing to exercises that require near-gymnast levels of flexibility, balance, and coordination as well as just focusing on strength. With weights, it's as simple as adding more weight.
^^This, this is what I am attempting to do. But with only one balance nerve I don't know if it is possible...gonna try anyway0 -
Go to YouTube and watch and participate in the 30Day Shred workout with Jillian Michaels. I started yesterday and I am really liking it. Phase one incorporates light weights and a lot of body movement. Its only 20 minutes in length so anyone should be able to find the time to do the workout daily.0
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I haven't started it yet, but I got this book recently and like what I saw in it and may try it, or at least use it for ideas for mods. I was looking at the you are your own gym book and some of the exercises I couldn't have done the first ones, but this one has so many levels in it. IE, I believe the very lowest level 'push up' type exercise is against the wall all the way up to all kinds of crazy pushups beyond millitary.. But a wall push up ..I can certainly do..actually the pool table is just right.
A lot of time when I see body weight exercises I get frustrated, as I am pretty heavy, and I can't adjust the weight any lighter. If I had my same muscles attached to an 120 lb woman, I could probably do planks far longer than I can at a bit more than double that. So I have to look for mods and work up I guess. Then if i get good at real planks..and lose weight at the same time..I'll have to do something to make it harder since I would no longer have as much resistance. But with hand weights or machines, I can do nearly everything in the same form just with lighter weights. As I get stronger, get bigger weights.
I also kind of hate getting up and down onto the floor, but I'm trying to get over it.Yes.
Besides the nerdfitness links, there are also
YAYOG
Shot of adrenaline.net
global body weight exercises
unique bodyweight exercises
You have to progress a REALLY, really long ways before you run out of ways to make body weight stuff more difficult and unless you want to be a power lifter, you will never run out of body weight exercises.
I have been doing, Body by You (same author as YAYOG). I basically agree with the previous posters. Just as with lifting you need to increase intensity. You don't want to be doing low intensity with lots of reps. If you can do more than say 3 sets of 10 (in good form) and not get to failure and not have at least some mild soreness the next day then you need to be doing a harder exercise. I like Body by You because it gave me a system with increased intensity to follow (I live 70 miles from a gym). Although if I would've known about it at the time I would've started with maxcapicitytraining.com .
I've lost 15 pounds and 5 inches off my waist since I started BBY in March. It's the only thing I've changed, I was already running and watching my intake. Strength training really is all that.0 -
Shamelessly bumping in hope someone posts a free app for bodyweight exercises0
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I think you've gotten some good advice, but I have to ask ... are you taking classes online or attending on campus? If the latter, your college probably has a gym you can use, and you are usually paying for it through your tuition and fees, whether you use it or not. You might check into that.
this is what i did on days when i had a couple hours between classes.0
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