can you put on muscle without weight training?

Yeah with calisthenics

Look at a gymnast

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RGv2 wrote: »

Packerjohn wrote: »

Look at a gymnast

Many of them weight/resistance train (all elite would especially), is that what you were getting at.

It was many moons ago but neighbor in college was partial gymnastics scholarship guy at a big 10 school (so at least decent level) said he did no barbell work. Was very muscular.

Need2Exerc1se wrote: »

I did

May I ask how you did it? Please and thank you!

You will probably be hard pressed and it will probably be ineffective to gain muacle with just body resistance training. At some point, continuously over load your muscles will become difficult.

Also, regarding push ups, muscle efficiency can address that. When i was in my prime of doing tkd, we frequently did 100 and this is while i was losing weight. Now i am around 50 to 60 without a break. With breaks or routines (push / pull) i can do several hundred.

RGv2 wrote: »

Packerjohn wrote: »

Look at a gymnast

Many of them weight/resistance train (all elite would especially), is that what you were getting at.

As an ex-competitive gymnast, i can confirm that we RARELY did weight training. And male gymnasts were discouraged from doing so.

Why? Because they do not actually WANT to build new muscle. It is imperative that they be lean, and strong, while remaining a relatively small body size. It's necessary for safety and ease of doing many skills which put pressure on wrists, ankles, and other joints.

They train for roughly 30+ hours per week and they do "calisthenics". They do not need any additional training and certainly not in the form of barbell training as it is highly impractical for the skills they are trying to acheive. Keep in mind gymnasts are not training for pure strength nor for aesthetics. They are training to be able to perform a certain skill. These skills require a combination of strength, power, balance, focus, etc.



To do something like this you MUST train using your own body weight because otherwise you could be imbalanced and uncontrolled. It is so incredibly easy to apply too much power and overshoot a skill, etc.

Do male gymnasts not strength train at all? NO, of course they do!! They do gymnastics CONDITIONING. This is strength training centered around using their own body weight and strengthening the muscles in a way for a specific skill they need to master. For example, if they are working on the Parralell bars and they need better control of the core and better control of upper body strength they will do something like the following:

Adjust the bars all the way down on one side causing a steep incline. They will be required to walk on the hands up the bars. They will be required to do dips on an incline. They will do tap swings to hollow body holds for 1-2 seconds before moving up the bar. etc. The training they do is always relevant to the specific skills they are trying to learn.

ANYWAYS, so, can you be "ripped" and "bodybuilder"esqe as a gymnast? Not really.

These guys LOOK great, they look ripped, and they obviously have amazing control over their bodies. HOWEVER, if you had them stand next to an average looking guy or an average sized gym gower they would look TINY. these men are SMALL. They just have well developed muscles relative to their body size and very low body fat.


To answer OP's question. Can you "put on new muscle" with this style of training? SURE. to an extent. You will not get "big" or anywhere near the size of the average body builder. YOU CAN however, get lean, and strong, and have a body that can do amazing things that envoke envy in others.

Debmal77 wrote: »

Need2Exerc1se wrote: »

I did

May I ask how you did it? Please and thank you!

Farm work, and overeating.

As other have stated body weight exercises really do work.

Also, sprints will build significant lower body muscle.