Body weight workout successes ?

Ejm189x
Ejm189x Posts: 33 Member
edited December 3 in Success Stories
Anyone got any bodyweight work out success stories? Cardio doesnt change me so wanna try strength related workouts but i have 2 very young children so cant use weights at the gym ... anyone able to share some success stories and photos with me before i give up lol

Replies

  • thatATLgirl
    thatATLgirl Posts: 60 Member
    I have been taking classes at my gym, 50 minutes each, about 4 times a week. 2 of them use weights, the other 2 use bodyweight only. I took before/after pics, and it made a HUGE difference in my tummy after only 1 month. Just gotta do something and stick with it long enough :)
  • Spliner1969
    Spliner1969 Posts: 3,233 Member
    I do body weight training almost exclusively due to having a bad back and bad knees. I will do weight training about once a week when there is time, mostly arm/chest work on a bench press/free weights, but otherwise it's all push ups, pull ups, rows, squats, crunches, all body weight. The gains probably aren't as good as they would be if I was weight training with weights 3+ times a week, but I can tell you that the results have surprised even me. I'm in better shape after a year of it than I have been my entire life. I never wanted to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger anyway, I just wanted to be strong enough to do 10 pull ups, 10 push ups, run a mile, and I have far far surpassed that. I think in the best shape of my life in high school I did 1 pull up just to pass gym class lol.

    You can accomplish a lot with body weight training. It's also free. I did buy a pull up bar that installs in a doorway, and it hinges down to do inverted rows, which helped a lot to get me to the point I could do pull ups. Beyond that though it required no equipment.
  • Ejm189x
    Ejm189x Posts: 33 Member
    Thank you both so much for your replies! This is great to know, i know it sounds silly but unlike cardio i dont sweat buckets whilst doing it so psychologically i dont feel like im doing anything haha (altho i am putting 100% effort in, and i feel knackered after as well as feeling it the next day lol!) I want to burn fat and get, dare i say, "toned" ;)
    Well done to you both, i cant wait to follow in your footsteps!! :D
  • raychl88
    raychl88 Posts: 12 Member
    I'm a big fan of body weight exercises. If you're looking to do them at home, there's countless Youtube instructionals (check out a few and find a channel/instructor you like), and there's also a great (free) app called Sworkit that you can download on your phone or tablet that leads you through exercise circuits. Good luck! :)
  • robininfl
    robininfl Posts: 1,137 Member
    Hmm, what is your goal? I was skinny and added weight and muscle mass doing yoga - pushups and arm balances and lunges lunges lunges, planks, etc. My daughter does a run and then at the park does box jumps onto the picnic table and pullups on the bars, and hanging leg lifts and stuff, it keeps her very fit, maybe you could work out a routine like that? Find a park that has a par - course or just use the playground equipment.

  • johnnylloyd0618
    johnnylloyd0618 Posts: 303 Member
    personally love it! I have a 3 and 5 year old so my workouts are all at home. I have dropped 40 pounds total with body weight exercise and cardio. Not only has it done well for me, it is great seeing my 3 year old princess doing lunges and yoga :). My 5 year old little man is a beast, his favorite is burpee's. (sorry the proud dad kicked in) Seriously, do cardio one day and then a day of cross training, HIIT or body weight training. Keeps you from getting bored and makes it a challenge. Ps, it will also help with your cardio :) Good luck.
    At 5'6 I was almost 180, I am now under 150 and working for my last 15 vanity pounds now.
  • Ejm189x
    Ejm189x Posts: 33 Member
    robininfl wrote: »
    Hmm, what is your goal? I was skinny and added weight and muscle mass doing yoga - pushups and arm balances and lunges lunges lunges, planks, etc. My daughter does a run and then at the park does box jumps onto the picnic table and pullups on the bars, and hanging leg lifts and stuff, it keeps her very fit, maybe you could work out a routine like that? Find a park that has a par - course or just use the playground equipment.

    I had a baby 2 months ago and whilst im lucky in that (as mid wife said) my tummy "pinged back" its purely only because i seem to carry my baby weight on my lower half so im desperate to get back to my pre baby weight asap and last time i did cardio which was a slow progression and i didnt look "firm" despite many long boring hours on the treadmill *yawn* from what ive read it seems that you can achieve results from shorter work outs with strength training and i will enjoy it more!
    personally love it! I have a 3 and 5 year old so my workouts are all at home. I have dropped 40 pounds total with body weight exercise and cardio. Not only has it done well for me, it is great seeing my 3 year old princess doing lunges and yoga :). My 5 year old little man is a beast, his favorite is burpee's. (sorry the proud dad kicked in) Seriously, do cardio one day and then a day of cross training, HIIT or body weight training. Keeps you from getting bored and makes it a challenge. Ps, it will also help with your cardio :) Good luck.
    At 5'6 I was almost 180, I am now under 150 and working for my last 15 vanity pounds now.
    You are in the same situation as me! I have a 2 yo and a 2 month old so i cant get out to the gym (nor can i afford to now haha!!)
    I will mix up the cardio with it too then rather than give it up altogether... its so great to hear success stories and hear what you did to achieve such great results. Your lad sounds adorable bless him :)
  • Appalachia7
    Appalachia7 Posts: 28 Member
    A long story which I will save for another time, but for the past two years I did Crossfit, then heavy (for me) barbell and weight training in the gym, and was not seeing the results I was hoping for. Also, the time spent driving to and from the gym, and paying for the gym, was also an issue for me. So I'm trying something new. I have started doing the workout portion of Tracy Anderson's Metamorphosis. Her muscular workouts are mostly bodyweight or light handweights. Despite my heavy lifting in the past, since doing them I have been mildly sore all over and definitely challenged. Pauline Nordin has a great series of "Butt Bible" exercises that are body weight or hand weights that can be done at home. 12minuteathlete is another person I follow on Insta (she also has a website), and she has an amazing, muscular physique from doing pretty much only body weight exercise from what I understand. Like other people have mentioned there is a ton of bodyweight stuff that can be found online and done at home. Hoping I can continue this for the next year and have a success story to post ;-)

  • hillaryjess
    hillaryjess Posts: 39 Member
    ...otherwise it's all push ups, pull ups, rows, squats, crunches, all body weight. The gains probably aren't as good as they would be if I was weight training with weights 3+ times a week, but I can tell you that the results have surprised even me. I'm in better shape after a year of it than I have been my entire life. I never wanted to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger anyway, I just wanted to be strong enough to do 10 pull ups, 10 push ups, run a mile, and I have far far surpassed that. I think in the best shape of my life in high school I did 1 pull up just to pass gym class lol.

    You can accomplish a lot with body weight training. It's also free. I did buy a pull up bar that installs in a doorway, and it hinges down to do inverted rows, which helped a lot to get me to the point I could do pull ups. Beyond that though it required no equipment.

    First off, good for you for surpassing your high school fitness where physical activity was often mandatory. It sounds like you've made great progress in your adult self-guided fitness journey. Aces to you!

    Second for OP, she's totally right about accomplishing a lot with body weight training. I totally agree to invest in a pull-up bar too. I've seen huge gains in my back and overall posture working pull-ups. Training for a Spartan race over the last several months I did a lot of body weight training--I'm thinking burpees here. I never saw definition in my serratus anterior muscles until I started working push-ups and burpees even when I was trying my best to target these muscles with weighted exercises. They're stabilizer muscles so sometimes you just have to figure out what the purpose of that muscle is to really get down to how to best exercise it. So in that sense, body weight training is perfect to help achieve a balanced look.

    And as far as cardio not changing you, you might consider incorporating something more like plyometric exercises. These types of movements will recruit more power and be intense at times but are great to throw in between your sets of body weight exercises. For example, maybe you do push-ups to failure then pop up and do a few box jumps. Take a quick breather and repeat this set a couple times. Basically, combine the strength with some shorter, yet intense cardio instead of your typical endurance cardio and you should start feeling and seeing results.

    Feel free to add me or message me if you need more ideas! Good luck!

  • Ejm189x
    Ejm189x Posts: 33 Member

    Second for OP, she's totally right about accomplishing a lot with body weight training. I totally agree to invest in a pull-up bar too.

    Feel free to add me or message me if you need more ideas! Good luck!
    I bought a bar at the weekend!! Omg had no idea how weak i was :-o looking forward to getting stronger and seeing results from it tho :) Thanks for the plyometrics advice and i may well be bothering you soon for more ideas *thank you*

  • hillaryjess
    hillaryjess Posts: 39 Member
    edited September 2016
    Ejm189x wrote: »
    I bought a bar at the weekend!! Omg had no idea how weak i was :-o looking forward to getting stronger and seeing results from it tho :) Thanks for the plyometrics advice and i may well be bothering you soon for more ideas *thank you*

    Great! Sounds like you're ready to hit it. If you want a really wild tip--do a burpee right by your bar so that when you jump, you'll jump up to the bar and move directly into a pull-up. That will cover your plyo and build your pull-up strength.
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