Calisthenics. Will I build muscle?

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hyIianprincess
hyIianprincess Posts: 302 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I have pretty severe arthritis. I used to lift weights, but it's impossible for me at this time since I need wrist surgery. I still want to continue working out though. Will body weight exercises help? Will i be able to gain some muscle?

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  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
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    If done at sufficient intensity/resistance (and with the proper diet), yes... body weight work can be very effective.
  • mom23mangos
    mom23mangos Posts: 3,070 Member
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    You might have issues doing Calisthenics if you need wrist surgery however. Pretty much all upper body movements are going to involve the wrist. Pullups, pushups, dips, etc.
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
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    Assuming that the wrist injury doesn't hinder you and you're eating a sufficient number of calories / enough protein yes, you can get stronger and gain/retain lean muscle mass with body weight exercises bu not to the same extent you could with weights.
  • hyIianprincess
    hyIianprincess Posts: 302 Member
    edited March 2018
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    Swimming is great! I wish I could do it more. Unfortunately, I also have psoriasis and chlorine is really rough on it. I can only swim in salt water pools which I don't have access to.

    Also, thank you all for the replies. I'm just gonna focus on lower body and abs for now since I don't want to irritate my wrist any further. I've been doing calisthenics a few times a week with resistance bands no problem. I'm not expecting to gain a bunch of muscle from this. I was just wondering if I was wasting my time. I was going crazy just resting!

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