Body weight workout for skinny guys
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restricteur
Posts: 24 Member
Hello everyone,
My question is quite simple. Has anyone of you guys ever managed to get more muscle and a good looking body using only body weight workouts ?
The persons who are qualified to answer by "yes" here are only those who were skinny before they have started working out.
If that was the case, it would be nice if you shared with me the daily routine you followed.
Best regards,
My question is quite simple. Has anyone of you guys ever managed to get more muscle and a good looking body using only body weight workouts ?
The persons who are qualified to answer by "yes" here are only those who were skinny before they have started working out.
If that was the case, it would be nice if you shared with me the daily routine you followed.
Best regards,
0
Replies
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I can't say yes since I'm the wrong gender, but I'm responding anyway...
I would look to the military as evidence this works. The workouts are almost all bodyweight and there are some very good looking bodies! You can certainly see a physique transformation before and after military training.
I entered basic at a scrawny 5'6,5" 118lbs. Came out at 135 with lots of muscle. I continued to build muscle throughout the next several years.6 -
I am also not qualified by your standards OP but you may want to look at 'you are your own gym' or 'convict conditioning'3
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darebee has a lot of bodyweight stuff...I don't know what you call skinny, but if it's stick arms, then I totally qualify and have been able to gain muscle size...
Muscle growth is driven by work (how much weight you moved and how many times you moved it), so if you aren't going to increase weight (because it's body weight) then you need to increase reps...also keep in mind that some variations of body weight exercises CAN increase the weight...like push ups with elevated feet put a higher percentage of the body weight into the arms than knee pushups or standard floor pushups...1 -
Hmmm. I spent years in the Army doing bodyweight exercises 5 days a week. I was very fit and scored 280+ pretty consistently. However, I was very skinny when I went in and I was very skinny when I got out. I had to actually lift weights and bulk/cut to gain a significant amount of mass. I can't recall anybody I ever knew in the military who went from skinny to mass monsters just doing bodyweight. I'm sure it may be possible but it sure isn't going to be anywhere close to optimal.
You could try looking up "Convict Conditioning" or "You Are Your Own Gym"6 -
I was in the military as well and I was pretty skinny going in at 5'10" and 135 Lbs soaking wet. I left boot camp at around 145 Lbs. I left the military at around 150 Lbs. I did put on some mass with bodyweight exercises and aesthetically looked better getting out than going in, but I was still pretty skinny...little more muscle and a little more fat...like my ribs weren't sticking out.
I didn't put on any significant mass until I got out and started working out at the gym with a buddy of mine and eating like a horse. I suppose one of the issues I could have had in the military is that not only was my job very active, but we did a ton of running and cardio in addition to bodyweight exercises so it was much more difficult to maintain any kind of significant calorie surplus which is ultimately what you need to put on mass whether you're doing bodyweight or lifting free weights. I sometimes had difficulty keeping my weight up when I was in the military.5 -
Another recommendation for Convict Conditioning2
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Is there a particular reason your limiting yourself to bodyweight exercises?2
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Can you gain muscle with body weight, sure... Is it as optimal as a good liftting program? Nope. Why? Because volume increases and hypertrophy are easier to achieve with weights.
I can tell you i spent way too damn long just using free weights. Because i was stubborn and thought i could get where i wanted with them.. one year into using a barbell and follow a well structured routine, i made far more gains than 4 years of dumbbells.2 -
Can you gain muscle with body weight, sure... Is it as optimal as a good liftting program? Nope. Why? Because volume increases and hypertrophy are easier to achieve with weights.
I can tell you i spent way too damn long just using free weights. Because i was stubborn and thought i could get where i wanted with them.. one year into using a barbell and follow a well structured routine, i made far more gains than 4 years of dumbbells.
More skill/altering body weight movements to make an exercise more difficult is a big obstacle in achieving progressive overload for body weight only movements (I believe AthleanX has a playlist on youtube channel catered to bodyweight/no-minimal equipment training). I.e. going from a pull up to a muscle up (pull up + dip) is a huge spike in difficulty (or even a pull up -> L-pull up).0 -
Is there a particular reason your limiting yourself to bodyweight exercises?
Yes, I have some simple requirements that are pretty tough to be met by the nearby gyms (or any gym):
-Men only
-No music
-Enough equipment to do my workouts without the need to wait for any equipment to be free.
-Open at least every day from 19:00 to 22:00
4 -
I can tell you i spent way too damn long just using free weights. Because i was stubborn and thought i could get where i wanted with them.. one year into using a barbell and follow a well structured routine, i made far more gains than 4 years of dumbbells.
I am really convinced that weight lifting is the way to go. I just hope I will find a gym that suits me.
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Keto_Vampire wrote: »
More skill/altering body weight movements to make an exercise more difficult is a big obstacle in achieving progressive overload for body weight only movements (I believe AthleanX has a playlist on youtube channel catered to bodyweight/no-minimal equipment training). I.e. going from a pull up to a muscle up (pull up + dip) is a huge spike in difficulty (or even a pull up -> L-pull up).
I think I kind of did not well expressed myself. When I speak about body weight only workouts I mean workouts that one can perform using only:- Shoes
- Clothing
- The floor
This definitely excludes pullups, dips and muscleups, the latter being by the way an awesome movement that cannot be performed by the average guy.0 -
funjen1972 wrote: »I entered basic at a scrawny 5'6,5" 118lbs. Came out at 135 with lots of muscle. I continued to build muscle throughout the next several years.
That's what I am talking about !!0 -
Marine Corps for 6 years - every branch that I am aware of uses body weight workouts. Some units might incorporate free weights, but the vast majority do not. Now I won't say you will get huge, buff and ripped, but you will tone up and strengthen quite a bit just doing body weight exercises. Only problem is, to keep pushing yourself, you will have to increase reps and sets, where with weights all you have to do is throw on another plate.2
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restricteur wrote: »Keto_Vampire wrote: »
More skill/altering body weight movements to make an exercise more difficult is a big obstacle in achieving progressive overload for body weight only movements (I believe AthleanX has a playlist on youtube channel catered to bodyweight/no-minimal equipment training). I.e. going from a pull up to a muscle up (pull up + dip) is a huge spike in difficulty (or even a pull up -> L-pull up).
I think I kind of did not well expressed myself. When I speak about body weight only workouts I mean workouts that one can perform using only:- Shoes
- Clothing
- The floor
This definitely excludes pullups, dips and muscleups, the latter being by the way an awesome movement that cannot be performed by the average guy.
With those restrictions and your gym requirements you're not going to make much overall progress. You're going to need to sit down and seriously consider what you're willing to be flexible on. Either you accept that there are women and music in the majority of gyms or you start spending money on building your own. If you can't bend on some stuff you need to ask yourself whether gaining muscle is really that important to you.6 -
With those restrictions and your gym requirements you're not going to make much overall progress. You're going to need to sit down and seriously consider what you're willing to be flexible on. Either you accept that there are women and music in the majority of gyms or you start spending money on building your own. If you can't bend on some stuff you need to ask yourself whether gaining muscle is really that important to you.
Gaining muscle is certainly not my number one priority in life so I am not willing to be flexible on the first two points for it. However, it's a challenge I would love to take on.
Concerning having my own gym at home it is something that I have been really thinking about for a moment, so if I do not find a convenient gym nearby I may start by buying a dumbbell kit, a weight bench and so on depending on my progress.0 -
The simple solution is to start doing calisthenics now, and do them until you either find a gym you like or start piecing together a home gym. Waiting for everything to be perfect before doing something is a good way to never start doing it.2
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Now I won't say you will get huge, buff and ripped, but you will tone up and strengthen quite a bit just doing body weight exercises.
Actually I am by no mean trying to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger. Some good biceps, pectoral muscles and a four pack will do the trick (for the moment
) 0 -
The simple solution is to start doing calisthenics now, and do them until you either find a gym you like or start piecing together a home gym. Waiting for everything to be perfect before doing something is a good way to never start doing it.
I totally agree. Actually I was in the middle of a two-months, heavy and almost daily cardio program. I have done nearly half of it and I felt some minor improvement. But after asking a question here on MFP I became convinced that cardio is really the wrong way to go to achieve my goal.
Now the only thing I am waiting for is to fully recover from a sickness I got this week.1
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