Is it really A must to go to the gym, or exercise to gain weight?

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preciousleks
preciousleks Posts: 213 Member
edited July 2019 in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
I don't have a gym membership and I don't have a gym near my place. How effective is body weight exercises?
Will I be able to gain weight by eating a surplus without going to the gym? Body weight exercises is the only option I have.

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  • preciousleks
    preciousleks Posts: 213 Member
    edited July 2019
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    It is good to ask when you don't know something.
  • MikePTY
    MikePTY Posts: 3,814 Member
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    Well you can certainly gain weight in a calorie surplus without any exercise at all. That is how most of us who are here trying to lose weight gained our weight in the first place.

    However, my guess is you are looking to gain muscle in addition to fat. This is where exercise comes in. Body weight exercises are certainly better than no nexercise to help build muscle. Will they be as effective as lifting weights at a gym? Nobody can answer that with 100% certainty. There are too many variables including just how your body will respond to it. My feeling is that in most cases, body weight exercise is not quite as effective as lifting heavy weights would be for muscle growth. But you work with what is available to you and if that is all that is available, work with what you got.

    You may want to look into a structured body weight program, or into something like beach body on demand and one of their strength building programs. It may be worth it to get some resistance bands you can use at home in conjunction with that. That can help you without needing a gym membership.
  • glovepuppet
    glovepuppet Posts: 1,713 Member
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    Try searching YouTube. I've seen some pretty impressive physiques promoting body weight exercise.

    You might be able to pick up basic kit like dumbbells for very little, or even free, if you look on sites like Freecycle.
  • preciousleks
    preciousleks Posts: 213 Member
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    sardelsa wrote: »
    I think you have asked this before and I will give you the same answer. In the beginning it's fine but you will need to add progressive overload and that can be difficult over time with bodyweight exercises especially for the lower body. You can get creative and add bands, invest in some dumbbells, kettlebells etc.

    Gaining weight will come down to eating in a surplus. Resistance training will help some of that gain be muscle vs all fat.

    Sorry. I forgot that I have asked this question before. Thanks for replying though.
  • preciousleks
    preciousleks Posts: 213 Member
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    MikePTY wrote: »
    Well you can certainly gain weight in a calorie surplus without any exercise at all. That is how most of us who are here trying to lose weight gained our weight in the first place.

    However, my guess is you are looking to gain muscle in addition to fat. This is where exercise comes in. Body weight exercises are certainly better than no nexercise to help build muscle. Will they be as effective as lifting weights at a gym? Nobody can answer that with 100% certainty. There are too many variables including just how your body will respond to it. My feeling is that in most cases, body weight exercise is not quite as effective as lifting heavy weights would be for muscle growth. But you work with what is available to you and if that is all that is available, work with what you got.

    You may want to look into a structured body weight program, or into something like beach body on demand and one of their strength building programs. It may be worth it to get some resistance bands you can use at home in conjunction with that. That can help you without needing a gym membership.

    Thank you for replying. Will try to work with what I got.
  • preciousleks
    preciousleks Posts: 213 Member
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    glovepuppet wrote: »
    Try searching YouTube. I've seen some pretty impressive physiques promoting body weight exercise.

    You might be able to pick up basic kit like dumbbells for very little, or even free, if you look on sites like Freecycle.

    Thanks. I have seen some body weight exercises on YouTube, but I was asking if it is effective.
  • steveko89
    steveko89 Posts: 2,216 Member
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    Like others suggested. Depending on your area, the secondhand market for used equipment can make owning your own stuff a really affordable option. You can get by with the basics, I started with a set of adjustable dumbbells and a doorframe pull-up bar and upgraded as I progressed (see profile pic).

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