Building muscle using bodyweight?

kenniedk
kenniedk Posts: 6 Member
edited December 22 in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
Can you build muscle using bodyweight only exercises? What are some of the best exercises to do? I don’t have weights at home but I do have booty bands!

Replies

  • Cahgetsfit
    Cahgetsfit Posts: 1,912 Member
    Nowhere near as much as you would build using actual weights. You can possibly add some mass to your butt doing all those variation of booty exercises, but yeah, no.

    Sorry.
  • mom23mangos
    mom23mangos Posts: 3,069 Member
    Much easier for upper body. Check out You Are Your Own Gym.
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    If you area beginner it's easier 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 with your bands, eventually you might want to invest in some dumbbells, kettlebells etc.
  • DaddieCat
    DaddieCat Posts: 3,643 Member
    You will need to add progressive overload and even then you'll hit a limit at some point. For example, you can migrate from half pushups to pushups, to planche pushups or handstand pushups, but at some point, you'll max out increasing strength and shift to endurance when you can't add more difficulty. At that point you'll have to add weight to keep progressing.

    That said, you can get quite a ways.

    You might check out this guys programs in addition to YAYOG mentioned above.

    http://www.startbodyweight.com/p/exercise-progressions_12.html (not affiliated, just a pretty ok bodyweight program)
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    "Can you build muscle using bodyweight only exercises? "
    Of course as your muscles don't know what they are pulling against: weights, bands, gravity...
    But a lot depends on where you are starting from. You have to challenge your muscles beyond their current capabilities.
    The difficulty is as your capabilities improve you have to keep progressively overloading and that is more difficult, but not impossible, compared to simply increasing weights on a bar.
    For example:
    Plank to elbows -> plank to hands -> plank to hands in forward position -> plank with hands in forward position and alternating shoulder taps. Then what?

    "What are some of the best exercises to do? I don’t have weights at home but I do have booty bands! "
    See list at top of this forum - you probably want a program rather than a random collection of exercises.

    It could be start point for you and depending on your goals might get you where you want to be, but it might not as your end goals aren't stated.


  • kdillingham7718
    kdillingham7718 Posts: 14 Member
    You can build some muscle but will eventually plateau. You have to continue adding more and more resistance to your workouts to continue to build muscle.
    Body weight moves are fantastic for toning though!! Just don't expect to get "swole" :smile:
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    check out these bodyweight routines, I believe all or most have progression built in:
    You are your own gym
    Convict Conditioning
    Nerd Fitness Beginner Body Weight Routine
    StrongCurves BootyFul
    AthleanX
  • AZTeri2016
    AZTeri2016 Posts: 77 Member
    I use the TRX at the gym and that uses bodyweight only. Yes, I do use weights as well, but I'd say it's a start so go for it. You will need to add weights though - there are multiple things you can use as weights at home - a gallon of water, bags of flour and sugar, even canned goods for example.
  • ExistingFish
    ExistingFish Posts: 1,259 Member
    My DH is trying Tom Merrick's (the Bodyweight Warrior) program, it has a free app that is fantastic.

    It is harder to make mass gains, but your body provides plenty of resistance for strength gains, especially in the beginning.
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