Bodyweight excersises are far superior to weights because...

[2003]

They are based on real life movements, therefore make you stronger in real life and give you very good cardiovascular and endurance workouts that weights do not. They also greatly reduce injury.

If I were to say this would you agree or disagree? And why?

Does anyone here do or know anyone that soley does bodyweight excersises and cardio and no weights? I would assume it would be more people who were involved in sporting.

I remember that old saying

"Life is not an isolated movement, so dont train like one."

[CycloneJack]

Great, you do push ups till next week and go utilize your 'real life' strength you just acquired

[Insane Clown]

Plenty of 'weight' movements are just modified version of bodyweight movements that allow you to put more resistance than your body is capable of doing. Progressive resistance is how you make muscle.

Bench press is just a push up. Pulldowns are just pull-ups. And squats are just... well squats, just with weights.


Besides, the 'real life' movement thing is bogus. Every movement you can make is a real life movement.

[farmerlee]

Weighted exercises like deadlifts, zercher squats, push presses and farmerwalks mimic real life functions. Mastering your bodyweight is also a great way to improve everyday functions. Both types have there advantages.

[John Butler]

They are based on real life movements, therefore make you stronger in real life and give you very good cardiovascular and endurance workouts that weights do not. They also greatly reduce injury.

If I were to say this would you agree or disagree? And why?

Does anyone here do or know anyone that soley does bodyweight excersises and cardio and no weights? I would assume it would be more people who were involved in sporting.

I remember that old saying

"Life is not an isolated movement, so dont train like one."

matt furey. he is a thief, liar and bull**** artist.

army guys- just skinny fit guys

[2003]

Great, you do push ups till next week and go utilize your 'real life' strength you just acquired

Theres all sorts of things you can do, pull ups, push ups, dips, variations of these with backpacks on,

and with push ups you can do finger ones for hand and finger strength, and I'm including farmers walks in this catagory as it's not really weight training.

Push ups also hit the shoulders chest and triceps, pull ups totally nail the biceps and back, you can really hit most muscles well. And like I said you will get the endurance benifits.

I'm really not bashing weightlifting here, i'm just really considering turning to a bodyweight dominated workout.

[Scaglietti]

They are based on real life movements, therefore make you stronger in real life and give you very good cardiovascular and endurance workouts that weights do not. They also greatly reduce injury.

If I were to say this would you agree or disagree? And why?

Does anyone here do or know anyone that soley does bodyweight excersises and cardio and no weights? I would assume it would be more people who were involved in sporting.

I remember that old saying

"Life is not an isolated movement, so dont train like one."

more importantly, show me someone who is big that trains bodyweight resistance only??? and if u show me usher, may you burn in hell for eternity
and whats your defense for people who are much stronger than the resistance their bodyweight provides??? ive seen ppl do 30 chinups or 80 pushups... yet they are small and obviously need more weight and less reps.... your ideas are as flawed as the justice system

[2003]

matt furey. he is a thief, liar and bull**** artist.

army guys- just skinny fit guys

I agree with you. I have seen his videos and I don't like him much.

[2003]

more importantly, show me someone who is big that trains bodyweight resistance only??? and if u show me usher, may you burn in hell for eternity
and whats your defense for people who are much stronger than the resistance their bodyweight provides??? ive seen ppl do 30 chinups or 80 pushups... yet they are small and obviously need more weight and less reps.... your ideas are as flawed as the justice system

Size is not an issue as far as my training is concerned. Just strength and endurance, and of course muscle development is a plus, but I train for sport (rugby).

[Insane Clown]

Theres all sorts of things you can do, pull ups, push ups, dips, variations of these with backpacks on...

If you are wearing a backpack, it's not a 'bodyweight' exercise.

I'm really not bashing weightlifting here, i'm just really considering turning to a bodyweight dominated workout.

That's certainly your perogative. If you aren't trying to get big or super strong, you can keep good health doing bodyweight work.

[2003]

Just because they are small does not mean they are any weaker or have less muscle development than they would had they lifted weights.

Size isn't a priority for everybody, that really comes from your diet son.

[hvit]

Bodyweight exercises are definitely good stuff. I stick to lifting weights if I have the opportunity to do so. When I don't have weight available it's awesome to know all the bodyweight exercises and get a decent workout.

You can definitely come up with a good bodyweight/plyometric workout plan for rugby.

[gogz]

more importantly, show me someone who is big that trains bodyweight resistance only??? and if u show me usher, may you burn in hell for eternity
and whats your defense for people who are much stronger than the resistance their bodyweight provides??? ive seen ppl do 30 chinups or 80 pushups... yet they are small and obviously need more weight and less reps.... your ideas are as flawed as the justice system

http://www.teenbodybuilding.com/augie.htm

gogz

[hvit]

I'd like to see that kid's legs...his pecs are tiny as well, though I give him credit for being cut beyond all reason. That part was really impressive.

[JOHN GARGANI]

Size is not an issue as far as my training is concerned. Just strength and endurance, and of course muscle development is a plus, but I train for sport (rugby).

then what the F@# may I ask what you are doing here on Bodybuilding.com?????


there are plenty of fitness sites on the web! nothing wrong with that...but this is a bodybuilding site, and we, as a whole, prefer the look we are trying to achieve via weighlifting.....

you are essentially trolling us by being here.....

[Squats]

Bodyweight exercises are good, but the only thing you can do it reps or add resistance. All the bodyweight exercises can build strong mofo's though.

[jayvee]

Size is not an issue as far as my training is concerned. Just strength and endurance, and of course muscle development is a plus, but I train for sport (rugby).

well, youve just answered youre own question. it depends on your purpose. YOU train for rugby. then yea, mimicking actions you are gonna do on the rugby field will help (however, i would still be adding power and explosive resistance training for this sport). i play beach volleyball, so i add plyometrics in my resistance program to help my jump. i dont personally think bodyweight exercises alone will cut the mustard if youre playing a competitive level of any sport. however, you're gonna particularly need alot more than simply bodyweight exercises if you're into bodybuilding, as the muscles will not get the required load to maximise growth. at the end of the day, it really depends what your purpose to resistance train is. but your argument has its problems, because you are asking opinions as a whole, but then only basing it on your own needs.

[Bogaerts]

They are based on real life movements, therefore make you stronger in real life and give you very good cardiovascular and endurance workouts that weights do not. They also greatly reduce injury.

If I were to say this would you agree or disagree? And why?

Does anyone here do or know anyone that soley does bodyweight excersises and cardio and no weights? I would assume it would be more people who were involved in sporting.

I remember that old saying

"Life is not an isolated movement, so dont train like one."

Nothing is superior to anything in this case. It's all dependent on your goals. If your goal is hypertorphy (as are most people on bb.com), then no, you need to lift heavy (i.e. weightlifting). If your goal is to be able to do 100 pushups in 60 seconds, then I would assume you would train accordingly and do high rep work with less weight or no weight at all. Simply focus on increasing reps in that case.

So....in answer to your question, no, I don't know anyone who does bodyweight only exercises. Furthermore, I dont have any desire to train my functional strength (although most of the movements will do that anyway). I train to get bigger...........thats all.

Another old saying

"Train to meet your goals.............."

Note:Ok, it's a crappy quote, I know...I just made it up. Too early in the am and have had no coffee yet

[Doc Iron]

As someone has already pointed out, many weight training exercises are simply variations of bodyweight exercises (bench press is a push up, pull downs are pull ups, squats are deep knee bends etc.)

So it's pointless to debate which is "better" since they're both really the same thing. Your muscles don't care if the resistance they have to overcome is the body or an external source (a weight).

Weight training simply gives you added control over the amount of weight you can lift, and allows you to progressively increase the weight, something that's hard (though not impossible) to do with bodyweight exercises.

So if you're doing push ups you're always using essentially the same weight (unless you become radically fatter or thinner) ... say it's 100 pounds. Essentially, you're always doing 100 pound bench presses. Now, you can increase the number of sets, and the number of reps, but you can only vary the resistance in a very crude way (say you switch to 1 armed pushups, the resistance will suddenly jump to near 200 pounds).

If you use weights you can progressively add to the resistance, in much more precise and gradual increments. You don't have to jump from 100 pounds to 200 pounds, instead, when you feel 100 becoming easy you can jump to 110, then 120 etc.

For most people, this makes it easier to make consistent progress in terms of building strength.

Now, I think what bodyweight advocates criticize is weight training routines that consist entirely of isolation exercises (e.g. bicep curls, tricep kickbacks, pec deck etc.) and I would agree with them there ... but that's not a fair criticism of weight training, just a criticism of a poorly designed weight training routine.

[Borntobebad]

As someone has already pointed out, many weight training exercises are simply variations of bodyweight exercises (bench press is a push up, pull downs are pull ups, squats are deep knee bends etc.)

So it's pointless to debate which is "better" since they're both really the same thing. Your muscles don't care if the resistance they have to overcome is the body or an external source (a weight).

Weight training simply gives you added control over the amount of weight you can lift, and allows you to progressively increase the weight, something that's hard (though not impossible) to do with bodyweight exercises.

So if you're doing push ups you're always using essentially the same weight (unless you become radically fatter or thinner) ... say it's 100 pounds. Essentially, you're always doing 100 pound bench presses. Now, you can increase the number of sets, and the number of reps, but you can only vary the resistance in a very crude way (say you switch to 1 armed pushups, the resistance will suddenly jump to near 200 pounds).

If you use weights you can progressively add to the resistance, in much more precise and gradual increments. You don't have to jump from 100 pounds to 200 pounds, instead, when you feel 100 becoming easy you can jump to 110, then 120 etc.

For most people, this makes it easier to make consistent progress in terms of building strength.

Now, I think what bodyweight advocates criticize is weight training routines that consist entirely of isolation exercises (e.g. bicep curls, tricep kickbacks, pec deck etc.) and I would agree with them there ... but that's not a fair criticism of weight training, just a criticism of a poorly designed weight training routine.

I do pushups and pullups weighted that adds resistance they all work bruce lee could benchpress 600 but very few people would be able to do one arm push just using one thumb

[Borntobebad]

more importantly, show me someone who is big that trains bodyweight resistance only??? and if u show me usher, may you burn in hell for eternity
and whats your defense for people who are much stronger than the resistance their bodyweight provides??? ive seen ppl do 30 chinups or 80 pushups... yet they are small and obviously need more weight and less reps.... your ideas are as flawed as the justice system

that's were adding resistance comes in buddy I put 50-60 pounds in a back pack or whatever it can hold or buy a weighted vest that will build strength and muscualar endurance

[Carmen0857]

i dont personally think bodyweight exercises alone will cut the mustard if youre playing a competitive level of any sport.

Allen Iverson doesn't workout.

[CycloneJack]

AI is a douchebag too

[AnaerobicAndrew]

OP, this thread is retarded.

This is a damn bodybuilding forum. You cant honestly expect good discourse on a thread that discusses the merits of bodyweight exercises.

[JCVP]

My entire routine is based off of bodyweight + resistance exercises using a dipping belt, holding the added weight, or applying it via a harness backpack. It's a 6-day split, twice per week muscle frequency. Sessions last no more than 45 minutes, high volume, 1-2 reps short of failure intensity. It works well for me, but the calories are not there to bulk - plain and simple.

[Bogaerts]

My entire routine is based off of bodyweight + resistance exercises using a dipping belt, holding the added weight, or applying it via a harness backpack. It's a 6-day split, twice per week muscle frequency. Sessions last no more than 45 minutes, high volume, 1-2 reps short of failure intensity. It works well for me, but the calories are not there to bulk - plain and simple.

it's the +resistance that makes it no longer a "bodyweight" exercise....

[onslaught61]

is a bench press technically the same as a pushup? If you add 135lb on your back and do pushups, it would be the same as lying on your back and doing 135 on a bar? a pulldown definately aint the same as a pullup...so bodyweight exercises do have their place.

[braindx]

It is possible, in some cases, to build strength faster with progressive resistance bodyweight exercises than with weights. However, if you want to get BIG (e.g. bodybuilding as crazygerman said), then you NEED to use weights.

I would argue that progressive resistance bodyweight exercise build more functional strength than a lot of weightlifting exercises mainly because they are done with decreased leverage which means if something you are lifting something that is awkward, it would be easier to do it with bodyweight exercises than with weights where decreased leverage isn't an issue. That's debatable though. Exercises like DLs and such should be a component of any routine regardless of if you are doing all weights or bodyweight routines (unless you are a competitive gymnast or something as they get their lower back and leg work from tumbling, vault, etc.).

[JCVP]

it's the +resistance that makes it no longer a "bodyweight" exercise....

That's right. But so what, I'm doing a bodyweight + resistance exercise. Everytime I say the word I will say "bodyweight + resistance" to make you feel better.

[JCVP]

is a bench press technically the same as a pushup? If you add 135lb on your back and do pushups, it would be the same as lying on your back and doing 135 on a bar? a pulldown definately aint the same as a pullup...so bodyweight exercises do have their place.

This is where it gets confusing with BW + R exercises. If you weigh 160 pounds, and do a normal foot-on-the-floor pushup (with your hands on a weight scale), you'll push roughly 80 pounds on the downward motion of the rep. That's about 50% of your BW. When you add 135 lbs to your frame, you're technically only going to push 50% of "135lbs + your BW."

So you weigh 160, you add 135, you now weigh 295. 50% of 295 is roughly 147ish.

However, if you only do the pushup with one hand, you now have 147lbs of pressure on one hand. This would be somewhat equivalent of saying you could bench nearly 300 lbs. However, no one in there outright mind would safely attach 135lbs unless they had some sort of safety device. This is where it would be smart to change your stance to a footless pushup, which increases the % of weight placed down on both hands, but is NOT AS DIFFICULT as a one-handed pushup.

In a sense, doing weighted bodyweight exercises can be a challenge as you have to find the right exercise that is not TOO difficult to perform weighted, or just perform a bodyweight exercise unweighted that IS DIFFICULT. Honestly, just stick with the gym unless you really are dedicated to new training methods.