Bodyweight Exercises

[unt0uchable]

Situps, Sitting-tucks, Pushups, Squats, etc are all examples of bodyweight exercises that you do using your body, no extra equipment, and no extra weight.

Now, my question is: I work out 3-4 times per week at 100% intensity at the closest gym to my house, I was considering taking one of my 3-4 rest days depending on my split and using it to enhance muscle tone and general strength by doing a very hard bodyweight workout. Will this increase likeliness of muscle waste?

I understand overtraining with weight is serious, but overtraining using your own bodyweight couldn't be that bad, or could it? It does produce even almost a fraction of the same amount of protein synthesis as working out using isolate or compound weight training exercises, would it be bad?

And also, it's summer, so I have a lot of free time. Sometimes I'll just chill in my room and do pushups, situps, and all the other bodyweight exercises, would it be fine if I did a bunch like everyday?

I don't want to risk loosing any potential muscle growth since I am on a hard workout + stack although since I am bulking I feel it could be in my best interest if I put myself through a hard and frequent exertion of bodyweight exercises for further toning and strength.

What are your opinions?

[unt0uchable]

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[Wangtang6911]

I am a huge fan of bodyweight exercise. Mostly because I was a gymnast, but I think bodyweight exercises build the most applicable strength. My biceps, triceps, back, abs are only worked out through bodyweight exercises and those are definitely my biggest, strongest, and most defined muslces. I think many people overlook these exercises.

[imchill123]

I do 3 sets of pushups working my chest great.

[Robbie_2002]

The best exercise i do for my upper body is chin ups. Works even better though when you buy a dumbell and put it between your thighs and then do chin ups.

[unt0uchable]

So I should take a rest day and do a hardcore bodyweight workout as well as do other bodyweight exercises throughout the day of workout days?

[SemiShred]

do you want to combine them with weight training, do both weight training and bodyweight training, or only bodyweight training

in the first case : add BW exercises in your routine
second case: i wouldn't recommend it, allthough BW training isn't that stressfull on your body, it might be bad for your gains
third case : go ahead, allthough you won't get huge, you'll probably gain strength and vascularity.

hope this helped

[Vase]

Here are some more.
http://www.bodyweightculture.com

[Beast Mode]

The best exercise i do for my upper body is chin ups. Works even better though when you buy a dumbell and put it between your thighs and then do chin ups.

^^^Chins are awesome...

I personally think bodyweight exercises have their place in routines... I incorporate chin ups and pull ups at various angles/grips on their respective day... and I'll throw in push ups with slow controlled reps and a few x-reps every 5 or so to really stretch out at the end of my chest workouts... I will occasionally do the same thing for other body parts to get that last bit of blood pumping through the area...

But in terms of making bodyweight exercises a staple in your routine... I would stick to the weights. Rudimentarily speaking, you could see some endurance gains that will allow you to perform more of said exercise, but without increasing the weight I don't know why your body would have any reason to grow from just repping bw. Again, I think they're great for pumps or warming up or stretching out... but unless you're adding weight to your pushups and such I wouldn't focus on them too much.

[PolishSasquatch]

just when ur doing pushups and chins/p[ullups, just get sum weguiht to make sure u dont go over 12 reps, to ensure ur gaiing size still. I can just barealy do 12 pullups so i dont need any weight at the moment for pullups

[Fooball36]

At the end of my chest workout I always do 2 sets of push ups until failure and it makes me sore as hell after =P

[braindx]

Situps, Sitting-tucks, Pushups, Squats, etc are all examples of bodyweight exercises that you do using your body, no extra equipment, and no extra weight.

Now, my question is: I work out 3-4 times per week at 100% intensity at the closest gym to my house, I was considering taking one of my 3-4 rest days depending on my split and using it to enhance muscle tone and general strength by doing a very hard bodyweight workout. Will this increase likeliness of muscle waste?

I understand overtraining with weight is serious, but overtraining using your own bodyweight couldn't be that bad, or could it? It does produce even almost a fraction of the same amount of protein synthesis as working out using isolate or compound weight training exercises, would it be bad?

And also, it's summer, so I have a lot of free time. Sometimes I'll just chill in my room and do pushups, situps, and all the other bodyweight exercises, would it be fine if I did a bunch like everyday?

I don't want to risk loosing any potential muscle growth since I am on a hard workout + stack although since I am bulking I feel it could be in my best interest if I put myself through a hard and frequent exertion of bodyweight exercises for further toning and strength.

What are your opinions?

Sigh.

1. No, you need rest. Resistance against muscles is resistance. It doesn't matter if it is your bodyweight or weights. Do not take any of your rest days to do extra stuff; let your body rest and eat well and get enough sleep. Remember, the REST time is the time when your body is doing the growing.

2. Bodyweight exercises do not "tone" unless you are doing progressive resistance ones. "Toning" is a bunch of BS because it says that light weights/easy bodyweight exercises with high reps will make your muscles become more defined. This is bull****. The only way your muscles become more defined is if you lose fat or gain muscle. To gain muscle, you need to lift heavy weights. To lose fat you need to increase your metabolism with HIIT cardio for example. Light weights/easy bodyweight exercises at high reps will only build endurance and do nothing else.

3. Overtraining is overtraining. It doesn't matter what it's source it. Most people don't know about hard bodyweight exercises like planche pushup progressions, but do know about easy bodyweight exercises like pushups. Overtraining is mainly based upon overtaxing your central nervous system (CNS) and not allowing it enough time to recover between workouts. Since the "lightweight" bodyweight exercises like pushups do not stress your muscles or CNS that much, it is doubtful you will overtrain with them. Still, on your rest days you should rest rather than interrupt the protein synthesis with exercising as it might lead to overtraining especially if you are giving 100% with your weight workouts.

4. Stick with your weights and don't do any bodyweight exercises. As an advocate of bodyweight exercises and a frequent poster in the bodyweight exercise thread (in the exercise forum), it is just not efficient to put yourself through so much training when you are really growing when you are resting. If you want to learn about progressive resistance bodyweight exercises to build substantial strength and some hypertrophy, head over to the thread and check it out. For the most part, exercises that you can do more than 12 reps with are pretty much useless for bodybuilding (building muscle) so there is no point in doing them at all.

[Vase]

Don't no body be messing with body weight exercises.
You may not look big if you can do one arm pull ups or hand stand presses. But you are certainly strong. (For you own weight class.)