I am trying to workout at home, but it's not working

[niklaswolf]

First, english is not my native language, so, sorry for any mistake.

I've always been skinny, my normal weight was 60kg(133lbs), even though I always ate a lot.
So I decided to gain some mass, but I can't afford/don't want to enter a gym right now, then I started doing some exercises at home, my focus was upper body, because it is what concerns me the most, since I don't have much knowledge about bodybuilding, I started reading about it on the internet, and I tried to create my own "workout program".
The workout consisted of push ups and pull ups, because I don't have any equipment and I read that those exercises work a large group of muscles.

But the results were disapointing, I started doing these 1 year ago, I got some improvement on the first month, may be a little on the second, but after that no more improvements, I weight 70kg(154lbs) now, but most of that increase is not lean mass, visually the benefits were minimal, my performance at the exercises stagnated, some even reduced after some time.

I could do around 25 push ups in a row, the best I reached was 33 push ups.
I could do around 8 pull ups(pronated) in a row, the best I reached was 13 pull ups.
I wasn't able to do a one hand push up, the best I reached was 3 push ups with the right and one with the left, but my form is terrible.

I switched the forms and variations of those exercices, but I stopped getting improvements, it's not like it is too slow, it really stopped, my best results at the exercises, I got in the third month, some times I think I am doing too few, but just these are already too stressful and tiresome, I work until I can't do more, I don't feel like adding more exercises, but it's very discouraging not seeing any improvements.

Someone who also workout at home and have better knowledge can give me some hints about what to do.
I would like some suggestions. Am I getting something wrong? Is it really supposed to stop if I dont do other exercises? Would entering a gym help me return to get some benefits? Could it have something to do with my eating?

P.S. I also do karate 3 times a week, but not to get muscle, even because it has more cardio, I just do because I like it, I don't know if it affects my results.

[JamesPT]

To gain mass you need to be doing compound movements and need to be working in a much lower rep range than you're working in with these bodyweight exercises you're doing. Anywhere from 5 reps to 12 reps will help you gain mass when performing these compound movements.

This means you need to be performing exercises such as squat, bench press, dead lift, shoulder press, lat pulldown, rowing, etc.. Better yet go look at the stickies for beginner workouts. Your home workouts don't fit this criteria and they never will.

Sorry I know this ain't what you wanna hear, but you NEED to get to the gym. You can't gain mass significantly at home unless you have barbells, benches, a squat rack etc. And I'm guessing you'd rather pay a little money monthly on a gym membership than hundreds on equipment for home.

If you can't afford it then I don't know what to tell you bud. You also need to eat a lot of food as well which is another moderate expense.

[niklaswolf]

Thanks for the answer, I may enter a gym in the future.

[EjnarKolinkar]

I would buy some basic equipment for weight training for the home, or join a gym.

If you want to learn about home gym equipment, there is a forum for that here on the site (equipment).

[ThatAussieGuy]

I was in the same dilemma once mate... I found a way to afford more that I was a the time and just sucked it up and got a gym membership... Best decision I personally made...

You can only of so far in a home gym unless it's properly decked out with enough plates, barbells, benches etc.

[joel997]

I bought a small set of weights that consisted of two dumbells and one barbell that had weights you could add/remove to make any weight you choose. It worked well for a few months, but I really started to lose motivation. It just became too much of a hassle trying to workout with the intensity I wanted, without having things such as a squat rack, chin-up bar, or even a simple bench. When I did finally join a gym after around 6 months, I didn't know how I was able to workout at all in my basement. The surplus of weights, machines, and the ability to do heavy exercises such as deadlifts, squats and bench press made me wish I had joined a gym before wasting my money on my personal set of weights.

Oh, and also, make sure you eat enough. When I started, I was so scared of gaining fat that I ate barely at maintenance, and ended up gaining about a pound of lean muscle mass over a 3-month period before I finally accepted that with muscle comes a bit of fat. Now, I aim to gain about a pound a week and am seeing awesome results.

So my advice from somebody who was where you were, buy a gym membership as soon as you can afford it, and eat lots!!