Stevo985 Posted July 11, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted July 11, 2013 Yeah, don't get me wrong, pull ups are an excellent exercise. I can't do 12 reps on a wide grip pull up yet myself. It's better than other bodyweight exercises. Push ups, going back to the original point, aren't that great. I'd say most men can do 12 push ups even if they don't go to the gym. So just doing push ups over and over isn't going to give you a huge chest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villamark Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 I think it would take some pretty extreme bodyweight exercises to build decent muscle, especially upper body Would you say that's the case for pull ups aswell? Take for example the wide armed pull up; If I weigh 12 stone, then that's the same as repping 76kg on the lateral pull down, which is a pretty meaty weight. It's fine to build enough muscle for you to be able to do so many pull ups. But once you get to like 10 or 12 reps, where do you go? You can add reps, but once you get past there you're really only adding endurance, you won't grow muscle. You have to add weights to your pullups to build muscle, at which point it's no longer a bodyweight exercise. or you could do one arm pull ups or muscle ups, archer pull ups etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shillzz Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 I think it would take some pretty extreme bodyweight exercises to build decent muscle, especially upper body Would you say that's the case for pull ups aswell? Take for example the wide armed pull up; If I weigh 12 stone, then that's the same as repping 76kg on the lateral pull down, which is a pretty meaty weight. It's fine to build enough muscle for you to be able to do so many pull ups. But once you get to like 10 or 12 reps, where do you go? You can add reps, but once you get past there you're really only adding endurance, you won't grow muscle. You have to add weights to your pullups to build muscle, at which point it's no longer a bodyweight exercise. or you could do one arm pull ups or muscle ups, archer pull ups etc And smash your head on the ceiling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted July 11, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted July 11, 2013 I think it would take some pretty extreme bodyweight exercises to build decent muscle, especially upper body Would you say that's the case for pull ups aswell? Take for example the wide armed pull up; If I weigh 12 stone, then that's the same as repping 76kg on the lateral pull down, which is a pretty meaty weight. It's fine to build enough muscle for you to be able to do so many pull ups. But once you get to like 10 or 12 reps, where do you go? You can add reps, but once you get past there you're really only adding endurance, you won't grow muscle. You have to add weights to your pullups to build muscle, at which point it's no longer a bodyweight exercise. or you could do one arm pull ups or muscle ups, archer pull ups etc I think it would take some pretty extreme bodyweight exercises to build decent muscle, especially upper body Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villamark Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 Yeah, don't get me wrong, pull ups are an excellent exercise. I can't do 12 reps on a wide grip pull up yet myself. It's better than other bodyweight exercises. Push ups, going back to the original point, aren't that great. I'd say most men can do 12 push ups even if they don't go to the gym. So just doing push ups over and over isn't going to give you a huge chest. your right to a degree, but how big do you want your chest to be, plus you don't just have to do the normal press ups, the different amount of press ups you can do is amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shillzz Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 Yeah, don't get me wrong, pull ups are an excellent exercise. I can't do 12 reps on a wide grip pull up yet myself. It's better than other bodyweight exercises. Push ups, going back to the original point, aren't that great. I'd say most men can do 12 push ups even if they don't go to the gym. So just doing push ups over and over isn't going to give you a huge chest. your right to a degree, but how big do you want your chest to be, plus you don't just have to do the normal press ups, the different amount of press ups you can do is amazing. I fully agree with Stevo on this one (I think we also agree on pull ups aswell). Press ups are pretty easy for most people. If you want to build your chest muscles then you have to look past bodyweight exercises. Though dips can be pretty useful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted July 11, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted July 11, 2013 Yeah, don't get me wrong, pull ups are an excellent exercise. I can't do 12 reps on a wide grip pull up yet myself. It's better than other bodyweight exercises. Push ups, going back to the original point, aren't that great. I'd say most men can do 12 push ups even if they don't go to the gym. So just doing push ups over and over isn't going to give you a huge chest. your right to a degree, but how big do you want your chest to be, plus you don't just have to do the normal press ups, the different amount of press ups you can do is amazing. How big you want your chest was my point the whole time. If you want it to be big then you need to do more than press ups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArteSuave Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 Can anyone actually do one arm pull ups though? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villamark Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 You can easily get bigger with bodyweight exercises. Diet has to be right, but resistance is resistance. You aren't going to win Mr. Olympia with bodyweight only, but your muscles will respond. If the exercises become easy just find a way to increase resistance. One arm/leg instead of two, greater range of motion, more advanced moves, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArteSuave Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 (edited) You can easily get bigger with bodyweight exercises. Diet has to be right, but resistance is resistance. You aren't going to win Mr. Olympia with bodyweight only, but your muscles will respond. If the exercises become easy just find a way to increase resistance. One arm/leg instead of two, greater range of motion, more advanced moves, etc. It seems very inefficient though. When you consider how easily a barbell routine can provide a linear progression of resistance it seems silly to do a body weight 'equivalent' with only two real levels of difficulty (one arm/leg or two) and think you're getting bang for your buck. I wouldn't include varying ROM as different levels of difficulty as purposefully reducing ROM is wasting your time really. One arm chin ups for example are not a viable option for almost everyone in the whole world either IMO. I can do 8 chin ups with 25kgs added and I can't get close to a single one arm rep. Using variations instead of LP is a bit of a strange one as well. It seems like you are just learning the technique of 20 different push-ups/squats/sit-ups rather than really progressing strength wise. Edited July 11, 2013 by ArteSuave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shillzz Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 Many bodweight exercises carry the added benefit of working out your core, which shouldn't be ignored. The answer is neither black, nor white. Bodyweight exercises clearly have their benefits, as do weighted exercises. A healthy mix of both is the way forward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArteSuave Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 Stating body weight excercises work out "your core" as a benefit in a debate between bw and bb implies that you don't think bb excercises do. Squatting with 1.5x BW on your back works your core a shit lot more than any amount of the jumping one legged inverted reverse crossover bw version. The way forward depends on the intended destination. If that destination is Swole city then a LP routine with weights is the most efficient way forward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villamark Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 Many bodweight exercises carry the added benefit of working out your core, which shouldn't be ignored. The answer is neither black, nor white. Bodyweight exercises clearly have their benefits, as do weighted exercises. A healthy mix of both is the way forward. This is all am saying, if you ask most people what goals they have, they could be achieved by bodyweight exercises. If you want to bulk then lifting weights is the way to go. There are more than two levels of bodyweight exercises, for example push ups are not just two armed or one armed, you can do clap press ups than double clap press ups T press up etc. If you are starting out and never been to the gym then you might be better off doing some body weight exercises mixed with some cardio getting into some decent shape and then deciding what you want to achieve. I currently do a mix of both, I like doing weights but do find a benefit from doing bodyweight exercises and cardio. Currently Iam trying build my strengh up again, I am at 140 kg on bench but I cant get past 190 kg on squats, I just can't seem to go for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shillzz Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 Many bodweight exercises carry the added benefit of working out your core, which shouldn't be ignored. The answer is neither black, nor white. Bodyweight exercises clearly have their benefits, as do weighted exercises. A healthy mix of both is the way forward. This is all am saying, if you ask most people what goals they have, they could be achieved by bodyweight exercises. If you want to bulk then lifting weights is the way to go. There are more than two levels of bodyweight exercises, for example push ups are not just two armed or one armed, you can do clap press ups than double clap press ups T press up etc. If you are starting out and never been to the gym then you might be better off doing some body weight exercises mixed with some cardio getting into some decent shape and then deciding what you want to achieve. I currently do a mix of both, I like doing weights but do find a benefit from doing bodyweight exercises and cardio. Currently Iam trying build my strengh up again, I am at 140 kg on bench but I cant get past 190 kg on squats, I just can't seem to go for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villamark Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 140 kg is one rep max which I am happy with. Squats I am having problems with, it used to be my strongest exercise about 5 years ago but I am just not confident doing them anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArteSuave Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 At the risk of starting the much maligned and often (rightly) ridiculed game of 'How much can you lift on the Internet' what are your PRs mark? And at what BW? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villamark Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 I used to weight train a lot 8-10 years ago at WIS in Cardiff, I played semi pro rugby so did 3 sessions of weights a week with a lot of heavy weights in the off season. I was over 18 and a half stone but I am only 5 ft 9 inches tall, PR on bench was 150 kg, squat 220 kg, dead lift 190 kg. I have started back weight training (I have been doing a bit on and off), currently 17 stone, I seem to have hit a wall on dead lifts and squats, not sure if it is that I am much older or that I am lighter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted July 11, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted July 11, 2013 PRs Bench: 115kg Squat: 150kg Deadlift: 175kg I'm going backwards though due to my cut. Quite looking forward to hitting PRs again over the winter! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meath_Villan Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 Fack failed on bench of 57.5 had a feeling I would after last week ...was on the third set of 5 ...do I go back to 55 on monday ? Or attempt 57.5 again ......on a positive note I complete the rows even tho I struggled last week Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted July 11, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted July 11, 2013 Are you making progress? I'd stick with it. Just make sure you hit more reps next week. If you don't, or even go backwards, then it may be of benefit to drop down slightly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts