Mass Calistenics in place of weight

[LightBringerParticipant 440]

If I had access to weights I would probably be doing some deadlifts, but I quit my gym to save cash and couldnt handle the people there, but I have done huge calistenic routines in the past and got pretty strong, but takes a huge effort, but thats what Im on now.  Anyone with some experiance doing this?

[EdogParticipant 254]

Yeah, without the weights, it takes a lot more effort to see lean muscle gains. A plateau is likely. You need the weights to push your body past that plateau. However, maintaining what you have and getting shredded along the way is entirely doable, with lesser, more moderate gains to be had in the lean muscle department.

There is plenty you can do. Pushups, situps, leg lifts, back raises, lunges…etc. Doing a healthy amount of these daily along with some good cardio will suffice in place of weights and knock off the fat. This will enhance the lean muscle that’s already there and have you looking solid. When you start to see the vascularity show up, that’s when your at the end of the plateau and there isn’t much more to do aside from going back the other direction and starting to bulk back up if you wish, or simply maintain if what you see is satisfying.

Supplement some protein and probably a good multi-vitamin. Shouldn’t need much more than that if you are watching what you eat and laying off the sugars and fats. Stick to carbs and protein for fuel.

Just know ahead of time that size isn’t going to come without weights, however, you can still get really ripped and solid without them, which in my view typically looks far better than bulk anyway.

[RoyDalParticipant]

I was reading a series of articles on this a while ago. I can’t find them right off, but this looks like a good start: http://greatist.com/fitness/start-bodyweight-training

I’m in favor of it. It’s a good idea in my opinion.

Society asks MGTOWs: Why are you not making more tax-slaves?

[ILiveAgainParticipant]

You can get a fairly decent upper body workout with just dumbbells and a mountain bike for the legs.

Also as been said, pushups, chair dips, single leg squats etc.

Guys in solitary seem to get a good system going ☺

[Anonymous 3]

All you really need is a pullup bar (get the Iron Gym, it’s like $20-30 or so) and a good pair of running shoes.

Then all you have to do is run and do bodyweight exercises.

I lifted from around 16 or so, although my muscles didn’t really start developing huge until my mid-20s. Prior to that, I was physically bigger than most people just doing pushups. I was over training with weights even in my early 20s, when I began to move away from bodyweight, and met a pro bodybuilder that taught me how to life and gave me routines that seemed like less work than I had been doing but got me the biggest I got in my life.

However in terms of athleticism and raw power, lifting weights was pretty useless.

Eventually I stopped lifting, a large part from lack of time and a larger part from an injury I sustained. I went back to bodyweight and I’ve never gone back to lifting since.

I am convinced body weight exercises are far better.

All you really need are about 4-5.

Pushups (regular, triangle and even handstand)

Squats (squat deep, do them slow when you can)

Indian Pushups/dive bombers

Pull ups (chinups, wide and parallel grips)

Leg lifts/raises (do them hanging off the pullup bar, you can also do them on the ground)

Additionally you should do back/neck bridges, Iron Mikes and sometimes planks.

Basically these will keep you occupied for pretty much forever. You can do dips too, I used to do them, but I don’t think they’re necessary if you do the triangle pushups. There is also a frog pose and one handed variations if you really get advanced. There are also replacements that you can do if you want to change things, like chinese pushups and chinese military pushups.

If you can get the big 5 above to at least 200 a day (100 for the pullups, 50 for the leg raises) you will be in excellent shape. Allegedly the great wrestlers in history through Greco-Roman times all the way through to India only did bodyweight exercises, and they were absolutely huge and ridiculously powerful. Even today among boxing circles it is often stated that you want to get to at least 500 of pushups/dips/situps a day and ideally at least 2000.

And if you REALLY want to be powerful and strong, just get a manual labor job. Nobody is stronger than someone that does manual labor for a living.

[Takeshi KovacsParticipant 0]

https://youtu.be/RFPsvF3UOdo

Say hello to Frank Medrano. Achieved these results via calisthenics AND being a vegan whilst doing so.

I started his program after having grown weary of gyms and paying excessive funds to trod off toward a structure packed with people that I’d have to maneuver around to utilize “machines.”

Trust me, this can be done. My results: amazing!

"Face the facts. Then act on them. It's the only mantra I know, the only doctrine I have to offer you, and it's harder than you'd think, because I swear humans seem hardwired to do anything but. Face the facts. Don't pray, don't wish, don't buy into centuries-old dogma and dead rhetoric. Don't give in to your conditioning or your visions or your fucked-up sense of... whatever. FACE THE FACTS. THEN act."

-Quellcrist Falconer

[BestoftherestParticipant 285]

Body exercises are fantastic.  Push-ups and pull-ups are the very definition of healthy.  Body exercises builds a great aesthetic physique in less time than those hard core gym rats. But you will not have mass you will have to do way to much calisthenics to get gains rather than spliting it with moderate free weights.  I would recommend getting free weights after you’ve hit your natural plateau.  I have 25 through 50 pounds, all of which I spent a total of 100 bucks over the years to get via Craiglist.  The rusted ones are cheap and do not effect the work out, would recommend gloves through.

No gym memberships for me and I have a better body those most of those gym rats that think benching and curling are the only exercises on the plant and they’ve spend less cash in 10 years than they did in 1 year.

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."
Abraham Lincoln

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