Amateur sportsmen who crave lean and athletic bodies think that it is impossible to build strong muscles and a strong core without attending the gym. Many trainees in gyms also rarely take bodyweight workout plans at home seriously. However, not anyone has the time and money to go to physical facilities. Bodyweight training is perfect for both beginners and professional sportsmen. It doesn’t require any special gym equipment, just your bodyweight. Combined with healthy food, bodyweight exercises can strengthen your core, create strong muscles, and make you get fit. The basic activities you are going to be doing are pulls, push-ups, squats, jumping, etc. In case you want to challenge yourself, add some dumbbells or barbells into your sports routine, this will make you progress. Once you get stronger you can use heavier weights, reduce resting time and increase the number of sets. Another benefit of bodyweight training is that you can mix various types of sets constantly so that you won’t get bored. The result will only be a plus for your body shape. Before building any bodyweight workout plan, prepare a spacious room, comfortable gym clothes, dumbbells, and motivation.
Can You Get Ripped With Just Bodyweight Exercises?
Not everyone can afford a gym membership or just don’t want to devote time to it. That explains the reason why so many amateur sportsmen opt for bodyweight training.
A bodyweight workout, traditionally known as calisthenics, means you don’t rely on any kind of equipment except for your own body. It can get you ripped since it’s a combination of gymnastics, compound bodyweight exercises, yoga, and free running. Due to a full bodyweight workout, you target your shoulders, arms, chest, legs, and core. The point is that these exercises use your bodyweight as resistance (1).
Resistance trainings have a lot of benefits:
- Reduce blood pressure and cholesterol
- Increase bone density
- Improve sensitivity to insulin (4).
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Another great benefit of bodyweight training is that it is the key to big muscles with rather low injury risks. When you work out in the gym you might get hurt if you don’t use some equipment right. When you use only your weight you are less likely to harm your muscles.
If your goal is to get ripped, you can find a reputable website with at home bodyweight workout plan and follow the simple steps:
- Make Exercises Harder Over Time. Do not stick to only one workout routine. Change sets, choose the sets that are harder to perform. When you do this your body gets used to more challenging workouts and therefore you gain bigger and stronger muscles.
- Lift Weights. In order to get muscular, you need to train your muscles and the best way to do it is to add extra weights to your bodyweight exercises. You can use dumbbells or barbells for that. Make sure you select heavy weights that are not too heavy at the beginning because you may arch your arms and back.
- Stay Hydrated. No matter whether it’s a vigorous bodyweight workout for men or a lighter bodyweight training for beginners you need to supply water to your body. When you perform any exercise you lose a lot of energy, your heart rate increases, you sweat and dehydrate. The more sweat you lose the harder it is for you to do another sports activity. Therefore, water is your key to energy.
- Healthy Food Is Important. You can do everything right in the gym or at home but when after the workout you indulge yourself in eating junk food and other trans fats you won’t get the needed results. Try to avoid processed food, alcohol, and carbonated sweet drinks.
As it might be seen, bodyweight training is the key to a ripped and healthy body. For that, you need to perform various workouts that include full-body strength creation. Make sure you challenge yourself by adding weights, mixing sets, and don’t forget to drink water.
Can You Build Mass With Bodyweight?
Sport is an inevitable part of our lives because any physical activity can help us maintain a healthy weight, reduce the risk of heart diseases, and eliminate depression (3). Besides these advantages, another benefit of working out is a lean body and athletic look.
A lot of men desire to look muscular for various reasons: they want to impress the opposite sex and they feel more confident when they look ripped. Nevertheless, so many trek to gyms because they are sure it is the only way to gain mass. The good news is that you are able to build mass with bodyweight.
Read More: The 4-Day Mass Workout: Get Ripped And Shredded
Body mass building requires some rules to follow and if you take them seriously then you will end up with strong and massive muscles.
- Increase The Number Of Repetitions. When we do certain sets for some period of time, our body gets used to them and eventually, bodyweight exercises seem easy. In this case, we should not get content because we are stronger. Instead, increasing the number of reps will challenge our muscles and stamina.
- Add More Weight. Weight training helps us build and preserve muscle mass, which promotes metabolism and prevents us from gaining weight (4). Extra loads require your body to adapt to much heavier weights. The more you lift and more massive muscles you eventually get.
- Decrease Resting Periods. You will get progress in muscle creation when you reduce the rest times in between sets. You might get dizzy at first but when you see that you lift the same load with less rest time it means your body gets used to weights and gets stronger.
- A Calorie Surplus Is Vital. The key to gaining bigger muscles also lies in eating, more specifically, in a caloric surplus. Bodyweight workouts for men won’t help them get bigger arms if they eat fewer calories than burn at the gym. That is why consuming more calories that your body burns during a bodyweight routine will give you extra energy to build muscles.
- Increase Tension Time. Calisthenics workout benefits muscle growth when we expand time under tension. In order to do this, you can slow down your movements instead of finishing them faster.
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How To Start A Bodyweight Workout?
Before any workout, you had better set some goals. Because the intensity of exercises depends on your aim. Once you realize your purpose then move to the next effective bodyweight workout steps:
- Search for a bodyweight program for beginners online. There are various options on the Internet.
- If you use an at home bodyweight workout plan then check whether you have a spacious room to work out. Moreover, prepare a gym outfit, additional weight (dumbbells or barbells), and a yoga mat.
- Start any training with an easy warm-up. A warm-up routine increases your heart rate and activates the connection between your muscle and nerve, which makes the movements more effective (5). The best examples of warm-ups are: jogging on the spot, lunges, squats, walking, and arm swings.
- After the bodyweight workout, cool down a little bit by stretching your body. Some people use easy yoga which is the best activity after intensive full-body bodyweight training.
What Is The Most Effective Bodyweight Workout For Men?
There’s no need to pay for a gym membership for two reasons:
- They can be overcrowded and then it’s hard to perform any exercise there.
- You can get a 6-pack and strong muscles with the help of bodyweight exercises at home for free.
There are many effective bodyweight home workouts for men. However, women can also perform them but at a lower intensity, especially when they are beginners. Today we are going to learn about top-4 workouts for men that will perk you up.
Push-ups
- Stand in the plank position on the floor
- Lower your body until it slightly touches the floor
- Hold a second and push yourself back up
- Keep your leg and core muscles strong to prevent injuries (2).
Do 3 to 5 sets of 10-20 reps
This exercise involves chest muscles and triceps the most. Deltoids – your shoulder muscles support your arms movement and your core is tight due to abdominal muscles (1).
Burpees
- Keep your feet at shoulder width and sit in a squat position
- Put your hand on the floor and kick your legs out in the push-up position
- Push up and straighten your arms and turn your legs back to the squat position
- Jump off the floor and repeat
Do 3 sets of 20 reps
This is an excellent full-body exercise that burns calories and targets all the muscles in your body.
Read More: Bodyweight Squat Variations To Keep Your Lower-Body Workout Game Strong
Plank-to-Push-up
- Get in the plank position on your forearms, keep your back straight and feet at shoulder width
- Press in the push-up position
- Lower back down into a plank position
- Repeat
Do 3 sets of 5 reps
This is a productive bodyweight activity that engages your core, muscles, and triceps.
Glute bridges
- Lie on your back and keep the knees bent
- Keep your palms down and your arms on either side
- Lift the hips off the ground until your knees, shoulders, and hips form a straight line
- Squeeze the glutes and hold the bridge
- Slowly move back to the starting position
- Repeat
Do 3 sets of 10 reps
Strong muscles are great but you don’t need to forget about the sexy glutes that ladies adore in men.
Should A Beginner Start With Bodyweight Exercises?
Yes, a beginner is welcome to start with bodyweight exercises because they are safe, effective, and you can do them at home. It is recommended to start any bodyweight training with warm-ups and then move to exercises. Here are the top 3 beginner bodyweight activities that can be performed anywhere.
Jumping Jacks
- Stand with your arms at the sides and legs together
- Jump up, spread your feet at shoulder-width and extend your arms overhead
- Jump back to the starting position.
Mountain Climbers
- Stand in the plank position
- Draw your left knee to your chest keeping your back straight
- Get back to the original position
- Repeat on the other leg
Plank
- Lie on the floor and place your elbows under your shoulders
- Slowly raise yourself keeping your head, shoulders, and hips in a straight line
- Engage your muscles, holding in this position for at least 30 seconds
If you’re a beginner then start doing these bodyweight exercises for 30 seconds each. Rest for 30 seconds in between sets and repeat each exercise 2-3 times. In case you feel fatigued, extend the rest time.
The Bottom Line
It is easy to see that bodyweight exercises positively affect our whole body. You can get ripped with an intense bodyweight workout plan. There is no necessity to buy a gym membership since you can find a great workout plan on the Internet and perform it at home. Bodyweight training involves all the muscle groups, legs, arms, and core. A simple warm-up before any workout is a great start to your sport routine.
You can gain more muscles only when you challenge yourself by adding extra weight, reducing the rest time, and increasing the number of reps. Remember that a combination of healthy food and bodyweight training will benefit your muscles and make you fitter.
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SOURCES:
- Basic Body-Weight Exercises You Can Do Right Now (2021, webmd.com)
- How to Push and Pull Safely (2022, webmd.com)
- Physical Activity for a Healthy Weight (cdc.gov)
- Pump Up Your Health (n.d., hopkinsmedicine.org)
- Warm-up and cool-down (2020, nhsinform.scot)