Training with your weight helps to increase strength and even build muscle, but you need to do it in a certain way, observing several rules.
Check out the 5 tips that will help you increase the effectiveness of your workouts and pump your body with all in one weight set and without additional equipment.
Rule 1. Increase the load
All bodybuilders gradually increase the load so that the muscles continue to grow. When you use external resistance, it does not require imagination and creativity. You just need to add weight to the bar, take dumbbells or heavier weights.
For those who exercise with their weight, this is a little more complicated. Since you cannot instantly increase your body weight, you have to change the exercise itself. Here are a few options:
- Increase exercise difficulty. Leg push-ups can be replaced with handstand push-ups. There is always a more difficult version of the exercise.
- Increase the final load on the limb. Replace lunges with squats on one leg. The load on the leg will increase.
- Increase the range of motion. If you pull well up to the chin, try pulling up to the chest.
Rule 2. Use the average number of repetitions
In absolute strength training, a small number of repetitions with a large load is used. This means that you need to choose such a complex version of the exercise to make it no more than five times in the approach.
If it comes to bodybuilding with its weight, you need more repetitions. Danny Cavadlo advises using 8–12 reps from 60–80% of the one-shot maximum. It is important that the last repetitions in the approach are hard for you. This will increase damage to muscle fibers, which will trigger the mechanism of muscle hypertrophy.
It seems that determining the percentage of the maximum load on the horizontal bar is very difficult. This is not the case. Just choose the difficulty with which you can perform the exercise only 8-12 times while maintaining the correct technique. This will be 60–80% of your one-shot maximum.
If you can do the exercise 20 times, it’s time to complicate it. If, on the contrary, after three repetitions, the technique begins to suffer, choose a simpler option.
Rule 3. Separate the load
Most exercises of calisthenics simultaneously involve all muscle groups. This is great if you just want to keep yourself in good shape and develop functional strength, but it can interfere if your goal is to build muscle.
For your muscles to grow, you need to load the better. For this, training with the study of specific muscle groups or bodybuilding splits is well suited.
Here are two classic splits:
- Upper body / lower body.
- Push-ups / pull-ups / legs.
If you use the first split, everything is simple: when you train your legs, your hand’s rest, and vice versa. In the second classic split, you separately train your chest and triceps on the day of push-ups, back and biceps on the day of pull-ups, legs on the third day. During this time, your muscles will have time to recover.
Rule 4. Do not be afraid to gain weight
You need to increase the calorie intake to build muscle mass. But be prepared for the fact that together with the muscles you will gain fat.
Of course, each person has their physiological characteristics, but gaining lean muscle mass without any amount of fat is unrealistic. This is why people first gain muscle mass and then drive off fat. You cannot do this at the same time, so build your diet depending on what you are doing at the moment – gain muscle mass or dry yourself.
Deal with the fact that the appearance of your dry sculpted body may deteriorate a little when you are on the mass. Just remember that you do this to build muscle. When you change your diet, fat will go away and muscle mass will remain.
Rule 5. Training must be hard
This is the most important rule on the list. There will be no results without hard work. If you do not feel tension during training, then you spare yourself.
You should not just carry out any movements, but make efforts and spend your time. Only intensive and regular workouts combined with proper nutrition will help you achieve your goals.
