Bodyweight Training is BAD for Muscle Growth (True or False)

0:00 The Worst Skit I’ve Ever Done
0:38 Part I: Science on Bodyweight vs Weights
3:20 Part II: Progressive Overload Potential Pitfall
4:45 Part III: Regional Hypertrophy Potential Pitfall
5:55 Part IV: Lower Body Potential Pitfall
7:39 Part V: Summary

References:

Music:

[HouseofHypertrophy]

Timestamps:

0:00 The Worst Skit I’ve Ever Done
0:38 Part I: Science on Bodyweight vs Weights
3:20 Part II: Progressive Overload Potential Pitfall
4:45 Part III: Regional Hypertrophy Potential Pitfall
5:55 Part IV: Lower Body Potential Pitfall
7:39 Part V: Summary

[An.Unsought.Thought]

Calisthenics may have a ceiling, but that ceiling is far above what people tend to realize. It very much becomes a skill based strength training after your basic push up, pull up and squat. And it not only trains your muscles but also your tendons and joints. It comes with great mobility training too. If people took calisthenics seriously, they'd probably spend a couple years before even needing the help of weights. And its one way to prevent injury now and in the future by both not doing more than your body can handle currently, but also strengthening certain areas, like joints or your rotator cuffs, against impacts or strain. Now you may not be as buff as fast as people purely focusing on hypertrophy through weight training. But you'd be stronger, more durable, more agile and have a much stronger base to work from once you finally do start adding the weights. It depends on your goals.

[youtubesucks]

I worked as a prison nurse for about 10 years. Those guys were jacked! I asked them once how they got so big with no weights and they said something to effect of “do 1, 000 of anything and you’ll be huge.”

If you watch their workout videos on YouTube you’ll see them doing hours of pushups pull-ups and celly-squats.

Pros: you can get really big and really strong with a handful of body weight exercises.

Cons: not time efficient; you’ll be doing reps for days to get a stimulus.

If you’re locked up and got nothing but time, then it’s a fantastic option. Very very low risk of injury.

[Narasthenics]

This entire video confirmed my exact thoughts on the matter, I think this notion that calisthenics are inferior for hypetrophy comes from the fact that some people paying for a gym membership or an entire home gym doesn't exactly want to believe that some dude with a pair of rings or a bar can achieve similar results, it's got to be superior since their investment is higher. The determining factor of how you train should always be fun, I will always favor calisthenics because to me it's infinitely more enjoyable, some feel the exact opposite, there are many different ways to skin a cat.

[SantanaBanana]

I had nothing to do during lockdown, so I got completely jacked with a few dumbbells, a pull up bar, and a bookbag. Little bit of floor space too. Very high rep bodyweight exercises. As long as you are going hard, you will see muscle growth and improvement

[shibook]

I've been doing calisthenics for 9 months and gained 7+lbs so far.And the best part is, Body looks very different and clothes feels tight around shoulder.

[hexxity]

Man, I remember when I went to rehab, stayed there for 28 days, and did nothing but squats, pushups and utilizing their pullup bar. I came back pretty damn jacked

[thenew]

If your primary goal is muscle-building and not just becoming skilled at calisthenics, then you really shouldn't limit yourself to exclusively doing bodyweight exercises. At least incorporate weighted calisthenics so that you can better progressively overload these exercises, but personally I think it's best to follow a routine that incorporates both calisthenics and lifting.

I think it's important to view calisthenics as just another tool towards the goal of hypertrophy, not as an ideology.

[calisthenicswBin]

these videos are actually so good, finally some good muscle building advice out there

[Flahtort]

I do calistenics because i like train at home so i wanna share my experience. To progressive overload I try to to perfectly execute technique, dont rush, go rather slow and not allow the momentum of movement help me with exercise. In example: Go faster up and 2-3 times slower down in pullups and pauses on top and bottom. Also adding pauses in the hardest point to make it more challenging so i can hit failure easier. It's generally harder to hit failure with more reps so by making reps harder I make it easier in general. If it hard to hit failure sometimes i can do another set after 15 sec rest and next do normal rest for couple minutes, thus i can chase down failure if i dont get it.
For low body instead of squads i like jumps, cause regular squads with bodyweight realy easy, but jumps easy technically yet more effective.

[official_mawdur]

As a track and field coach, I can definitely say sprinting, hill runs, and plyometrics are useful for leg hypertrophy. It’s definitely body weight training and I believe it’s often overlooked when it comes to leg training with Calisthenics.

Maybe do a video on the effect of plyometrics and hypertrophy?

[SessleIsosceles]

As someone who transitioned to calisthenics from body building years ago I needed to hear this, case closed without looking back !

[kramkalisthenics]

Calisthenics are great! There are many great muscular calisthenics athletes. I mostly quit weights for calisthenics (sometimes loaded sets). As a 64 year old I find that the gains last longer than weight training. IOW if you take some time off, you lose less and it's easier to get your levels back. All you need is ATG squats, pull-ups, bar dips (or push-ups).

[robertspence]

Great to see continued growth of your channel. Congrats and keep up the good work!

[eloquenz]

I am currently getting heavy into the fitness-bubble and want to become a personal trainer myself, for a meaningful side hustle and healthy lifestyle. For that I break down studys revolving around fitness myself and consume such content on youtube etc. to expand my knowledge and man, THANK YOU for that insane content you present us. Your other videos are insane aswell, though I do think this was one of the best structered ones yet. Topics building up on each other and explaining reasonable why things are as they are - and work as they do, without jumping randomly to other topics or side facts which weren´t mentioned before. One of the best Fitness related channels outta here, really well made man!

[karlo_fdr]

Amazing video as always!💪
Doing calisthenics from 4/5 years I found out that, for the upper body, a good periodization between low-reps weighted exercises (using drop sets or isometric pauses) and high reps bodyweight-only excercises are optimal for a long term progession (plus, it's fun and you're always stimulated to train).
For the lower body nothing can really substitute free weights or machines, even though there are nice alternatives as the ones mentioned in the video.
Thanks for all the knowledge that you share in the community, always detailed and straghit to the point.
Looking forward for the next video! 🤓

[BigDome]

I think callisthenics is perfect to start with, most of it is compound exercises which give you really good overall upper body and core strength. Gymnastics rings and pull up bars are amazingly fun/powerful tools and they give you a really good mind/body connection and just feel great to do. Adding weight to these workouts is very easy (for example using backpacks etc). I trained callisthenics the first year or two, and recently have started adding weights to my routine. I think it's really good to switch things up in this way and keep your muscles guessing. You can get great benefits from both.

And yes, it's very hard to make substantial progress with your legs from callisthenics alone. However, you can do a few things:

Pistol squats
Nordic curls
Gymnastics ring leg curls (a very rare but very effective exercise)

Great video once again.

[iverQueen]

As Greg said, no one is too strong to do a push. I'm way more impressed of someone who can do 30-50 pull ups, or 100 push ups in a good form

[rockybasto]

I cannot believe I've only found your channel today, your content is absolutely amazing! thank you!

[gtafita]

Watching your channel is bringing me gains.
thanks bro