Bodyweight Exercise for Size and Strength

As a longtime advocate of bodyweight exercise, the most common question I am asked is if it's really possible to build muscle and strength without lifting weights. My answer is always a definite "Yes!" Unfortunately, this response is often met with skepticism. To many people, building muscle without lifting weights sounds too simple to work. In fact, it can be simple. Bodyweight exercise also has the advantages of being safer and more convenient than lifting weights.

Trainees can take two approaches to building size and strength with bodyweight training. One is the high-volume approach in my post Bodyweight Exercise Program to Build Muscle and Lose Fat. High-volume is the approach generally used in military physical training. The other is a lower-volume workout that works by increasing the difficulty of the exercises - the bodyweight exercise equivalent of adding weight - rather than increasing repetitions.

The lower-volume approach employs a standard bodybuilding template structured around basic calisthenics. The three most essential movements for building strength and muscle with bodyweight training are pull-ups, push-ups, and squats. Use variations of each exercise that will cause you to fatigue at around 10-15 repetitions and perform 3 or 4 sets of each exercise. Perform two pulling movements, two pushing movements, and two squatting movements in each full-body workout.

Here's a sample full-body program that could work for an beginner-level trainee: Perform the workout on three, non-consecutive days weekly.

1) Pull-ups - 3 x to failure (All the way up and all the way down with arms extended at bottom)
2) Chin-ups - 3 x to failure (All the way up and all the way down with arms extended at bottom)
3) Push-ups - 3 x 10-15 (All the way up and all the way down with chest touching the floor)
4) Bench dips - 3 x 10-15
5) Squats - 3 x 10-15 (Go below parallel - "ass to the grass")
6) Lunges - 3 x 10-15 each leg (Rear knee to floor)

It is essential that you use full range of motion for each exercise. Partial or "cheating" repetitions only give partial results because they cheat your muscles out of the challenge they need to grow and becomee stronger. Remmeber that the point is not to accumulate repetitions, but to exercise your muscles. Repetitions are only a way to measure progress.

It may take time to increase your repetitions on these basic exercises. With consistent practice, you can work toward adding more repetitions for each exercise and eventually start moving on to more difficult variations, such as one-armed pull-ups and push-ups and full pistol squats. Of course, if you are already strong enough to do more difficult variations of any or all the exercises, you can start with those.

You can add an abdominal exercise  after the workout or on alternate days. You can also alternate a high-volume workout, such as the one I mentioned above, with this workout. If you decide to try that, do this workout on one training day, the other on the next, and then go back to this one, and so on.

No matter what program you follow, be patient and stay the course. Whether you lift weights or use your own body weight for resistance, you can't build muscle and get strong without hard work and perseverance. Enjoy the process and make every repetition count.

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