Build Muscle Without Weights Using Bodyweight Exercises
It is possible to build muscle without weights, although it will take longer with bodyweight exercises than using weights.But using bodyweight exercises still has its advantages. Bodyweight exercises are great for burning fat, increasing muscle tone, increasing muscle strength and endurance.
With bodyweight exercises you do not only build muscle, but you improve your all round levels of fitness as well.Bodyweight exercises move the body in many different planes. This increased movement of the body helps fire off a large number of muscle fibres. This helps muscles to grow.
So now that we have established that it is possible to build muscle without weights, lets have a look at how to do so.You may need to adapt the bodyweight exercises so that they can work for building muscle as well as just endurance and strength.
The following 3 tips should help you get the most from bodyweight exercises:
1. Slow Down The Reps
In order to build muscle, you need to place enough stress on the muscles to break them down. Then as your rest and your muscles recover, you muscles will rebuild and become bigger and stronger.
So to maximise the breaking down of the muscles you need to work them hard. A great way to do this is to do ultra slow reps of 10-12 seconds up and 10-12 seconds down.
2. Do Ultra High Reps
Doing ultra high reps, until you can no longer do another rep, is a great is a great way to shock your body into muscle growth.
High reps will improve muscular strength and endurance so if you do go back to training with weights, you will find that you can lift heavier weights for more reps, and thus find it easier to make gains.
3. Muscle Contractions
Before you peform a bodyweight exercise, try pre-exhausting the muscles in advance by contracting them.
Also, as you are doing the exercise, pause for more muscle contraction.This flexing of the muscles places extra stress on the muscles and makes them work harder, thus encouraging increased strength and muscle growth.
Summary
At the end of the day, it is possible to build muscle without weights, but it might take you longer that it would with weight training.
The important thing is to make your bodyweight exercises as hard as possible. It is the stress that is placed on the weights, not the quantity of weight, that will cause muscle growth.
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