Bodyweight routines for gaining mass

[Hoffy95]

Just wondering what peoples thoughts are on the effectiveness of utilising nothing more than your bodyweight to gain mass. Obviously it can be very effective to tone up but does anyone know of any workout or plan to use nothing but bodyweight exercises as an effective way to gain size?

Is it foolish to think you can purely use nothing but your own weight to obtain decent size gains?

 

[cptkirk]

if you've trained with wts before you'l probably struggle, you need some basic strength work in there somewhere

 

[inCOGnito]

Pretty Hardcore, like Kirky said will need some sort of base to work off first, but take a look at Rosstraining.com, he sells a book called never gymless and has a program in it that he used for a while to see if he could stay strong using only body weight and minimal activities.

If footy is your goal however, would need to rework it to suit. This is probably more so strength, eat more if you want to gain weight.

 

[Hoffy95]

I'm more asking out of curiosity.

I know it's not the ideal way to go about it. I guess I figure way back in the day, people must have worked out like this without the resources available today and done it effectively, yet you never see any programs based around it.

I guess the resources available today have made these somewhat redundant, though I'm sure I've read on many occasions that Navy Seals and other military based training revolves around this sort of stuff.

 

[Coolangatta]

To gain mass you have to increase resistance, to increase resistance you'd have to gradually make the bodyweight exercises more difficult. Then you'd have to do the advanced bodyweight exercises in a muscle building rep range. I think you could do it if you find basic bodyweight exercises a breeze, but if you're a weakling like me who can only do 14 push ups to failure, it's gonna take a long time.

 

[Mofra]

This morning I did pull ups superset with weighted push ups (15kgs) - 5 sets each of 10 & 20 respectively. Gets the blood pumping, and followed it with BW dips (and time on the rower & grinder).

Not my normal routine but it's nice to change it up and certainly takes it out of me more than a normal weights routine (especially with the short breaks between sets).

 

[Schism]

I'm more asking out of curiosity.

I know it's not the ideal way to go about it. I guess I figure way back in the day, people must have worked out like this without the resources available today and done it effectively, yet you never see any programs based around it.

I guess the resources available today have made these somewhat redundant, though I'm sure I've read on many occasions that Navy Seals and other military based training revolves around this sort of stuff.

7

- Yep and none of them were big by todays standards, except for the odd genetic freak

- But special forces have to be fit, strong and flexible. Mass doesn't matter.

To answer OP, no, you'll never get big or particularly strong by using body weight only. At least not compared to someone who trains in a well equipped gym.