No Gym? – How To Build Muscle Without Heavy Weights

Build Muscle Without Heavy Weights

Build Muscle Without Heavy Weights

Muscle-building exercises tend to be focused on lifting weights to stimulate growth. The individual gradually increases their weight over time to increase strength and size.

This is the best way to build muscle. But it’s not the only way.

This article is intended for those who want to build muscle at home without ever having to go to a gym.

These methods are great for those who can’t afford to join a gym or want an alternative to exercise while on vacation or on business trips.

Instead of going to the gym, you can have the gym come to you.

Your body will be the gym!

Supercharged Exercises for Bodyweight

Building muscle without weights requires more than doing push-ups after every set. It is not rocket science.

For the purpose of building muscle, you simply need to adapt the basic bodyweight exercises. These are the classics: dips, push-ups pull-ups sit-ups, sit ups, pull-ups and squats.

Doing multiple sets of these exercises will not work. With a few tweaks you can become a lean, mean, and bodyweight machine in no matter how many sets.

These classic muscle-building methods can be supercharged in five ways:

1. Slow down, bro!

You can make up the difference by slowing down your bodyweight exercises to compensate for the lack in resistance.

You will improve your muscle endurance but not your size by performing a lot of these exercises at the same speed.

For larger size, lift heavy weights and do so at a slow pace for low reps. This is true for a bodyweight workout. However, to compensate for the lack of resistance, you’ll need to slow down these exercises.

How slow can we talk? It is slow enough to fail after 6-8 repetitions.

For a push-up, it might take between 10 and 15 seconds.

Half-rep.

For a full push-up, it takes 20-30 seconds.

You can improve your reps by making them slower. So that you reach failures in 6-8 reps, you will continue to improve. This is equivalent to increasing your weight at the gym.

2. You can stretch those pecs

Bodyweight exercises that are done in a normal manner are much easier than lifting weights. You need to do all you can to make them more difficult.

It is a great idea to do this by flexing your muscles during, after, and before the exercise.

Flex your muscles before you begin the exercise. This will look a lot like a contest pose for bodybuilding. You might look silly but nobody is watching, so try your best Arnie impression. Hulk Hogan or you.

The flexing of your muscles prior to the exercise pre-exhausts them. It basically tires your muscles to make the exercise more intense.

Focus on the muscle during exercises and give a special squeeze to stimulate muscle contractions.

After you’re done, do it again in your best Arnie (or Hulk!) impression.

3. Reduce rest period between sets

You can make it more challenging by reducing the time between exercise sessions.

You might want to rest for 60-90 seconds between sets when you first start. Gradually reduce this so that you can rest for only 45 seconds for your second set, and for 30 seconds for the third.

Another option is to do a superset-type bodyweight workout. This involves performing a set, for example, of push-ups and then moving on to a set, without rest, of squats. Next, you’ll do a set, then onto a series of dips, and finally a set, of pull-ups.

You can only rest after you’ve completed the circuit.

Summary

Building muscle without weights can be done easily and is no different from building muscle with weights.

Just make small adjustments to make it harder to do the bodyweight exercises. This will compensate for any resistance. This will allow you to stimulate muscle fibers and promote muscle growth.

For each exercise in your bodyweight training, make sure you incorporate the three techniques we have just mentioned.

You will get the best workout if you do it right.

A well-designed bodyweight workout is essential to make long-term gains from a home workout. Below is a suggested home workout for bodyweight.

Did you know?

Workout music is a great way to get motivated and increase your performance. It can also be helpful for reducing stress and improving your mood. We’ve compiled some of the best workout tracks for you to try, so be sure to check them out! What are your favorite workout songs?

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