BODYWEIGHT VS. LIFTING
What type of workout is more effective
There are a lot of discussions which type of workout is better, which is more effective for muscle mass gain or for strength. Bodyweight Exercises or Calisthenics fans claim that their workouts are better and healthier for joints and Gym Lifters say that lifting weights is more effective for muscle gains. Let's check some differences between those two Workout Styles:
1. The main difference is:
- Bodyweight exercises doesn't require any equipment
- Lifting weights, of course, requires equipment
That is the first difference between those two types of training and it is obvious. For push ups, squats and dips you don't need any special equipment and you can even do pull ups on stairs, on doors or anything else on what you can hang. That means you don't need to buy weights and you don't have to pay for a gym session, that is clear.
So, for money saving Bodyweight Exercises are much better. Let's continue with other differences.
2. Targeting muscle group is much easier with weights than with bodyweight exercises
Bodyweight Exercises are mostly compound moves and they are not so good for isolating muscle like weights, but that does not have to be a bad thing for Bodyweight Training, it is better to work whole body equally from the beginning that isolating one by one muscle group. Also, compound exercises with weights are great for focusing on more than one muscle.
We can say that Bodyweight Exercises and Weights Lifting are almost equal here, you can do full body training with bodyweight or with weights but you can't totally isolate muscle with bodyweight exercises.
3. Hypertrophy (Muscle Growth)
You can gain more and faster muscle gains with Bench Press that with Push Ups and with Military Presses than with Pike Push Ups, but one the best exercises for Muscle Growth is Pull Up (or Chin Up variation).
Yes, Pull Up is a great exercise for hypertrophy and a lot of other bodyweight exercises are effective for muscle growth but we must say that lifting weight is giving faster muscle gains. A lot of Bodybuilders perform bodyweight exercises in their training programs so we can say that is better to combine those two styles for better muscle gains.
4. What is safer and healthier for our joints?
We all must agree that bodyweight exercises are way too safer and healthier for our joins. Machine exercises are the safest but they are effective for muscle growth and strength increasing. Also for muscle balance bodyweight exercises are better.
So what is the conclusion, both training styles are great and we should perform both of them on our training days. Or, we are not able to go to gym anyhow then we can do the training session with bodyweight exercises at home or at work or anywhere. I combine both of these training styles and I am happy with that but you choose what you like more.
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