T Nation

Bodybuilding With ONLY Calisthenics

#1

maybe about 3 years back we got a new trainer at the gym i was working at. 5'7 210lbs and jackkkkkkkkkkeeeed.
naturally i was curious what he did to get to that point. he answered push ups and pull ups. i rudely called him out saying that he had to lift some kind of weights.. but apparently he didn't need to.

according to him, he would start in the morning with about 500 - 800 pushups, which would take 2 - 3 hours to complete.

for pull ups he tried to finish 300 throughout the day

and yea, 1000 crunches. (he had no abs though)

i still didn't believe him until i saw him trying to bench 135lbs. he got it up 20 times, but he was shaking, and his form was less than acceptable.

he caved in and started lifting weights about a month after. his lifts went through the roof in no time, but he couldn't do 500 push ups anymore, nor the 300 pull ups.

#2

I once rode a dragon

#3

Just like mechanics have big forearms without lifting weight

#4

LOL

#5

3 hours of pushups?

That's it, I'm quitting my current routine and doing that.

/sarcasm

#6

bodyweight exercises are FUKKN EXCELLENT, ever seen a gymnast?? u are a perfect example of a T-MAN wannabe, who never really reads the articles but likes to run their pie-hole on the discussion board, maybe if you actually READ T-Nation u would know somethin , you jerk-off--, POSER!!!!

#7

LOL

#8

Holy irony.

#9

Whenever someone says calisthenics I automatically think jumping jacks, jump rope and basic stretching. Maybe I am a little slow.

#10

Nice trolling. (I hope)

#11

So does this guy ever train legs?

Gerdy

#12

would you happen to have pics or a website of this guy? I'd like to see him

#13

Imagine if he actually lifted weights how he might be, or better yet, if he just added resistance to those bw exercises.

#14

My neighbor was pretty big from only bodyweight exercises.

#15

I have no idea where this thread is going... but.... Lots of guys get jacked in the military by mostly doing bodyweight stuff. Sure, there are rucksacks and weapons, but the point is they are lifting that stuff everyday. It takes years, but it eventually happens.

#16

Back when Herschel Walker was in college, SI did a story on him where he claimed to only do bodyweight exercises, various types of pushups, etc.

Of course, now he says he has multiple personalities so maybe one of them was actually hitting the weight room behind his back.

#17

I dont understand what the mysticism behind body weight exercises are.

It's almost like, the availability of weights has made bodyweight exercises rare.

As if you're average young man is more like to see a bench press for exercise rather than, do pushups.

This is odd, I think classic body builders from the golden age had the opposite mentality.

Those guys started out wit body weight exercises, and figured once you have mastered those, then you start lifting to lift even more weight than the weight of your body.

Further, I remember Arnie said, before you start lifting you should have a base in pushups, situps, squats, and pullups.

Shit, I think Lee Priest started as a gymnast.

#18

When i first started around 14 years ago now, i used to just do Pushups x 100, BW Squats, Bicep Curls with 2L Water Bottle, Crunches x 100, Calf Raises x 100 everynight.. it order to get as muscley as i could for school - me and all my friends always compared biceps, triceps, calves in class..
I always was behind the kid who had a home gym (and probably stunted growth!) and the kid who was a serious climber.. man, he WAS jacked.. really. At 14 he had pecs, the lot. Even at 15, we never knew really what steroids were.. but we suspected him! lol!

It gave me a great start for when i got my first weights set, i have always been one of the better shaped lads..

Joe

#19

its nice to read something on this forum that isnt a "critique my program" or "please tell me what to do" isn't it?

my manager is a ranger and although he isn't what you consider a bodybuilder, he's not someone i would fuck with.

#20

i think i saw him do some leg presses once. or was that him?