Two of my absolute favorites. For me, these two things are what contributed to making me the size that I am.
There are so many ways to do both of them too. I like to superset my pull-ups with push-ups. I do 10 pull-ups, rest a little, 25 push-ups with my elbows tucked in to my sides, 10 more pull-ups, etc. Then I start putting my hands out a little wider and flaring my elbows out on both exercises. With the push-ups I start pinching my shoulder blades back to hit my chest more.
Anyway, I just thought I’d post something, because I really think these two simple things are very underrated. I get the best pump ever from doing this.
Some high-twitch muscle freaks might not feel the same about this… but that’s cool. Whatever works for you. This is what helped me out a lot.
I agree. I havent touched traditional weights in a year and I have become much bigger. I would like to add that one-arm pushups and hand stand pushups (without the wall) are great as well. For the leg, weighted pistols. Actually adding weight to any bodyweight exercise works wonders.
Push-ups are nice and can give you a good pump, but if you have decent levels of strength, they aren’t going to make you stronger (unless you do one-arm pushups). Pull-ups work fantastic for a longer period of time since you are moving more of your bodyweight, but eventually you’ll want to add weight.
At the same time, I’d want to make sure you do some rowing movements, rotator cuff work and upper back/rear delt work because all those push-ups and pull-ups are going to be murder on your shoulders if you don’t.
Also, I wouldn’t rely on them exclusively for a workout.
I recently purchased the Upper Body Blast Straps from Elitefts.com. They are awesome! Not only do they make push-ups much better (working stabilizer muscles), but you can do a variety of other exercises (rows, chins, dips, ab fallouts, curls, rear delt flyes, pec flyes, etc.
They come in handy for some of the exercises I use during my Westside template.