I once heard: "There is no way to train big muscles with bare-hand training! You can only train with weights!". There must be some misunderstanding. Weight training can achieve the effect of muscle hypertrophy, and freehand training can also achieve the effect of muscle hypertrophy, but it can never replace weight training. Here is a foreign translation: "How to use bare hand training to build muscle", you can take a look.
Hand training can also build muscle, and emerging trends suggest that simply using body weight, without additional weight, has the potential to build muscle. There is one key factor in muscle growth: (muscle overload stimulation). This stimulation has nothing to do with whether you hold dumbbells, barbells or machines. Unfortunately, it has nothing to do with whether the equipment is expensive or whether the exercise technique is powerful. Simply put, if you provide enough stimulation to the muscles, the body will be forced to build more muscles. And the tools in the gym are just a shortcut. But freehand training will never replace weight training, but is another way to train to build muscle. "Comprehensive collection of free-hand abdominal muscle exercises”
The following provides a few simple methods that can be added to your original freehand training plan:
■ Method 1: Open your potential
When the activity of the nervous system is increased, it is easier to achieve good lifting results. When the nervous system is in a state of dormancy and sleep, it is almost impossible to improve muscle strength and performance. Without a proper warm-up before performing traditional weight training, your muscle fibers are unable to work properly with each other, leading to major deficiencies in strength and performance. There are two ways to solve this problem:
1. Warm up thoroughly and sweat slightly.
For freehand training, the warm-up seems to be short sets of squats (stop for a while when squatting down), pull-ups and push-ups, but remember not to fatigue.
2. Add some explosive movements to the original training.
Explosive and high-load strength training has the ability to "ignite the nervous system and activate more muscle fibers." This effect is called "post-activation gain." These challenging moves stimulate the nervous system and strengthen muscle recruitment. This benefit can be integrated into your existing freehand training.
◎ Supplement: The so-called post-activation gain effect is mentioned in [The Effect of Warm-up Exercises on Sports Performance]:
Another mechanism by which warm-up activities contribute to muscle function is the so-called post-activation gain effect, which means that when muscles contract, they increase the sensitivity of muscle fibers to calcium ions, increasing the thickness and thickness of muscles. The activity of cross-wire bridges increases the force and speed of muscle contraction. At the same time, warming up can reduce the viscosity in muscle fibers and increase the range of muscle and joint activity. Therefore, stronger exercises can be performed during exercise and muscle damage can be reduced.
You can start performing challenging explosive movements, such as "Squat jumps" or "ladders Taiwan squat jump":
Squat jump
Ladder squat jump
After the explosive movements are completed, you can directly continue with more traditional freehand training focusing on muscle strength, focusing on the number of reps.
Here is an example of a chest workout:
Ladder squat jump, 3-5 times
Rest for 15 seconds
Handstand or push-ups with feet high and hands low, 5 to 8 times
Rest for 15 seconds
Traditional push-ups 8~12 times
Rest for 2 minutes, then repeat
■ Method 2: Isometric exercise
Isometric exercises are often overlooked. If used properly, it has value in strength or hypertrophy training. In addition to muscle growth, it also increases joint stability and strength. The focus of the movement is to place tension on the entire muscle. When a joint is in a certain position, tension is placed more on the bone structure than on muscle contraction. Isometric exercise can be added at the end of training. The muscles will feel burning. Here is an example:
□ Lower body:
Repeat the following cycle, 5 times, without resting in between:
Squat jump x 5 times
Stay in the squat position for 30 seconds.
□ Upper body:
Repeat the following cycle, 3 times, without resting in between:
Pull-ups x 5 times
Do pull-ups (elbows at 90 degrees) and try your best to see how long you can hold up.
■ Method 3: Posture angle affects weight bearing
The intensity of freehand training is related to gravity. Judging from the push-up, due to the relationship between force vectors, the weight provided to the hands will also be different. For example, if the hands are placed higher than the feet, the weight-bearing ratio of the hands will be reduced; and if the feet are placed Raising the height (putting it on the box) will increase the weight on the hands.
When you train, start with the "hardest" intensity where your body can maintain good form. To put it in a push-up position, it means raising your feet. In terms of free-hand supine hanging arm extensions, keep your body as parallel to the ground as possible. When you're tired, move to an easier position. This allows you to perform more exercises and increase your overall training volume without having to switch to new exercises.
In fact, hand training and machines are useful. Muscle hypertrophy mainly relies on high-tension stimulation caused by high loads. Calisthenics is one of the options. If you are unable to go to the gym, calisthenics is an effective alternative, but it cannot replace gym equipment.