body weight workouts

As an ex gymnast I can tell you that bodyweight exercise done in volume and frequency can build mass and incredible balance and core strength. It is is bloody difficult though and most people will never get over the curve where it goes from insanely difficult to just plain hard.

Weights are more progressive and an easier jumping on point for most people relatively speaking. If I wanted just mass and/ or strength I'd go weights. If I wanted the other things as well then gymnastics etc are brilliant if somewhat redundant in terms of functionality.

Of course horses for courses and bodies are and react differently to stimulus.
 
I think our resident wise man and retired gymnast have explained it nicely...

Professional people who do gymnastics as either a job or very serious hobby will eventually pack on effective mass, highlighted by lean-ness to look like modern gymnasts (he says, noting there are just as many gymnasts at the Olympics that are not big). Volume is key - sure - but will the average joe manage this kind of volume in their 1-1.5hrs in an evening?

If a person does body weight exercises as a workout then they will develop a certain amount of musculature, but I will still contend that the time taken to build gymnast-esque mass will be beyond all but the most determined individuals and - therefore - not be worth doing if size and "that look" are what a person is after.

Just like me: I have phases where I rework my routine to include ridiculous amounts of volume of both Olympic and brute lifts (reminiscent of a professional weightlifter's training) and - for a time - it works really well as my technique improves and my ability to shift weights soars. But after around a month/six weeks, I stall simply because I can't keep up with the food/recovery demands of such a routine and my nervous system and muscles hit a wall.

Does this mean this routine is bad and ineffective? Not at all. Does it mean it's unsuitable for an average joe with a job, family and bags of enthusiasm? Yes. Apply the same principle to any pro's workout scheme (footballer, weightlifter, gymnast, whatever) and the outcome wI'll be the same. Does this automatically preclude anybody that isn't paid from achieving their objectives? No, but it puts it beyond the realm of all but the most determined or gifted.

EDIT: Frank Medrano is the crazy body weight exercise person. Does he have an awesome physique? Yes. Is he huge? Not from a mass perspective.
 
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Just thinking about this.. what would be quicker to get that kind of core strength. To start with and only do bodyweight exercises, or to start with a weightlifting program, put on some decent mass, then switch to only bodyweight exercises?
And can you get a reasonable amount of core strength whilst still mainly doing weights and getting 'big'? Or with the extra mass, not be possible.
Because as someone who's done years of gymnastics (ages ago mind you) and someone who dances (bboying; stopped atm but want to get back into it) I'd love to regain that kind of core strength, but also want to keep lifting at the gym.
 
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Maybe, but not if you don't already have a foundation of core stability and strength. When I started training with weights to supplement my gymnastics training the first thing my coach wanted to know before ramping the load was -
1. Can you consistently repeat the movement in good form?
2. Can you balance the bar with no hands?
3. Can you plank/ hold your legs out in front of you for 30 secs whilst hanging?

Guys who could do that squatted better and had longer gain cycles than guys who started off with relatively weaker cores.
 
There's an element of 'you are what you do', but adding a lot of (lean) mass is a hard and a slow process with diminishing returns, hence the widespread use of anabolics in bodybuilding. Hence why we always laugh when people say "but I don't want to get big!" like it's easy/something you could do by accident.
 
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