the great debates bodyweight exercises
or free weights which one is better now
there are avid people in both camps that
adamantly believe that their method is
very clearly the better option of the
two some go as far as saying that doing
the other is absolutely pointless now we
know of course that that's just not true
there are many examples of individuals
in both camps that have gotten great
results in aspects of fitness such as
improving strength and muscle growth the
thing is anyone that tells you to avoid
doing one or the other for whatever
reason does not know the full benefit of
the alternative truthfully yes one can
be better in some ways than the other
bodyweight exercises
aka calisthenics our better-suited to
improve functional movements that are
used in daily life after all the whole
basis of calisthenics is to move your
body through space without any
restrictions free weights on the other
hand are mainly static loads where you
stay in a single place and manipulate
the weight from point A to point B for
example if you want to improve your
capabilities are moving more fluidly
through a rocky environment such as on a
hike stair runs and box jumps would be
better suited than improving your squat
however free weights have an advantage
when it comes to simplifying progression
if you wanted to build strength you
simply have to lift heavier weights this
goes the same for building muscle by
increasing volume through increasing rep
sets or load if you watch my video about
calisthenics I stated with much backlash
that bodyweight exercises are simply not
as easy to improve strength and muscle
growth and that remains true
calisthenics progression is much more
technically complex than your standard
add on more weights progression take the
push-up for example where the most
common progressions are raising your
feet off the floor dips or single arm
push-ups for free weights you can
similarly progress any dumbbell bench
press simply by lifting heavier
dumbbells for your average Joe that
simply wants to get a stronger chest
free weights clearly require less
learning effort there are also other
advantages in both camps bodyweight
exercises where the most part is
absolutely free free weight exercises
require you to either purchase weight
equipment or a gym membership for
calisthenics you can always go to a
local park that have Cal extended bars
to exercise at the very most you can
purchase things like a pull-up bar or a
suspension training system if you want
to work out from home a winning
advantage of free weights is being able
to target specific muscle groups because
calisthenics consists of many natural
and functional movements which is
usually a good thing
it requires that multiple muscle groups
are targeted at the same time however
there are cases where you do want to
isolate a specific muscle in a workout
and a great way in doing so is by using
weights whether it's because you want a
particular muscle to be stronger or
larger or because you're recovering from
an injury isolation movements are
achieved best with weights speaking of
injuries many calisthenics enthusiasts
will tell you to avoid free weight
exercises because it's easier to get
hurt now on paper it might make sense
since free weights require you to lift
heavy loads and put a lot of stress on
your muscle tendons joints and ligaments
but the fact of the matter is with a
proper training program and learning
proper form there will hardly ever be a
time where you'll place yourself in
danger of getting hurt the only times
will be if you're trying to lift the
weight that is clearly out of your
capabilities or that you're performing
an exercise with improper form and that
goes the same with bodyweight fitness
try to do a movement that you're
physically not capable of doing or do a
movement the wrong way you can just as
much hurt yourself as well so with all
this being said which one is actually
better well as boring as this may sound
it all boils down to it depends if your
goal is to pack on muscle fast without
much learning effort three weights are
for you if you want to improve your
capabilities on moving your body through
space rather than pushing big things
around then calisthenics are the way to
go it also depends on what you enjoy
doing more some people simply like
moving big heavy weights around and some
people enjoy working out in the fresh
air free of weights limiting their body
movements and the thing is even though
each have advantages it doesn't mean
that the other can't be good at it too
even though free weight exercises seem
to be the better option for building
strength and muscle there is no doubt
that calisthenics can be pretty much
limitless in these aspects as well as
long as you're willing to dedicate some
work
to it and that's the catch for most most
people just want to be healthier or look
slightly better than they do now yes
doing something like push-ups and
pull-ups can be beneficial to the
average person but things such as flag
pose or front levers mean very little to
them but if that's what you want to be
able to do then by all means do it and
that goes the same for a free weight
training many of your standard
calisthenic movements can be done with
weight added to it which technically
transform them to a free weight exercise
but of course we're talking about the
typical exercises done in a gym like
presses and back rows are great for
pretty much anyone but the majority of
people don't care to deadlift 500 pounds
off the floor but again if you're into
something like powerlifting then it's
completely reasonable to start stacking
plates on the bar ultimately the best
thing that you can do for yourself is do
both as we can see they both have great
advantages that anyone can benefit from
so why limit yourself to just one do
both and reap the benefits of both or do
one it's up to you what are other
benefits that separate calisthenics and
free weights share in the comments below
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