Is a bodyweight bodybuilder even a thing? It sure is! Here's how Danny Kavadlo helped craft one athlete's physique to take home the top prize!
I know what some of you are probably thinking: "Here's that lewd, tattooed dude from Brooklyn again. Sure, he knows about calisthenics, but what the heck can he possibly tell me about serious mass and bodybuilding?"
It's OK. My feelings aren't hurt. The very notion of "bodyweight bodybuilding" is sure to ruffle some feathers. But more importantly, it also raises many questions. Here are just a few that I've received over the years:
Can bodyweight-only training substantially alter my physique?
Is it possible to target a selected muscle group using bodyweight training only?
Can you really put on mass with calisthenics?
No, really? Can you?
The answer to all of these questions is a resounding yes! Or at least, it is if you incorporate the following rules into your training.
Rule 1: Employ Progressive Resistance
In the world of bodybuilding, success is based on attributes like muscle symmetry, size, shape, and proportions. It is not just what your muscles look like individually, it's also how they relate to your body as a whole. For this reason, the uniqueness of any given bodybuilder's anatomy will dictate some of the specific details within their training. Still, all bodybuilders employ progressive resistance to shape and control the development of their musculature.
When you use external resistance, you can increase the load simply by adding more weight to the apparatus. This is true whether you're working with a barbell, dumbbell, or isolation machine. Adding more iron will make it heavier. It's a no-brainer.
However, for those who train using bodyweight, it's more subtle—and I would argue, more sublime. Because your body's weight will not change from set to set, you have to artfully increase the resistance by making adjustments to the exercise, rather than to the load.
Rule 2: Rep Out
Unlike training for absolute strength, where we generally shoot for 1-5 reps using around 80-90 percent of our maximum load—or a version of an exercise we can only perform for those reps—our goal in bodyweight bodybuilding is to build and sculpt muscle mass.
In this case, we need more reps. I generally suggest the 8-12 rep range, with 60-80 percent of your max, where you really have to fight for it toward the end of each set. This will allow you to inflict more damage on the muscle fibers, which is one of the well-established mechanisms of muscle growth.
When you can't adjust the load on the bar or weight stack, it may seem tricky to gauge 60-80 percent of your max. It doesn't have to be. I recommend choosing exercises where your maximum efforts are reached in that 8-12 rep zone, while still maintaining good form.
Rule 3: Split It Up
Calisthenics goes hand in hand with full-body workouts. However, in the case of bodyweight bodybuilding, this may not be the best approach. Because you aim to target and exhaust your muscles—as opposed to leaving some proverbial "gas in the tank"—you'll probably get better results when you train each muscle group more intensely, but less frequently.
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