Can I achieve a better aesthetic with body weight exercises only?
- Thread starter tianguis
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- female fitness
@tianguis I'm shorter than you, but my body composition was similar when I first started working out and fixing my diet: slim and at a healthy weight, but I still carried extra weight mostly in my belly and it's been stubborn since having kids.
But I made a lot of progress and I'm really happy with my aesthetic results even though I'm still working on it. I recently bought jeans in a size 25 waist!
I did bodyweight strength training for about a year because I didn't have access to a good gym, and I wanted something more challenging than yoga. I used the Recommended Routine at r/bodyweightfitness. It is a really fantastic program and I saw muscle gains everywhere in just a few weeks. I had a kettlebell at home and resistance bands, which offer extra challenge.
I recently switched to weightlifting and have seen even better results, in a shorter time frame. But weightlifting is not as fun as bodyweight fitness. They both have their merits, and now I try to balance things out throughout the week: weightlifting, power yoga and bodyweight strength exercises, and daily cycling.
Diet: You mentioned in another comment that you tried eating only 1200 calories. I've been there and in my experience, eating at a big deficit was the worst thing I tried for my fitness journey. I was hungry, cranky, stressed about food, too focused on the scale, didn't have energy for exercising, and was prone to binge eating. I highly suggest you spend some time gathering some data on yourself to figure out how much you really can eat, either to lose weight steadily without suffering or to maintain while you recomp your body--I think you'll be surprised. The tdee spreadsheet in the sidebar is super helpful.
Now I eat between 1500-1700 calories a day at maintenance. Anything below that and I'm too hungry, unless I'm completely sedentary for several days. For reference I'm 5'0 and weigh around 110lbs, and aim to workout for an hour about 2-3x a week (outside of ~20 minutes of daily cycle commuting).
Wishing you a lot of luck on your journey!
But I made a lot of progress and I'm really happy with my aesthetic results even though I'm still working on it. I recently bought jeans in a size 25 waist!
I did bodyweight strength training for about a year because I didn't have access to a good gym, and I wanted something more challenging than yoga. I used the Recommended Routine at r/bodyweightfitness. It is a really fantastic program and I saw muscle gains everywhere in just a few weeks. I had a kettlebell at home and resistance bands, which offer extra challenge.
I recently switched to weightlifting and have seen even better results, in a shorter time frame. But weightlifting is not as fun as bodyweight fitness. They both have their merits, and now I try to balance things out throughout the week: weightlifting, power yoga and bodyweight strength exercises, and daily cycling.
Diet: You mentioned in another comment that you tried eating only 1200 calories. I've been there and in my experience, eating at a big deficit was the worst thing I tried for my fitness journey. I was hungry, cranky, stressed about food, too focused on the scale, didn't have energy for exercising, and was prone to binge eating. I highly suggest you spend some time gathering some data on yourself to figure out how much you really can eat, either to lose weight steadily without suffering or to maintain while you recomp your body--I think you'll be surprised. The tdee spreadsheet in the sidebar is super helpful.
Now I eat between 1500-1700 calories a day at maintenance. Anything below that and I'm too hungry, unless I'm completely sedentary for several days. For reference I'm 5'0 and weigh around 110lbs, and aim to workout for an hour about 2-3x a week (outside of ~20 minutes of daily cycle commuting).
Wishing you a lot of luck on your journey!
@pamray62 Thanks! That’s what I’m gathering from several of the comments, 1200 is too low and that’s why it was so hard! I just went with that because it worked for me a few years back but after having a baby it definitely seems harder.
I will recalculate my calorie intake to be more appropriate and focus more on exercise!
I will recalculate my calorie intake to be more appropriate and focus more on exercise!
@pamray62 This is solid advice OP and second for recommending the TDEE spreadsheet. If it was up to me I would be eating around 1400-1500 to lose 1lb per week. But using the spreadsheet I know I can eat up to 1700/day to lose. That's a nice bump. I just takes a few weeks to calibrate what your needs are.
ETA: what does your week look like blending weight lifting with BWF? Do you have 1 full body BWF day and one full body weight lifting day? Sounds like a well rounded routine.
ETA: what does your week look like blending weight lifting with BWF? Do you have 1 full body BWF day and one full body weight lifting day? Sounds like a well rounded routine.
@inneed87 Thanks! I spent 5 weeks logging the tdee spreadsheet religiously, and could not believe I was losing weight (albeit incrementally) at ~1550 calories. It was so eye-opening and really relieved a ton of stress and misconceptions I had about diet.
As for my typical week, it varies because I work on-call. But it usually looks like: 2x a week weightlifting with 1+ rest day in between, and then 1x a week home workout, either bodyweight or strength-based yoga (using youtube), and if I have extra time or energy in the week I add another 30-40 minute session of yoga focusing on mobility or flexibility. Every once in a while I try to go to a class at the gym, either yoga, functional strength or a Gravity machine class.
I wish I could consistently lift 3x a week, but I find it too taxing (I'm 40 and new-ish to lifting), and I prefer to keep it mixed up to avoid injury or burnout.
As for my typical week, it varies because I work on-call. But it usually looks like: 2x a week weightlifting with 1+ rest day in between, and then 1x a week home workout, either bodyweight or strength-based yoga (using youtube), and if I have extra time or energy in the week I add another 30-40 minute session of yoga focusing on mobility or flexibility. Every once in a while I try to go to a class at the gym, either yoga, functional strength or a Gravity machine class.
I wish I could consistently lift 3x a week, but I find it too taxing (I'm 40 and new-ish to lifting), and I prefer to keep it mixed up to avoid injury or burnout.
@inneed87 I'm seeing a physical therapist about an old knee problem, and he said that varying your workouts is really good for your body. That helps me to not feel discouraged about my relatively slow progress with my lifts. The plus side of getting older, is that doing any kind of workout consistently is going to be beneficial!
@tianguis Try this routine out http://www.startbodyweight.com/p/start-bodyweight-basic-routine.html. I would recommend supplementing with deadlifts in the gym. If you want glutes, check out the type of exercises https://www.instagram.com/katiesonier/?hl=en does. Hip thrusts, glute bridges, kettle ball swings, frog pumps, etc.
@valdenice Thank you!! That link is so helpful 
@tianguis You can gain muscle and lose weight doing practically any exercise if you stick to it. The problem is sticking to it. I would highly recommend getting a gym membership and getting a few personal trainer sessions to help demystify the equipment 
.
Correct form is imperative for body weight exercises. And if you're doing everything at home with no fitness experience, you won't know what proper form looks or feels like. I've got a physical therapist now, and I've just now realized stuff I've done for years, like planks, I was doing with incorrect form.
. Correct form is imperative for body weight exercises. And if you're doing everything at home with no fitness experience, you won't know what proper form looks or feels like. I've got a physical therapist now, and I've just now realized stuff I've done for years, like planks, I was doing with incorrect form.
@tianguis Yes, you totally can do it. I'm 5'4 and started at ~132 lbs and got down to a lean 114 lbs doing weight training only, zero cardio. (My "after" photo is posted first, and my "before" is the bottom one: here. Apologies for not posing the same in each photo.)
For me it was all about counting calories. Not estimating or eyeballing but actually weighing all of my food using a food scale and logging it in an app. I found that I was pretty inaccurate otherwise.
I did the Starting Strength program 3x per week to build/maintain muscle. It was pretty rough as my TDEE is like 1700 max, so I had to cut to 1500 or lower most days.
For me it was all about counting calories. Not estimating or eyeballing but actually weighing all of my food using a food scale and logging it in an app. I found that I was pretty inaccurate otherwise.
I did the Starting Strength program 3x per week to build/maintain muscle. It was pretty rough as my TDEE is like 1700 max, so I had to cut to 1500 or lower most days.
@gkens Thanks! To be honest right now I’m more in the middle of the two photos at about 119 lbs. Comments like yours are motivating me to get back into it!
I used to be able to do 40 real pushups and two unassisted pull-ups. My squats weren’t anything to brag about, but I can build back up to it. My idea is to track calories and set strength goals rather than weight goals for now.
I used to be able to do 40 real pushups and two unassisted pull-ups. My squats weren’t anything to brag about, but I can build back up to it. My idea is to track calories and set strength goals rather than weight goals for now.
sciencechi
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raistlinmagic
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@tianguis I definitely found the gym intimidating for a while. For me it helped to do some work with a personal trainer and that has seriously boosted my confidence. I now feel ok with going to the gym and using the weights on my own. Some gyms offer a free session with a PT which could be helpful