If all you do are bodyweight exercises like pushups, dips, pull-ups, jumping), then YES, you can get a ripped physique.
And I mean really ripped if you apply the very important element of HARD WORK + the right eating habits.
However, you’re fooling yourself if you believe that hard work won’t be involved, and that includes diet.
Here is what you need to make bodyweight exercises create that ripped bod.
The bodyweight exercises necessary to chisel your physique are the following:
1) Chin-ups/pull-ups, 2) Parallel bar dips, 3) Seated dips, 4) Pushups, 5) Narrow pushups, 6) Squats, 7) Plyometrics.
Shutterstock/Zeljko Matic
• Chin-ups/pull-ups work the back muscles, biceps and forearms
• Dips work mainly the triceps
• Pushups work the chest, triceps and shoulders
• Narrow pushups work triceps
• Squats work the thighs and butt
• Plyometrics (jumping) work the thighs, butt and calves.
Let’s assume your eating habits are conducive to obtaining a low body fat percentage, and all you need is strength training to get a ripped body.
With the seven bodyweight exercises mentioned, you’ll achieve a ripped look, provided you work out very intensely.
Shutterstock/Straight 8 Photography
So let’s take seated dips, with feet propped on second bench—let’s say these come easy to you. You must make these harder. How do you do that without adding metal weights?
You can increase intensity by:
a) elevating feet higher
b) placing your hands as close together as possible
c) and/or holding the down position for five seconds for every rep.
Also increase the intensity of pushups by elevating your feet and/or holding the down position for five seconds, or add some clapping in between.
For parallel bar dips, hold the down position for 2-3 seconds to increase intensity.
Shutterstock/sklyareek
Chin-ups/pull-ups should be done without any cheating for best muscle recruitment, including recruitment of the biceps.
Pull up as high as possible to get as much biceps work as possible. Lower to a near-complete hang.
If you lower only half the way or even three-quarters’ way, this is incomplete range of motion.
If you can knock these off with full range, going up as high as possible, then increase intensity by:
a) taking 10 seconds to lower
b) doing the infamous twenty-ones
c) or by stopping midpoint for 10 seconds for every repetition.
Now, for ultra-intensity, as you perform a pull-up, release the bar or handles when you’re at the top, but then you quickly grab it in a chin-up position, lower, raise, release and grab in a pull-up position, and just see how many of these “plyometric” pull-ups/chin-ups you can get done.
This takes bodyweight training to the max.
To further increase intensity to these bodyweight exercises, do supersets.
For instance, right after chin-ups to muscle failure, bang out some pushups to failure, then seated dips to failure. Good luck!
So how can squats with just bodyweight be intense enough to get that ripped look in your legs?
You may think bodyweight squats are way too easy, but just attempt bodyweight squats with one leg, using a stability ball against a wall, and you’ll feel quite different! Squat so that your thighs are parallel to the floor.
If you think bodyweight squats with two legs are of no use, do 100 without stopping, then re-evaluate your thoughts.
Or perhaps every, say, tenth squat, you can throw in 10 pushups.
Shutterstock/F8 studio
Combine bodyweight squats with some plyometrics: Do two-leg bodyweight squats, and instead of coming up with a normal squat, jump up as high as possible—for one minute.
-Rest a few minutes, then do squat jumps for 60 seconds. Rest a few.
-Do deep walking lunges for 60 seconds. Rest a few.
-Do stool jumps for 60 seconds. Rest a few.
-Do switch jumps (“scissor lunges”) for 60 seconds.
You’ll be burnt toast by the end.
You can do all sorts of supersets, like throwing in switch jumps right after the pushups, or bunny hopping for about one minute after wide-grip pull-ups.
You can clearly see, from all of these examples, just how bodyweight exercises alone can create a ripped physique.
Shutterstock, Zeljko Matic
You do not need to perform every bodyweight exercise in one session.
You can have, for example, just a pull-up/chin-up day, and then just a pushup/squat day, and then the third day can be just dips and jumping routines.
Lorra Garrick is a former personal trainer certified through the American Council on Exercise. At Bally Total Fitness she trained women and men of all ages for fat loss, muscle building, fitness and improved health.
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