I want to build a bit of muscle and put on about 15 kilos. I eat like a horse, but I don’t put anything on, despite doing enough workouts to give me a healthy burn in my muscles, and noticing a bit of tone. Problem is, I don’t have the money or space to keep weights, or the money or time to join another training establishment.
Anyone any good ideas for building muscle weight without any equipment?
30 lbs of muscle with no weights? Good luck.
LOL! I didn’t say that!
My eventual goal is 15 kilos but I know I’ll have to use weights to get it. For now, I just want advice for now (until I get access to some weights)!
Oh. Got’cha. A muscle isn’t an intelligent and can’t tell the difference between lifting weights and doing calisthenics. All it knows is resistance. You just need to find inventive ways to create a good amount of resistance. Wearing a weight vest, doing one-handed calisthenics, slow eccentric and exlposive concentric movements,… etc etc.
If you don’t regularly workout now, I’m a big proponent of building up a base strength with calisthenics before moving onto weights anyway. A good place for some routines is www.trainforstrength.com I have a few as well and would be happy to post them if needed. I’m sure other forum members would too.
I do work out a lot with callisthenics (if that’s like, fast things that make you breathe…?!): pushups, wide puchups, plosive pushups, hindu squats, hindu pushups, bridges, forms with weights, shadowboxing, shadowboxing with weights, chi sau (!!!), sparring… but, I’ve reached a plateau I think… now I need something to take me up a notch…
I’ll check out the link… thanks…
I am quite built despite being an ectomorph, and I hardly ever use gym equipment.
This is my routine. Note: all sets to failure. Total equipment used: 1 ‘door frame’ chin-up bar ($25), 3 x 10kg plates ($8x3), 1 gym belt to hang the plates off ($15), 2 sturdy chairs, a wall, another person.
Day 1
Upper back, biceps, lower legs.
Chinups 4 sets (last 2 sets weighted with the plates once you get over 20 with bw)
Pullups 4 sets (last 2 sets weighted with the plates once you get over 20 with bw)
Single leg calf raises 4 sets (weighted with the plates)
Day 2
Shoulders, chest, triceps, lower back, upper legs.
Handstand pushups 5 sets (feet against a wall, it’s basically a shoulder-press with your whole bodyweigh, not easy and you might only be able to do a handful at the start)
Dips 5 sets (hands on one chair, feet straight in front on another, weighted with the plates on your lap once you get over 20 with bw)
Full squats 5 sets (have person sit on your shoulder, increase size of person as needed 
)
Day 3
Rest
With the above program (which is by the way very similar to the strenght program of gymnasts) can build substantial strength and size if combined with all-out effort and good diet. Once you can do 20 chinups and dips with all 3 plates attached, 10 full handstand pushups, and 10 full squats with a big friend 
on your shoulders you are going to be rather big and strong believe me. After the above for a few years I not only put on a lot of muscle but in my occasional gym outings I am far stronger than most “bodybuilders” probably due to the compound nature of most of the exercises above.
Hope it helps,
Wall
1st off, I once read that you can only put on about a quarter-kilo a month of good lean muscle mass, even with a body-building routine.
I recommend Kettlebell lifting if the instruction and 'bell are available where you live (In Japan) You only need a minimum of one bell and some space outside to train it.
I also recommend the Power Pushup 2, it’s only $25 and really juices up your pushup workout.
Other resistance band products, you may find useful as well - inexpensive, versatile, don’t need much space.
I think you should train a low horse stance as well, even though you are Wing Chun. Not that this is going to add much mass, but it is good all-around fitness work and good for MA.
Finally, PISTOLS and JUMPING JACKS will really hit the legs hard!
Wall,
Not a bad routine for limitted equipment. I just wanted to say that elite gymnasts train with very heavy weights (bench, squats, etc) on top of their regular gymnastic exercises:
http://www.usa-gymnastics.org/publications/technique/1996/8/strength-training.html
Cheers fajing. I do lots and lots of low horse in a particularly hard six-hand chikung set. When i can’t stand in my horse, I straighten up and sink into it again until I can’t repeat that anymore, then I sit in horse again until I can’t… etc etc… 
I figure the straightening and sinking again are good for strength, and I noticed minor mass change at the start.
I’ll check out the kettlebell… oh and thanks for reminding me where I live (in Japan)…! LOL
Mat said:
I’ll check out the kettlebell… oh and thanks for reminding me where I live (in Japan)…! LOL
^ LOL
Dammit. I just typed a response, it said the file I was trying to attach was too big, and then when I clicked back it erased my response. That pissed me off.
Anyway, as I was trying to say, if your shoudlers aren’t over developed like mine, then kettlebells would probably be awesome for you. But most of the kettlebell stuff I’ve seen has been very shoulder intensive and if I tried it I would end up looking like this: (see picture).
Anyway, kettlebells really aren’t known for adding tons of size, but they would most likely make you stronger.
IronFist
no wonder ironfist always blurs out his face in pics. the self-portrait was bad enough with such little detail. :eek:
Walk up stairs on your hands and feet. Walk downstairs on your hands and feet. Think of a cat doing the same. Perhas mimic the cat.
Use a doorway to do handstand pushups. Use your feet towards the middle to press against your up push. And Think grab with the feet to stretch you as you release down. Also from up, drrop your weight and breakfall with a gentle push back up-wards…then drop again into a push.~.
Use your legs from knee to feet to hold you in-place-ish. Do the inverted push-ups with your elbows towards the sides. As you fail, they can brace you, if you start from the outside and work your way inward to find the inside edge of your limits.
Elbows to your back way and fingers pointed front way if you are strength confident.
This might be similar to what you Know of or have done before. Yet similar might not always be close enough to Same that you can dismiss caution. Please, consider easing into these inverted doorway push-ups-Ernie Moore Jr.'s Kung-Fu, Squirrel.
Very good.
Use padding, pillows… on both room floors s to soften a fall due to failure or accident. Perhaps. Very good.
Originally posted by TonyM.
15 k is a lot of weight. You sure you’re frame can comfortably support it? If you’re not large framed this could be an unrealistic goal.
I think I’ll be OK. I’m pretty ectomorphic, but I have broad shoulders, and generally the same potential build as me ol man, who is hyoooooge.
One question: how do you know when to stop? It’s like, you keep working out then one day you just wake up and can’t get out of bed…!? Are you sure it’s physically possible to put on too much weight for your frame without kind of… noticing…?:D:D:D
Cheers No-Know, good advice as usual. Just one thing: last time I mimiced my cat, I threw up three large mice. not very good for the ki…!
Very good.
Even throwing-up three mice seemingly must be good for something (strengthens/exercises stomach muscle.?.).
But this time in mimicing your cat, divide-up the work load. Let your cat stick to eating like a cat. While you stick to merely walking on your private stairs like a cat. If you walked in public like a cat you might get attention from people wanting to fit you for a pair (one unit) of white pajamas. People of both genders. Or invites to runway model.
You’ll manage it. :~>
Be well.