How can you gain lean muscle mass with Calisthenics? If you are looking to build muscle without a gym membership, you’ve come to the right place.
There are 5 main tips to gaining muscle with Calisthenics:
- Focus on Form
- Train with Intensity & Volume
- Train difficult skills
- Use a Weighted Vest or Resistance Band
- Rest & Eat Well
I have previously discussed the benefits of bodyweight or Calisthenics training here, hence I will not delve too deep into the pros and cons. Instead, I seek to share my experience and delve into how someone like myself, who is inherently skinny with an ectomorph body type can put on substantial lean muscle mass.
Tip 1: Form, Foremost
Targets correct muscle group
In the world of Calisthenics, there is nothing more blasphemous than claiming to be able to perform a skill, only to display it with a laughable posture or, “Form”. Performing a move with the correct form engages the targeted muscle group and provides the stimulus for growth.
Full Range of Motion
This is especially important when you are learning a new skill, take for example, the Pull-Up. Using “momentum” or a “shorter range-of-motion (ROM)” to compensate the lack of pulling strength is simply not stimulating your pulling muscles for growth.
Slow is Strong, Fast is Weak
If you don’t believe, many Instagram and TikTok memes have confirmed that 3 Pull-Ups with proper form is better than 10 kipping, half Pull-Ups. Jokes aside, you really shouldn’t rush and spam repetitions for the sake of it. Slow is strong, Fast is weak. Focus on proper form.
Tip 2: Train with Intensity and Volume
As discussed in this article, the problem with Calisthenics is that once your body adapts to an exercise your muscles lacks the stimulus for growth. Intensity drops, and what seemed impossible 3 months ago, feels like a warmup to you now. What then?
Increase your volume
Well, if 20 push ups aren’t enough for you, then do 40, then 60. I guarantee you that you will still benefit significantly. However, there will be a point where doing more reps just isn’t doing much for you. At that point, first of all congratulations! You probably have a physique that many would desire.
Increase your intensity
Secondly, instead of just increasing the volume, you must increase also the intensity. Instead of doing normal push-ups, try Dips, or Elevated Push-Ups, or One-Arm Push-Ups. These exercises places more load on similar groups of muscles which stimulates growth. Then, rinse and repeat, dial up the volume of reps once you master the form (Tip 1).
Tip 3: Train Difficult Skills
Ever seen a guy that can do a solid Full Planche with weak shoulders? Me neither.
My short story on my journey to transformation
A few years back while I was in the military, I decided to embark on my Calisthenics journey. I had one goal in mind: To master the Planche. While in the military, I met buddies whom I haven’t seen in 5 months. They told me that they couldn’t believe I had been so built in less that half a year. I used to be one skinny kid but that slowly changed when I started training the Planche.
Yep that's me starting out at 57kg bodyweight :)
Compromising Time Under Tension (TUT) for muscle growth?
What about “Time Under Tension (TUT)”? Wouldn’t training difficult skills purely benefit strength alone, leaving little space of muscle growth? As such skills requires almost 100% exertion of effort, your "Time Under Tension" remains to be very little. That probably is true but it isn’t the whole story.
You will need to find you own sweet spot when pursuing higher difficulty level skills. If it’s too intense with little reps, you are training for strength. If it’s too easy where you compensate with a high volume of reps, you are training endurance. However, in Calisthenics, unlocking a wider variety from easy to hard skills, will give you more agency and flexibility in your workout to build muscle.
Ideal rep range for muscle growth
A rough yardstick of the sweet spot would be performing a skill that allows you to hit failure within 6-12 reps for dynamic skills and 8-20 seconds for isometric skills. That is where the magic of muscle growth happens.
Tip 4: Consider a Weighted Vest or using Resistance Bands
Muscle gaining hack in Calisthenics: Weighted Vest
If the above (Tip 3) is too complicated for you, you can increase the intensity of an exercise with a weighted vest. But what will a few extra kg/lbs do? Trust me 1kg extra is PLENTY. If you don’t believe me, try it out yourself. Doing pushups or pull-ups with 10% of your bodyweight extra is 200% more difficult. With the weighted vest, you can dial up or down the intensity, without performing a harder skill. It’s a whole gym in one equipment.
Target muscle groups with Resistance Bands
Resistance bands covers all the remaining specific muscles that common Calisthenics exercise might miss. Attach them to any structure or bar and you can perform specific movement and training that targets specific muscle groups. Think of it like a touch up to sculpt your physique into your ideal.
Tip 5: Rest & Nutrition
Muscles don’t grow when you are working out. They grow when you rest. And they can only do so when you nourish them with sufficient protein. Consume plenty of protein, carbohydrates, water, and other vitamins and minerals. Remember the food pyramid we learnt in school?
Stick to the basics for muscle growth
Yes, turns out that isn’t total BS. I am no nutritionist so please consult your own doctor or physician keeping in mind your own body needs and condition. Have the recommended 7 hours of quality sleep for optimal muscle growth during the period. Give a chance for you body to repair those damage muscle fibers.
Verdict
It is entirely possible for a skinny person to build muscle. You have to be very consistent and intentional about your training. You also need to nourish yourself with a healthy and plentiful diet to gain mass. For most of us out there, this simple plan will work. Please don’t immediately think that you are the exception. I used to think there were worms in my gut hence I wasn’t able to gain weight. Until I started eating… a lot more. It really isn’t too complicated.