Size through Calisthenics?

[shasan]

Is this really possible?

i.e. can I build muscle/strength through pushups, chinups, using my own weight as resistance?

I've heard stories about wrestlers in India that are huge but do nothing but calisthenics.

Thoughts?

[terry]

There are some bodyweight exercises that I like. Listed below are my favorites:

Triceps. Tricep exercises such as bench dips, parallel bar dips, bar tris and rope tris are excellent. You can increase the intensity of bar tris and rope tris by elevating your feet, and you can increase the intensity of dips by hanging weight off your body. Great stuff. Or to put it another way, the french press exercise has drawbacks because: 1) you use up a lot of energy on setup and recovery and 2) there is a risk that you'll hit your head if you push it to failure.

Pullups. Great upper back pulling work. If you can do 10 sets of 10 with 30 second rests then start hanging weights from your belt. If you hang a 100 lb weight from your belt and do 100 pullups call me because I want to shake your hand.

Pushups. You can use pushups as a tool to develop many different attributes. I tend to do lower reps, e.g., 8-15 with bands. Training this way you have a normal bodyweight at the bottom but at the top, depending on what kind of band you are using, you can be lifting 300-500 lbs. Great lockout training. And if you want to train your upper chest (like on incline bench) put your feet up on a counter. Another way to work pushups is to focus on working the stabilization muscles. Chain pushups (hang chains w/ handles off a Smith machine) are great for this, especially if you also put your feet up on a fit ball.