Is it true you can't overtrain doing bodyweight exercises?

[Dorian'sDisciple]

I have noticed that many gymnasts and military men,some boxers have decent physiques...not freaky mass but a moderate amount of muscle and excellent conditioning.

A lot of them do pushups/dips/pullups every single day. Why do they not overtrain doing this? if they do overtrain they still make strength gains and don't suffer muscular atrophy.

finally, my pullup strength is very poor. Could i fastrack my pullup strength by doing them 5/6 days a week like these guys?

 

[Dial_tone]

None of those people are concerned with *maximizing* muscle size or size. They're after muscular endurance; the size is more or less an unintended by-product. Look at track cyclists. The sprinters have huge thighs and they ride nearly every single day for months on end.

 

[psychedout]

In short, yes you can ovetrain doing bodyweight only exercises.

 

[Dorian'sDisciple]

None of those people are concerned with *maximizing* muscle size or size. They're after muscular endurance; the size is more or less an unintended by-product. Look at track cyclists. The sprinters have huge thighs and they ride nearly every single day for months on end.

That is not the point. The fact is by product or not they still get some size and improve on the exercises.. ergo: they don't appear to overtrain.

Thus, would it not be useful to increase my pullup strength by doing them 5-6 times a week

 

[Dorian'sDisciple]

In short, yes you can ovetrain doing bodyweight only exercises.

Well I'm afraid that's too short to be useful

 

[guldukat]

That is not the point. The fact is by product or not they still get some size and improve on the exercises.. ergo: they don't appear to overtrain.

Gotta disagree here, DD--that's a leap in logic. One could certainly attain some size before they were quagmired in overtraining; I see examples of that pretty much every time I step into a commerical gym.

You can only conclude the gymnasts et al. definitely aren't overtraining if they continue to grow, which is rare (not to mention too general...all gymnasts aren't created equal).

 

[psychedout]

Well I'm afraid that's too short to be useful

Well, ill put it like this. You can do chins and dips all day long, everday of the week, and you might gain some size.

But if you give yourself 4-6 days of rest between them (or hit each bodypart once a week) id be willing to be my life savings you would gain more size.

 

[bignate73]

it depends on your recovery time. would you get better at pullups, yes, your CNS and muscular system would adapt to that workload. would you plateau, yes as well. if someone cant do pushups, then doing pushups every day could help them improve, but they run the risk of overtraining because they are weak. for someone who can bang out pushups all day long, that wont overtrain them....they are conditioned to it.

 

[Dial_tone]

That is not the point. The fact is by product or not they still get some size and improve on the exercises.. ergo: they don't appear to overtrain.

It is exactly the point. Think about how much bigger they could be if they were resting every other day. Their sports involve technique that needs to be practiced everyday. Do you know any top powerlifters squatting 4-5 days a week?

 

[lavi]

I don't see why it matters if the weight comes from your body or iron...