Like most Januaries, my New Year’s resolution was to work out more consistently but this time (much to my own surprise), I actually stuck to it. After a long and tedious series of trial and error with different types of workouts, I figured out that I enjoyed walking and Pilates. Just as I was getting accustomed to doing Pilates with some semblance of consistency, the internet jumped onto a new fitness wagon: heavy weights.
Apparently, muscle building is paramount to staying fit, and weights are the way to go? My friend, who has historically shown little to no interest in exercising, suddenly picked up dumbbells and emerged with noticeably defined arms. In a moment of equal parts envy and admiration, I wondered whether I was missing something by sticking to bodyweight-led workouts.
Do you really need to lift weights to become stronger?
“Bodyweight training is brilliant for body awareness, control, balance and endurance – and also a wonderful way to begin,” says strength coach Zoe Modgill. “But weight training is incredibly valuable when the goal is to build significant muscle, increase bone strength, develop the legs and posterior chain and continue getting stronger over the long term.” This distinction helped me define my goal of ‘getting fit’ better; was I looking to build muscle, improve bodily endurance or a body that was simply more capable?
What happened when I stuck to bodyweight workouts
My version of bodyweight-led workouts wasn’t advanced calisthenics or handstand push ups, it was me following (read: trying to keep up with) Madeleine Abeid tutorials. And slowly, I noticed greater endurance and everyday physical tasks had become easier. My shoulders and waist appeared more defined and I felt stronger without prominent muscle growth .
Bodyweight training vs. weightlifting
My friend, Dhuwni Suri, who went with a heavy weights focused approach, had a different experience altogether. “I had recently read about osteoporosis, where bones become weak and fragile with age. I learnt that for women, our bone health starts deteriorating much faster than men. And one of the ways to slow this down is by building muscle mass, which is possible through weight training,” she says. “Initially, I was sore and everything had become a task: walking, sitting, stretching, lying down and even peeing.” But as she continued, she noticed better sleep and more energy. Long hours of work and commute no longer felt as exhausting. Then, came in changes that were visible; her biceps became more prominent and triceps more defined. “Also, I can now easily lift heavy shopping bags,” shares Suri.
Interestingly, although our experiences were very different, we had similar results. We both noticed better sleep, boosts of energy and improved physical capacity. The difference was in how these changes manifested themselves outwardly. Where she noticed her muscles becoming more pronounced, I saw my body get more toned.
So what should you go for?
“One of the biggest upsides of bodyweight training is that it teaches you to move your own body efficiently. People often underestimate how challenging that actually is,” explains Pilates instructor, Divya. It’s a common misconception that bodyweight training is ‘easy’, a push up, a plank, or even a squat is resistance training, the resistance just happens to be your own body.
Where bodyweight training starts to fall short
“Bodyweight training can absolutely build strength, particularly for beginners or anyone learning to control their body better. But there is a limit to how easily you can keep progressing. As you become stronger, you often need increasingly advanced skills just to create enough resistance. Adding weights makes that progression far simpler and much more effective,” says Modgill. In other words, your bodyweight can only take you so far. A beginner may struggle with a standard push-up, but someone more experienced can progress to single-arm variations. The exercise doesn’t change, but the resistance changes.
