“You’ll reap better gains if you go to the gym rather than doing calisthenics”.
This has been the thought of many for a long time throughout the fitness industry.
People think you can’t progressively overload doing calisthenics, which is true when doing regular calisthenics, but false when doing weighted calisthenics.
So the gym has been a spot for many trying to get stronger, which is fine.
But don’t underestimate the power of calisthenics; I built strength and muscle, and even improved my rep maxes from working out at home.
For example, I went from 8 reps of 40kg on the squat and then one year later, I did 12 reps with 60kg. And all I did was weighted squat jumps.
On the other hand, I have been to the gym, and there are so many machines and equipment you can use to work out, which I like.
And when I use them, they work my muscles very well!
So in this article, I’ll be putting calisthenics and the gym up for comparison on these factors:
- Convenience
- Price & opportunities
- Time
- Space
- Risk of injury & learning as a beginner
- Range of exercises
- Muscle & strength building abilities
Convenience
Convenience is being able to proceed with both these ways without difficulty, and how useful and suitable it is. I’ll use the sub-factors of its price relative to its opportunities, time effectiveness, risk of injury and the ability to learn it as a beginner to judge these ways of working out.
First, let’s look at the price & opportunities.
Price & opportunities
Gym
Gym memberships can vary, but they’re generally around £15 a month. However, you don’t just get 2 benches and a machine, there’s tons of equipment you can use for that price.
You can also stay in the gym as long as you want, so you can work on those muscles till they can’t move any more!
You can also go every day, which means equipment that would cost hundreds of pounds to buy yourself is at the gym for you to use 24/7, and that’s what the gym is for!
However, it’s a fixed cost; you’re paying for what you don’t use, and when you’re not in the gym. But this is a minor problem because you will use most of the equipment and not miss too many sessions to the point where you’re paying for nothing.
Regular Calisthenics
Calisthenics is for free! All it is is performing body weight exercises and you’re still building muscle.
However, you will plateau quicker than working out in the gym, because there will be a point where your body will have adapted to doing 20 pushups, and when you do 40, it will be an endurance workout rather than a strength and muscle-building workout.
You will get stronger at the start from doing diamond pushups, but when you’re at 20, you will transition into building more muscular endurance.
However, in the gym, you can overload with how much weight you want.
Weighted calisthenics
Plot twist, if you purchase a weight set for your calisthenics to overload with (it doesn’t even have to be expensive; it can be around £50), you will continuously get stronger and build more muscle, as if you were in a gym.
Something as simple as putting water bottles in a backpack and doing pushups (which I did at the start of my fitness journey) is still weight and will get you stronger.
The weight set you buy isn’t a membership and you can keep it forever. You also most likely have water in your house that you can use.
With weights, you can do more exercises with dumbbells and barbells. And you only pay for what you use!
Summary
You get all the gym essentials with a gym membership (which is relatively cheap compared to the price of the equipment), but at home, you are limited to fewer exercises which you will plateau quicker from.
However, with weighted calisthenics, you can overload as you are using weight, and the weights aren’t a membership; just a one-time payment.
So overall the gym & weighted calisthenics top off in terms of price.
Points
Gym: 1
Regular calisthenics: 0
Weighted calisthenics: 1
Time effectiveness
Gym
This is a silly scenario, but what if you need to do something at home, but you’re at the gym so you have to travel all the way home and come back? Apart from that, what if you work out at separate times of the day?
That all adds to travel times and can waste a lot of time. Also, many people go to the gym, so most of the time the equipment will be used by someone else, and you’ll have to wait for them to finish using the bench before you use it.
And they are most likely going to take long. So even 15 minutes of wasted time may seem small, but it will add up over time. This is crucial for busy people without much time to work out.
Regular Calisthenics
You’re at home! You don’t have to wait for any equipment or even travel, but you can do your workout at the pace it should be.
If you work out at different times of the day, walk into the room next to you and perform it. You can do other things between your workout sessions, meaning you’ll have fewer things to do.
Weighted Calisthenics
This is the same as weighted callisthenics; you don’t have to wait for anyone to use your weights.
Just walk to your home workout area, pick up your weights, and WORK OUT!
Summary
Many people use the gym, and you’re likely to have to wait for someone else to finish using the equipment before you do.
You also have to travel to the gym, which can vary depending on how far you live from it, meanwhile, with calisthenics you’re at home. So no travel times, or waiting for equipment.
So both types of calisthenics win in terms of time.
Points
Gym: 1
Regular calisthenics: 1
Weighted calisthenics: 2
Space
Gym
What is the gym meant for? Working out. So the space in the gym is specialised only for working out. You don’t have to compensate for space in your home, and you’re free to move around to use different equipment.
Regular Calisthenics
You’re at home, which is not always meant for a gym (unless you have dedicated a room for working out). Even if that’s the case, there are opportunity costs, such that you could have used that room for something else.
But this is a minor issue as working out doesn’t take much space.
Weighted Calisthenics
The weights you leave in your house (if you do weighted callisthenics) could get in your way. And like the issue with regular callisthenics, you could have used the space you’re using for something else.
Even if the space in your house is open, it doesn’t beat the fact that your house isn’t specialised for working out.
Summary
A gym is specialised for working out, and your home is unlikely not, so in terms of space, the gym wins.
Points
Gym: 2
Regular calisthenics: 1
Weighted calisthenics: 2
Risk of injury & learning as a beginner
Gym
It’s arguably harder to learn how to benchpress than do pushups. You most likely would have done pushups when you were younger in school, so you are used to that already.
But with a bench press, you have to get used to balancing the bar properly; if not done properly, you could get injured.
Although learning how to benchpress and squat isn’t too hard, it will still take time for beginners to get used to, and in that time, other beginners will be building strength and muscle with pushups.
Regular Calisthenics
It’s your body weight, and you’re most likely used to doing pushups. When you get out of bed every morning, maybe you push yourself up and out of bed, which is a pushup.
You’re also less likely to get injured compared to using a metal bar as dropping on the floor due to failing a pushup is less risky than dropping the bar on your chest!
You can also progress to different variations when you get more experience.
Even if you use weights on your back, it remains less risky.
Weighted Calisthenics
Adding weight on your back increases the risk of injury, but it still isn’t comparable to using a metal bar, with the risk of it dropping on your chest.
So weighted calistehnics is still relatively safe, just that if you drop due to failure, you may feel a bit more pain.
Summary
In the gym, you’re using equipment, such as metal bars, which can be dangerous if you don’t manage them carefully.
With callisthenics, you’re using your body weight, which you’re used to moving and doing everyday tasks.
Weighted calisthenics is arguably more dangerous than regular calisthenics but safer than in the gym.
So in terms of risk of injury and learning as a beginner, regular callsthenics wins and earns 1 point, weighted calisthenics 0.5, and gym 0.
Points
Gym: 2
Regular calisthenics: 2
Weighted calisthenics: 2.5
Convenience comparison conclusion
So, using these four sub-factors to compare the convenience of the gym and calisthenic workouts, weighted calisthenics is the most convenient.
The gym tops off in terms of price & opportunities where you get many machines for a relatively worthwhile price.
However, calisthenics dominates in time effectiveness as you can work at home without waiting for equipment or travelling to the gym.
The gym wins in terms of space because it’s specialised for working out, unlike at home.
But if you didn’t know, it’s easier to learn bodyweight movements, like pushups that you indirectly perform doing everyday tasks, and it’s less likely you’ll get injured unlike using a metal bar which can fall on you.
Although there’s still more to compare, weighted calisthenics is the most convenient, and the gym and regular calisthenics are at the bottom.
Range of exercises
Gym
There are a range of gym exercises and machines to target various muscles and muscle groups. So this expands the number of muscles you can target, resulting in you completing your physique.
Regular calisthenics
There are a limited amount of exercises you can do when doing calisthenics. Because more exercises you could do, like bicep curls, require dumbbells, which is equipment. So you are very limited to some muscles you can target.
But fortunately, you can still target the large, fundamental muscle groups, like your chest and legs.
If you have a bar you can do pull-ups on, you will just be able to target your biceps, but because that requires a bar, it doesn’t count as regular calisthenics, being exercises without equipment and just body weight.
Weighted Calisthenics
Just being able to use weights vastly expands the number of exercises you can do. You can target more muscle groups, like your back doing dumbbell rows and biceps doing bicep curls.
It even comes close to the number of exercises you can do in the gym, but because the gym has machines, it hasn’t reached that level yet.
To get even closer, you’ll have to get more creative. For example, using your sofa to do a leg press may not be convenient for many people. Regardless, it’s still effective without having to do so.
Summary
There are various exercises to do in the gym, and through weighted calisthenics, you can still do many exercises, but the notch is slightly dropped.
However, regular calisthenics limits you to the exercises you can do. So, in this factor, the gym gets 1.5 points, weighted callisthenics 1 and regular callisthenics 0.
And overall, the gym tops off in the range of exercises you can do, then weighted calisthenics, then regular calisthenics.
Points
Gym: 3.5
Regular calisthenics: 2
Weighted calisthenics: 3.5
Muscle & strength building abilities
The main reason people work out is to get stronger. So if someone heard that working out in the gym reaped better gains than calisthenics, they would travel how long it takes to get to a gym and work out.
So this is the main comparison.
Gym
The gym has always been known for reaping insane results. The exercises you do burn your muscles and work them very well, and the motor recruitment is high.
It’s a form of resistance training, and studies have shown that resistance training is the best training for building strength and muscle.
Regular Calisthenics
Regular calisthenics hasn’t been known for building muscle as well as the gym, but it’s a bit underrated for the muscle and strength you can build at the beginning of doing it.
Up to a point, you can build muscle and strength effectively by doing calisthenics, but when you begin to get stronger, you’ll need resistance to combat the plateau, otherwise, the training will turn into an endurance workout.
As already mentioned, resistance training is known to produce the best gains. So this is where weighted calistethinics kicks in.
Weighted Calisthenics
Weighted callisthenics is an underrated form of training, and I think most people have forgotten its effectiveness. A study proved that its strength and muscle-building capabilities reach those of working out in the gym.
The study found no difference in muscle activation between the two exercises (pushups and bench press) and that the different loads had the same effect on both push-ups and bench press.
Therefore, as long as you apply the same mindset to weighted calisthenics as to working out in the gym, including progressive overload, you will reap similar results as working out in gym.
Summary
So, it is settled that any form of resistance training (including resistance bands, dumbbells etc.), will reap better results than no resistance.
So in terms of strength and muscle-building abilities, gym and weighted calisthenics both get a point, and regular calisthenics gets no points.
Points
Gym: 4.5
Regular calisthenics: 2
Weighted calisthenics: 4.5
Conclusion
So overall, weighted calisthenics and gym top off taking all the factors into account. But people may have different preferences, for example, I am used to working out with weighted calisthenics, but some people may be used to working out in the gym.
Maybe they like doing bench presses rather than pushups, and you will still reap great results.
Maybe people like using the cables and machines in the gym. So everyone has different preferences. But the thing to takeaway is that weighted calistenics and gym are pretty much on the same level.
However, there was one goal left out, which is endurance, and if that is the case regular calisthenics would be the most convenient as you don’t need equipment to do many reps, and overloading with endurance being your goal doesn’t require weight overload, but only rep and set overload.
If you’re looking for an effective weighted calisthenics workout, use the one I’ve built strength & muscle with from experience.
And if you’re looking for a gym workout plan, consider this plan.
And don’t forget that if you want to build strength and muscle effectively, you MUST stay consistent and disciplined with your workout routine!
