by Indu Sastri

Created on: March 30, 2009   Last Updated: April 03, 2009

When we talk about building muscle, one instinctively thinks of weight lifting or strength training. While it is true that weight training at some point is the need of the hour to bulk up your muscle mass, there are simple exercises, (calisthenics) like push-ups and pulls ups which can help tone the upper body and give your muscles some contour.

Using calisthenics to work out can be rewarding if there is variation in your routine. Push-ups and pull-ups tend to have a lot wear and tear on your muscle tissue. This is good in the sense that the body's repair mechanism will kick in and ensure that your muscles are rebuilt to conform to your new exercise routine. The initial soreness that your body feels is the time when your muscle are trying to adjust to the impact of the exercise. Try to space your exercises with no more than a day's break in between to help the muscles rebuild and rejuvenate.

Starting low to gauge your level of fitness would be ideal. Try increasing the number of push-ups that you do and space them evenly during a 24 hour period and slowly build on that number. For example, if you are able to do 40 push-ups in all, 20 at a time with a 3 minute break in between, try increasing the number of reps per session and reducing the intervals. When doing muscle building exercises it is never a good idea to break the routine for more than a day or so. As your body adjusts to the new routine you will still feel some amount of soreness from time to time as you increase your repititions (or reps). Once you are comfortable, then target different sections of your muscular skeleton to build and strengthen specific areas. Traditional push-ups will target your pectorals and your chest muscles.

Different types of push-ups:

Apart from the traditional push-ups, there are some variations that you can add to your routine.

One-handed push-ups: Hold the traditional push-up posture and the other hand is behind you.

Finger push-ups: In this exercise form you are essentially putting your whole weight on your fingers while doing your push-up.

Head stand Push-ups: Place your hands at shoulder width, raise your legs against a wall so that the tips of your toes are touching the wall. Then push down till your head touches the ground and rise up till your hands are straight.

All these forms will help build muscle mass; but the body tends to hit a plateau after a while, so try adding variations like some weights to your back while doing push ups. It can be as simple as having your 3 year old sit on your back or have some books stacked on your back to make the work out more effective. The fact that the body adjusts to and becomes comfortable with a routine after a while is a good reason for you to try and mix up the routine to keep your body guessing and your muscles working.

Boosting your metabolism:

The body tends to accumulate mass through fat. The fat mass in your body, though lighter than the muscle mass, doesn't burn as many calories as the muscles do. Muscle mass may tip your weigh scales more than your fat mass but the body tends to look toned and sculpted making, you look more lean and fit. Muscles tend to use more energy and burn more calories. Building muscle is a good way of making sure that your body is still burning some of those calories long after your exercise routine is done. Muscle built during your strength training exercise uses the food fuel that the body stores to get through your training session. After the workout, the body extracts energy from the fat deposits to meet its energy needs. The amount of exercise done and the calories burned during and after the workout session are proportional, giving more credibility to the statement "no pain, no gain" .

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