Brief high intensity bodyweight workout at home without equipment

[Frederick Foresight]

My biceps are something that need just that little bit of attention and are easily isolated with 3 sets of barbell curls once a week. Nothing major there.
If I do squats, dips, push-up variations, overhead barbell press, pull-ups, upright rows ( yep, I know the supposed dangers ) I’ve got my MY requirements covered.

Here's a thought. Rather than doing curls, wouldn't you be addressing your biceps ~fairly similarly with horizontal rows using, say, a supinated grip? In this way, you'd also be working areas of your back that don't get addressed as much when doing pull-ups.

 

[TRS]

Good call. I use the mind muscle connection to really target everything when doing pull ups, but I hear what you're saying. You can't beat horizontal rows for adding a bit of thickness to the back. I'll swap out the curls and substitute the rows . Thanks

 

[Frederick Foresight]

Another study, this one conducted in 2016:

A comparison of low volume 'high-intensity-training' and high volume traditional resistance training methods on muscular performance, body composition, and subjective assessments of training

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4993139/

Abstract

Most studies of resistance training (RT) examine methods that do not resemble typical training practices of persons participating in RT. Ecologically valid RT programs more representative of such practices are seldom compared. This study compared two such approaches to RT. Thirty participants (males, n = 13; females, n = 17) were randomised to either a group performing low volume 'High Intensity Training' (HIT; n = 16) or high volume 'Body-building' (3ST; n = 14) RT methods 2x/week for 10 weeks. Outcomes included muscular performance, body composition, and participant's subjective assessments. Both HIT and 3ST groups improved muscular performance significantly (as indicated by 95% confidence intervals) with large effect sizes (ES; 0.97 to 1.73 and 0.88 to 1.77 respectively). HIT had significantly greater muscular performance gains for 3 of 9 tested exercises compared with 3ST (p < 0.05) and larger effect sizes for 8 of 9 exercises. Body composition did not significantly change in either group. However, effect sizes for whole body muscle mass changes were slightly more favourable in the HIT group compared with the 3ST group (0.27 and -0.34 respectively) in addition to whole body fat mass (0.03 and 0.43 respectively) and whole body fat percentage (-0.10 and -0.44 respectively). Significant muscular performance gains can be produced using either HIT or 3ST. However, muscular performance gains may be greater when using HIT. Future research should look to identify which components of ecologically valid RT programs are primarily responsible for these differences in outcome.

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The link has the entire paper, and the PDF version can be downloaded here:

https://www.researchgate.net/public...sition_and_subjective_assessments_of_training