I write a lot about bodyweight training. Lately, I have been talking about weighted bodyweight training and the benefits. The only problem with this is that not everybody has weight vests, bands or chains. Of course, a backpack with weights could work but it could also feel a bit awkward. Let’s discuss more affordable and effective approaches to make bodyweight exercises more challenging. Check it out below:
1) BETTER TECHNIQUE
There is no point in trying to make the exercise harder if your technique needs work, this is common sense.
2) HARDER VARIATIONS OF THE EXERCISE WORK WELL
If you can do a regular push-up for 15 reps, then try to elevate your feet on a chair to make the exercise harder. If you are able to do handstand push-ups for high reps, then maybe you can try to do diamond handstand push-ups. Pull-ups feel too easy? Try archer pull-ups, you get the picture. One thing that is important is that you should never skip progressions. If you can do 15 push-ups, then chances are that you can’t do handstand push-ups. You will have to get proficient with push-ups with your feet elevated first.
3) ISOMETRIC HOLDS FOR 3-5 SECONDS WHICH ARE ALSO KNOWN AS PAUSED REPS
I love isometric holds because they bring more blood into the muscle and they’re humbling as well. Don’t have access to a weight vest for pull-ups? |Are you able to do 15 perfect reps? Try pull-ups with a 3-5 isometric hold at the top (and bottom if you want) of each repetition. I also like this method because it prevents you from using any momentum. It’s hard to cheat with isometric hold training.
4) LESS TIME BETWEEN SETS
If you are only waiting one minute between sets, then the exercises will be a lot harder than if you wait 2-3 minutes between sets. This could be a tool that you use to make your workouts last less time and make the exercises harder.
5) CHALLENGING YOUR GRIP WITH A THICKER BAR
If you do pull-ups, rows, push-ups, l-sits, dips and other bodyweight exercises while holding onto a thick bar you will notice that it humbles you. I’m able to do 10+ pull-ups with about a plate, but it’s hard to get even get 10 reps with a 2.5-inch bar. If you’re in the park and you find a swing set with a thick handle, then you can do pull-ups there if you want a challenge. These will increase your grip strength and also increase your forearm size.
6) DOING THE EXERCISE AT THE END OF THE WORKOUT
Think that less time between sets is hard? Try doing an exercise at the end of a workout. I kind of got this from the old school “pre-exhausting” bodybuilding philosophy. You don’t have to do this, but it’s just another tool in the toolbox so it’s there if ever you need it.
CONCLUSION:
As you can see, there are enough ways to make body-weight training challenging enough to keep you busy for a lifetime. Anybody who says that body-weight training isn’t effective doesn’t know what they’re talking about.