Many lifters overlook bodyweight training because there are few ways to advance bodyweight training besides adding more sets and reps, reducing stability, and increase the complexity. Also, it’s difficult to train your upper and lower back without a pull-up bar.
Progress is the name of the gym game; most will blow it when they see no way to progress with exercise or bodyweight training. Retreating on bodyweight exercises is a real shame because you’ll miss out on all the benefits, including
- Improve your relative strength (strength in relation to your body weight)
- Convenience
- Improved flexibility and mobility
- Best movement that directly carries over to your weighted strength workouts
- The ability to include strength and cardio in the same workout.
Bodyweight training makes you more aware of where your body is in space (proprioception), which leads to better balance and a better athlete. Here, we’ll dive into three ways to advance your bodyweight training so you’re not so quick to neglect it.
ADDING TEMPO AND PAUSES
Often weightlifters rush their bodyweight exercises to finish and finish, so they can get to their mirror bicep curls. Who doesn’t love seeing their biceps bulge in the mirror with every rep? Not this guy.
But NOT by rushing into bodyweight exercises, you can take advantage of a great opportunity for progression, time under tension. Slowing down or adding pauses to your bodyweight exercises increases muscle tension time (TUT), which can lead to more muscle growth.
Each exercise has four repetition parts: the eccentric or lowering part, the stretched position, the concentric or lifting part, and the lockout. Changing the length of each part is called upping the tempo, and it can be the key to adding more muscle when training with bodyweight.
For example, do a push-up with a 3-3-3-3 tempo. This means you take three seconds to descend, hold a three-second pause, lift for three seconds, and pause for three seconds in the contracted position. By doing this, you’ll never consider push-ups too easy again.
ADD RESISTANCE
The second is to add a pause in the most difficult position of an exercise, such as the bottom of a push-up, when your knee is hovering above the floor with a lunge squat, or holding the top of a chin up. to the top. You perform the rest of the exercise as normal, which adds more TUT and makes the rest of the reps harder.
Adding resistance is always the name of the game with progression. Still, you want to take a goldilocks approach as you progress through your weight-loaded bodyweight training (minus free-weight exercises with dumbbells, dumbbells, and kettlebells).
Not too cold, not too hot, ooh, just right.
Two ways to do this are to use a weighted vest and wear resistance bands. Let’s explore the weight vest.
Weighted vest
Weight vests are worn around your torso and shoulders and then two main types are one that you can add to your weight or one where the weight is already predetermined. Vest weight varies, but the typical commercial-grade vest ranges from 12 to 150 pounds.
Weighted vests are a great way to advance your bodyweight movements and can be used with certain aerobic activities, such as walking and hiking. Plus, if you want to get more explosive and powerful, they can be used during your plyometric, plyo training, including jumps and pushups, and reactive training drills.
When using a weighted vest, start with no extra weight in the vest and progress slowly as you get stronger and more confident. Make sure the extra weight does not interfere with good form. As a general rule for safety, depending on your strength and training experience, use no more than 10% of your body weight. So if you are 200 pounds, don’t go over 20 pounds on the vest.
wear bands
WearBand™ is a tool where you strap lightweight resistance bands to your hands and feet and anchor them to a belt that you wear around your waist. They are used by college programs and professional athletes to improve their conditioning and movement to prepare them for what is happening in the sports arena.
For the rest of us, this system is a fantastic way to add light resistance to bodyweight movements like squats, lunges, and pushups. Plus, like the weighted vest, you can use them to add some juice to your conditioning exercises and plyometric exercises.
By wearing resistance bands during regular bodyweight movements, you recruit and activate more muscles than bodyweight.
According to WearBands™, “Resistance Anchor Points allow complete freedom of movement in a biomechanically sound way, making it resistance equipment that can enhance virtually any workout.”
Like weighted vests, you have to beware that the added resistance does not hinder your movement and technique, but improves them. With bands and the weighted vest, some experimentation is required to achieve the goldilocks effect.
