Increasing Strength with Bodyweight Training
Most people use bodyweight training to lose fat. And I’ve already written quite a few articles on building muscle mass with bodyweight training. However, one thing I have not yet written about is increasing strength.
The obvious way to increase your overall strength using bodyweight training is to make the exercise more difficult. For example, ifpushups start to become too easy for you, you can simply change your hand grips or perform elevated pushups.
There are many different variations to choose from.
However, there is another great way to improve your overall strength using bodyweight exercises. This is a tip that was posted today on Nick Tumminello’s website.
His idea was to simply make the movement faster. For example, instead of saying “do 20 pushups” say, “do 20 pushups in 20 seconds.” All of a sudden, your body’s going to be pushing itself much harder in order to achieve that level of speed.
When you train with speed, you train your body use momentum. This is something that Nick did not mention, but I’ve always believed that speed training helps recruit greater muscle fibers.
So, if 20 pushups was difficult for you, a few days later, you’ll be able to perform those same 20 pushups much easier, simly because you’ve taught your body to activate more muscle to perform the movement.
Here’s the video Nick posted up on his website:
In the past, I’ve used a similar method where I would set a time limit on how fast I complete a workout. For example, if I wanted to do 5 rounds of 5pullups, 10 pushups, and 20 squats, I can place a goal of performing this work under 10 minutes.
Through this method, I’ve noticed greater fat loss, and muscle mass. I also noticed that the exercises I was performing were becoming easier. However, I did not make the connection that it may be due to the fact that I was moving through the exercises at a greater speed.
Give this new method a try and let me know what you think. If you’re looking for a solid program designed to improve your strength through bodyweight exercises, then I suggest checking out Bodyweight Exercise Revolution.
Bodyweight Exercise Revolution is an eBook written by Coaches Adam Steer and Ryan Murdock. It features workouts for fat loss, mass gain, strength, longevity, and general athleticism.
Great post.
There’s no doubt that increasing the speed increases the force produced.
The only thing I would add is that it could be worth considering making the movements ballistic. Eg. squat jumps or clap press ups (As if your body does not leave the ground then it must slow down at the end of the movement).
Regards,
Tim
Great observation Tim, although that would then change the nature of the workout itself then, no?
Yes I agree.
It would decrease the metabolic demand I suppose due to decreased time under tension. So the approach would depend on a persons goals.
Regards,
Tim