I’m tired of reading articles that keep talking about the same old boring pushup, pullups, and bodyweight squats. Let’s move beyond and try to understand how far you can really take bodyweight strength training.
There are 2 things you can start to implement TODAY, in order to take your bodyweight strength training to the next level. These are extremely important yet simple concepts. Let’s start with number one:
Two Directions are Better than One
With pushups, you just go up and down. Why not twist to the side, lift up one hand off the ground and point it towards the sky while you balance your body on one hand? This is known as multi-directional movement.
Another example is the classic burpee. All you’re doing is combining the squat jump with a pushups. But what really makes this exercise so effective is that you’re moving in two directions: horizontal (pushup), and vertical (squat jump).
Start thinking of ways you can combine or develop new exercises that have you move in more than one direction.
The second method of taking your training to the next level is to Explode! When you try to move fast, you use a lot of muscle. It’s as simple as that! So instead of just doing basic pushups, perform plyometric pushups.
Instead of basic squats, perform squat jumps. Even pullups can be changed slightly to make them more expensive. Instead of just going straight up and straight down, use some momentum to get yourself up to the bar.
Use that momentum to turn the basic up down movement of the pullup into a continuous and intense movement. You’ll probably end up performing more pullups by injecting some momentum into the movement than you would if you were to perform them strictly.
