We all want to get stronger. There is no point just doing that same thing day in day out and not getting any better. That’s why we have so much variety in our programs.
But even the variety can take away from technique and strength gains sometimes so I’m gonna give you some basic examples of how to amp things up for strength at 3 of the most important bodyweight exercises – push ups, pull ups and single leg squats.
Push Ups
At the most basic level people will perform push ups on their knees. This is ok for a while, but it doesn’t allow for the person to contract their abs and glutes enough to create the tension needed for push ups on the toes.
A better alternative is doing push ups on an incline using a table or bench that is high or low enough to be just hard enough and allows you to squeeze your butt and core tight. As you get stronger you decrease the height until you can do them on the floor.
Adding in planks performed on the hands at the top of a push ups position is a great exercise, even if performed only for 3-5 second holds. This builds great core strength and coordination of the shoulders and core acting as one unit.
For those who are looking for harder alternatives, increasing the angle works a treat for amping up the intensity. If you start elevating the feet, your centre of gravity moves further over your hands and will force you to work harder.
Maybe you can do less reps of the harder exercise. That’s perfect as it gives you an idea that you are doing the right thing. Stick with it and your reps will go up.
Another way to make it harder is to add resistance to the push up. Try putting a weight or sand bag on your back, or using a band or wearing a weight vest. All increase the intensity and one way will suit some people better than others.
For those who like a challenge, here’s the 100 push up challenge from Steve Speirs: www.hundredpushups.com/
Pull Ups
In the past chin ups has been the most commonly used term, but now we are making a differentiation between the two. Chin ups down with palms facing the body can do some damage to the shoulders so we are gonna leave them out for now.
If you wanna know more about why chin ups done the traditional way can be bad I suggest reading this: www.jasonferruggia.com/the-
So pull ups it is!
There are a few ways to get better at pull ups. One of the non-traditional methods is strength exercises for the shoulder blades such as band pull aparts, Y’s and T’s and external rotations with dumbbells, bands or even the TRX. As we already do a lot of this at bootcamp I’ll leave it there.
I suggest using a few simple methods when doing pull ups.
1. Make every rep perfect. If you can’t make the rep perfect then stop. Your set is over.
2. Work at the right level where you can get 8-12 perfect reps.
3. On other days, work at a level which is harder and only do 2-3 reps, have a short rest and do another 2-3 reps. Over the duration of the workout you will still get plenty of good reps done at a harder level.
4. Do a pause at the top position for 1-3 seconds to make sure you reinforce the perfect top position. Bear in mind that your technique must be flawless so you don’t reinforce bad patterns.
5. If doing pull ups on a bar, doing sets of one or two is perfectly fine for beginners. There’s no reason you can’t do 8-12 sets, more if you are really keen.
6. If you can’t get one rep on a bar pull up, wrap a band around the bar and hook your knee in the band for a little assistance. Alternatively you can have a training partner assist you lifting your legs.
7. Make sure you squeeze the bar or the handles as hard as you can throughout the movement. It creates tension and tension produces strength. A weak grip will result in less pull ups.
For more pull up information I suggest reading this article: www.jasonferruggia.com/top-10-
Single Leg Squats
I love single leg squats, often referred to as pistols. I love them because they are a highly technical move which has taken me years to work up to.
It requires a big level of strength, stability of the foot, knee and hip, a ton of flexibility to get to the bottom position and enough strength to get back out of it.
It is a really hard exercise so don’t expect to nail it in 3 months, or 6 months. It may take years of work to get your first one. Or you may never get there because it’s just too much work for your body.
And that’s ok. Because you can still do variations to build strength through doing variations of the single leg squat.
You really can’t afford to have any knee collapse when doing these exercises as it’s a recipe for injury. You have to grip the ground with your toes and make sure your alignment stays true. If you start losing it, you’re done for the set.
If you can’t balance very well on one leg, then you need to go back to basics. I suggest a daily dose of cook hip lifts and glute bridges until you have some proper butt strength.
Working up from there you can do split squats with load and progressing to lunge variations, but you must use your butt with these exercises.
With some basic leg strength you can start doing some single leg squats to a high bench or box. If need be, use your hands for assistance lowering yourself down and pushing yourself up.
For those people who have got this one sorted, adding a small weight held out front can help make it harder too.
I also love TRX single leg squats. They allow you to sit back into the position even if you don’t have the flexibility to get down to the ground unassisted.
If you are getting good at those, try taking the TRX in only one hand and working on the opposite leg. Once again, your reps have got to be perfect.
Moving on and you can ditch the TRX for a pole and lower yourself down and help yourself up.
One issue that arises here is ankle and hip mobility. If you don’t have enough flexibility to get into the bottom position, you won’t be able to do the exercise.
I suggest doing a daily dose of ankle mobility exercises plus spending up to 10 minutes a day in the bottom position of a squat to get to work on loosening up that whole lower and upper body chain.
While it sounds like a lot, you could always watch TV in that position or read a book or move to a country where they squat on the floor to go to the toilet.
But it all depends on how bad you want to do the movement (no pun intended but im laughing). Yes it’s hard and takes plenty of work, but the reward is worth it (still sounds wrong).
If you want more ideas or some video to show you some progressions on single leg squats check this out: www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-
As with any exercise, if your diet sucks, you aren’t drinking enough water, getting enough sleep or have too much stress in your life, you won’t get strong in a hurry.
Make sure you sort that stuff out as a priority and be consistent in your strength training and progress will come, even if it’s not as fast as you’d like.
