Get stronger WITHOUT weights? [3 tricks]
Published: Thu, 03/26/15
Did you know that when you become stronger, it can…
… Reduce your risk of injury
… Help you burn MORE fat at rest (the more weight
you can move around, the more calories you burn)
… Help you become “insulin resistant”, meaning
you can eat more carbs without it affecting your
waist line?
Now the bad news – years or even just months of
resistance training can wear down your joints if
you’re not careful.
It’s almost like a double-edged sword. If you’re
getting stronger using weights, that’s a good thing.
Yet, by getting stronger, it means you’re pushing
around more weight, which can cause frustrating
aches and pains to your hips, knees and shoulders.
So how can you work your away around this?
Bodyweight Training…
… but can you get stronger using just bodyweight?
Certainly you can… by using these 3 tricks:
1. Use A Workout Split
First, avoid the full body approach. While this earns
top marks for fat burning, taking some time to use a
split can help you overcome recovery issues, protect
you from future injuries and help you get stronger
with “lagging” muscles.
So you could use an upper/lower split or even a lower/
upper split with just one day used for a total body
program per week.
To make chest exercises harder, use advanced pushups
like Atomic Pushups, Hindu Pushups, etc.
Exercises like Pistol Squats are great to develop leg
strength. And even if you think you’re not ready for
something like that…
You can jump-start your strongest body ever with
this “Bodyweight Encyclopedia” resource
2. Add Progressive Overload
Next, you must, must, must add overload. This is the
biggest mistake people make. If you don’t keep
challenging your muscles, how do you expect them
to get stronger?
They simply won’t need to.
You need to overload the muscles as that is what
creates the micro-damage that causes growth.
If you aren’t sure how to overload them check out
how these masters have done it:
== > How to overload the muscle with bodyweight exercises
3. Do Multiple Sets
Finally make sure you’re doing multiple sets. This is
critical. You need sufficient volume in order to get the
muscles to react (get stronger).
One set doesn’t cut it when getting stronger is the goal.
With the right bodyweight training, you can use a lower
rep range and perform multiple sets just like you would
in the gym, all while protecting your joints.
== > Discover how to build muscle with bodyweight training the right way
Give your body a break from heavy weights. You’ll
be surprised at how strong you can get with these body-
weight tricks here… all while looking more athletic
and leaner:
== > These are top 37 bodyweight resources of all time (BRAND NEW!)
Keep training hard,
Mike Westerdal
CriticalBench.com