Ways to Improve Body-Weight Workouts
By this point, just about everyone has tried out at least one if not seven or eight different at home workouts. From the things we’ve seen on Instagram to local TV channels having a segment on working out, everyone has attempted something. One of the most popular types of at home exercise is bodyweight programs due to the fact that they do not require any specific equipment. However, after what seems like countless months working out at home, many have become bored. They’re doing the same things repeatedly and these workouts are getting boring and sometimes too easy. So, what to do?
Ultimately, it comes down to variation and the specifics of how you are doing these workouts. You can change up the exercises you are doing. Also, can change the amount of repetitions you are completing. Or you can also, change the length of rest you take. All these are key ways to adjust a bodyweight program to combat boredom and to tackle those training goals you have set.
The first key way to boost those bodyweight workouts is to slow down the tempo on exercises. This means to not just power through those 10 reps but to instead slow down and give a 3 to 5 second count. For example, if you’re doing squats, as you lower down you count to 3 seconds and as you stand back up again count to 3. This increases the time your muscles are under tension which is a critical component to muscle building and strength. Not only will you feel the burn more, you’ll notice those usual rep numbers a lot harder to achieve. This also promotes muscular control and motor unit (the muscle) recruitment. First and foremost, this is a great way to make a workout harder and to get more out of it.
A second great way to enhance a bodyweight workout is to add variations in your exercises. Try to not do the same movements each time. Instead, switch it up from Monday to Wednesday. Challenge your body and brain by working on different movements which then challenges different muscles groups and stabilizing muscles. Look for new variations of the same movement to create this variety. An example can be adding in some single leg versions of those lower body exercises. Instead of regular squats all the time, add in some single leg or pistol squats. You can also do step-ups to different heights, on one day your doing stepping up onto a chair and the next your using two steps at the stairs. The specifics aren’t as important as just working to challenge your body in a new way. Doing so requires the body to respond to something new and create forces at new angles which ultimately increases your strength and ability.
One of the most popular ways to increase the difficulty of workout is to add more repetitions. While this isn’t bad by any means, at a certain point, doing 20, 30, 40+ reps at one time is more about endurance and less about strength. This why you can slow the tempo down but you can also adjust those repetition numbers. Think of trying different rep schemes. One of my favorites is to add a 3 second pause to the bottom of each rep. Think about those push-ups, instead of lowering down then pushing right back up, instead hold at the bottom for 3 seconds. All of a sudden, those 10 repetitions just got a whole lot harder. Or you can do a pyramid rep scheme. While that may sound fancy, all it means is that you start with a number of reps and remove some each set until you hit a small number them go back up to the number of reps you started with. In other words, you start with 10 reps the first set, 8 the next, then 6, then 4, then 2 and instead of stopping there you do the reverse and work back up to 10 repetitions.
Beyond just adjusting numbers or types of reps, group exercises together. This is called a superset. Essentially what you are doing is you are doing a series of exercises together before resting. For example, you could do 10 squats, 12 push-ups and a 30 second plank all in a row, then rest before repeating again. This is one of my favorite ways because with just a handful of exercises, there are almost endless combinations and variations you can do. This keeps those at home workouts interesting and challenging. You can take this concept and adjust the rest time you give yourself to make your workout more like that HIIT class that was so fun. All you have to do is put a timer on your rest time between sets. Take out the cell phone and boom, not only are you playing the upbeat music that gets you going but you can use the timer to make sure you are pushing yourself, all adding a cardio component and getting that heart rate up.
With no specific equipment and just a well thought out plan going into a workout, you can very easily make those once boring at home, bodyweight workouts more exciting. All of these just create options that you can adjust your workouts with to increase their difficulty without having to go out and buy expensive equipment.
-Tyler Grisdale, MS, CSCS, RSCC, CES, TPI