8.06.2008
Bodyweight Progressions
 | With a barbell it's easy just add another plate to the bar and you're set -- but what do you do with bodyweight? Make no mistake about it though, regardless of how you are training if you do not train progressively, youll just be wasting your time. You see, your body can only grow in direct response to the demands placed upon it. And those demands must increase in intensity over time for an adaptation to keep taking place ie for you to keep getting stronger. For some movements, its simple, just add weight -- like having a weight belt for chins and dips, a very worthwhile investment if you ask me. For others, not so easy - for example, how would you increase the intensity while doing say, burpees, jumping rope, rope climbing or monkey bars? Theres a couple different methods -- some of which depends on the particular exercise, some of which depends on the context the exercise is performed, and some of which depends on the style in which the exercise is done. For something like jumping rope, if you need a little "kick in the pants" try jumping rope in between bouts of hill sprints - or, alternately, you could do high knees, jump on one foot or "double up." -- which are all in-tense ways of training. And with something like a climbing rope, its just a manner of moving on to more challenging variations -- with the feet, without the feet, climbing two ropes, climbing upside down and once you master all of those, you can move on to a thicker rope. Every exercise can be made "harder" in some way -- but you have to keep at it and keep improving. Train hard, John Wood P.S. Need a few ideas? Maxwell can definitely show you how to make your workout tougher... try a few scorpion pushups or one-arm extension pullups for a new challenge... find out how to do em here: Maxwell's Pullup Workout |
Labels: Body Weight Training, Bodyweight Progressions, Bodyweight Training, Jump Rope, Progression
