{"id":49571,"date":"2016-05-11T07:15:39","date_gmt":"2016-05-11T11:15:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/?p=49571"},"modified":"2021-05-18T09:43:06","modified_gmt":"2021-05-18T13:43:06","slug":"bodyweight-workout-plateau-tips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/fitness\/bodyweight-workout-plateau-tips\/","title":{"rendered":"8 Steps to Amp Up Your Bodyweight Workout"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo: Pond5<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You\u2019ve got squats down, you can lunge with the best of them, your push-ups<\/a> are on point, and you\u2019re a burpee pro<\/a>. Bodyweight exercises<\/a> are amazing at keeping you fit, but there comes a time when you need to kick it up a notch in order to continue to see results.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019ve mastered standard movements, your heart rate won\u2019t go up as much as when you first started. Your body won\u2019t make the adaptations it needs to get stronger,\u201d explains Daily Burn 365<\/a> trainer Dara Theodore<\/a>, who also trains at The Fhitting Room in New York City. \u201cYou need to make sure the intensity is high to continue making those gains,\u201d she says. Changing things up also beats boredom and jacks up the excitement factor.<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>Is My Workout Too Easy? Here\u2019s How to Tell<\/a><\/p>\n

Follow these eight ways to switch up your bodyweight workout<\/a> for better results \u2014 and more fun, too!<\/p>\n

Amp Up Your Bodyweight Workout in 8 Steps<\/strong><\/h3>\n

1. Reduce Rest
<\/strong>Keep the same circuit of moves you normally do \u2014 squats, push-ups, tricep dips \u2014 but reduce your rest time in between exercises. \u201cGo straight from one [exercise] into the other,\u201d advises Theodore. And don\u2019t stop there, either. Decide that you\u2019ll complete four rounds and then rest at the end. This is going to keep your heart rate up throughout your entire workout. (It counts as cardio, too!)<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>3 Fat-Blasting Circuit Training Workouts<\/a><\/p>\n

2. Up Reps
<\/strong>You might organize your workout by, say, doing 45 seconds of squats and resting for 30 seconds; then 45 seconds of push-ups<\/a> and resting for 30 seconds. Instead of focusing just on time, make time and<\/em> number of reps your goal. So let\u2019s say you know you can do 20 squats in 45 seconds. Aim to do 25 squats in 45 seconds (and so on with the other moves in your circuit). \u201cIf you have an open interval, you may hone it in, this way you work harder,\u201d says Theodore.<\/p>\n

3. Get Competitive
<\/strong>Against yourself. \u201cThis forces you mentally to push harder to get the work done,\u201d says Theodore. You can add a little friendly competition it in two ways:<\/p>\n

Option one: Plan out the moves and reps you\u2019re going to do (e.g. 10 lunges, tuck jumps, mountain climbers, lateral lunges). Do as many rounds as possible in \u201cX\u201d amount of time. Then for your next workout, aim to do more reps or get further through the circuit than before.<\/p>\n

Option two: Opt for a ladder or chipper workout. In this format, the moves are up to you. You might do 50 squats, 40 tricep dips, 30 bicycle crunches\u2026.and so on (chipper workout) or 10 push-ups, 20 squats, 30 jumping jacks\u2026and so on (ladder workout). The goal here: Getting to the top of the ladder (whether that\u2019s 50 or 100) without tapping out. Challenge accepted.<\/p>\n

4. Add Weight
<\/strong>\u201cAdding resistance with weights<\/a> changes the stimulus entirely,\u201d says Theodore. \u201cIt will call upon more muscles. And the more muscles you use, the higher your heart rate. The higher your heart rate, the more intense the exercise is \u2014 and the more calories you burn.\u201d Simple as that! As long as it makes sense for the exercise (you may want to be careful doing something burpees with weights), you can hold one weight in both hands or a weight in each hand and complete the reps.<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>30 Reasons Women Should Strength Train<\/a><\/p>\n

5. Make It an Incline\/Decline
<\/strong>Sometimes flat is just\u2026boring. That\u2019s where changing levels comes in. Let\u2019s take the example of a push-up. Doing an inverted push-up \u2014 either with your legs elevated or in a handstand position (with feet against a wall) \u2014 can mimic lifting a weight thanks to the added challenge of gravity, says Theodore. You can also use two stable boxes and, placing one hand on each box, to perform an incline push-up in between the boxes, which allows you to lower your chest even more. (Want more advanced push-up variations? Try these<\/a>!)<\/p>\n

6. Get Isometric
<\/strong>Want to feel more of the burn? Isometric exercises involve holding your body weight in a fixed position. The result is added stress on muscles, which can, in turn, help strengthen them. Try it: At the bottom of a move (like a squat<\/a> or lunge), hold for one second before coming back up. Or, add a number of small pulses at the bottom.<\/p>\n

7. Go Plyometric
<\/strong>Hello, hops! Adding some explosiveness will up the intensity of the movement and help you sneak in more cardio, too. Think: jumping split squats, jumping lunges, or plyometric push-ups<\/a>. If this is too much of a challenge, start with a plyometric blast at the end of your reps. For example, do 10 weighted squats, drop your weights and do 10 explosive squat jumps. Or do 10 push-ups and finish with five plyometric push-ups.<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>6 Plyometric Moves for a Shorter, More Intense Workout<\/a><\/p>\n

8. Reduce Stability
<\/strong>Go for one-legged or one-armed moves here. So rather than a traditional squat, do a pistol squat or Bulgarian split squat. Regular burpees<\/a> can become single-leg burpees. A regular plank<\/a> is now a single-arm plank. \u201cThis will recruit more muscle fibers, and work your core as well,\u201d says Theodore. Sounds like a win to us!<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When progress comes to a halt, try these baller techniques to bring back the burn. Your bodyweight workout is about to get a major upgrade. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":71,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,24,6,14],"tags":[32,83,281,341,353],"class_list":["post-49571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cardio","category-exercise","category-fitness","category-strength-training","tag-bodyweight","tag-resistance-training","tag-strength-training","tag-tax1living-well","tag-tax2weight-training"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/71"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49571"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49571\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}