Mike Geary’s Presciption for Intensifying your Bodyweight Exercise Reps
I receive a number of interesting health and fitness newsletters in my e-mail. Every so often I get some suggestions for intensifying the impact of some of the exercises that we tend to take for granted or, if we use them, have become less effective as our bodies have adjusted to the stress.
Mike Geary runs a website and publishes an e-zine, "TruthAboutAbs." His website is, of course, www.TruthAboutAbs.com . In his February 6 e-zine, Mike shares the following tips for creating more challenging reps:
“Now for today’s tip on the unique style of repetitions for bodyweight exercises (this can be applied to any other exercises too):I’ve used this style of repetitions for pushups and pullups mostly, but can also be used for squats, etc. It’s TOTALLY DIFFERENT from your typical style of repetitions.
Think of how most people would do a set of pushups or pullups…they would crank out the reps almost as fast as they can until they burn out…most people would actually use a rep speed of faster than 1 second up and 1 second down.
Now here’s how you do my alternative style of repetitions:
Let’s take the pushup for example…
*You take a full 10 seconds to lower yourself to the bottom position, moving slowly throughout the range of motion over that full 10 seconds.
*Then, you hold the bottom contracted position for another full 10 seconds (an inch or two off of the ground, so that the muscles are still in an isometric contraction).
*Then, you do the concentric portion of the pushup (pressing up) as fast as possible.
So, all in all, 1 pushup repetition will take you 21 seconds approximately. For most people, 2 to 3 pushups in one set is all they’ll be able to do in this unique style of reps. If you do 3 reps in one set, that’s basically about 1 minute time-under-tension for your muscles.
This exact method can be used to get some variety into your pullup training… instead of just cranking out your reps as fast as you can like most people do… try pulling up powerfully for the 1st rep, holding the top position of the pullup for 10 seconds, and then slowly lowering for 10 full seconds. Try to do 2 reps per set like this if you are strong enough.
Most people can not even do 1 repetition like this for pullups, so if you can’t do the full 10 seconds of hold and 10 seconds down, just do whatever time you can, and build up to longer times for subsequent workouts.
You can also alternate these “super-slow” sets of pushups with super-slow sets of pullups… 3-5 sets of each, and you have one of the best upper body workouts you’ve ever done!
There you have it… a cool new repetition scheme to help break you out of your workout rut. Give it a try for a couple weeks, and I think you’ll see some new results.”
Perhaps, this will be of use to some of my BodySpace friends and fellow members.
Perhaps, this will be of use to some of my BodySpace friends and fellow members.
February 6, 2009 at 2:22 pm
I have read of this technique before in menshealth mag, it is awesome!!!
February 6, 2009 at 2:26 pm
Thanks for your comment! I have used some of his techniques for Biceps (e.g. holding the weight at the top of the moment and another is holding your bodyweight at the top of a chin-up for 1 minute).
February 7, 2009 at 4:48 am
Im subscribed to Mike Gearys E-Zine, but havent got this one… Sounds really good.. i struggle with full press ups (man press ups lol) and can barely do 10 normally- but im determined to do them lol… going to try this one for as many seconds as i can manage.. Thanks
x
February 7, 2009 at 12:13 pm
As you know, in general, women are not as strong in the upper body as most men. If you can do 10 press-ups at this point, you are doing well. You may want to consider doing yours on your knees until you have sufficient strength to do "full" press-ups. Thanks as always for being in my humble BodyGroup and for your comments.
February 7, 2009 at 12:25 pm
If I’m not mistaken, this would be the same concept of negatives?
February 7, 2009 at 12:48 pm
The concept does appear to be similar to negatives. I know when I move to the next planche training progression, negatives will be very important in my training! I will FINALLY be attempting to do a variation of the push-up! Thanks for commenting!