By Michaelson Williams; Author, Former Fitness Consultant and Champion Bodybuilder. Author of I'm Core Fit; Success In One Day For The Rest Of Your Life, and The Ultimate Fitness Tips; Expert Guide To Fitness. Available on Amazon Today!
If you want to be a "weightless monster" you're going to have to think about your fitness training a bit differently. When you are training in the gym it's pretty easy to get a good pump, but without weights getting a good muscle pump takes a bit more work.
In stead of blasting your muscle with a ton of weight and the average 10 to 12 repetitions, think about angles of attack. That's right... You should be concentrating on every angle that you place your hands and feet for each exercise. The slightest change in angle shifts to a different focus point or strained of muscle. This changes the load that is placed on that particular muscle strand and the supporting muscle around it. See, not only are the focus point muscles working but the supporting muscle adjacent are also engaged.
Slightly moving your exercise position will change the focus point muscle firing tension, and completely change the impact of your exercise. Speed of movement and range of motion also affects the amount of growth and blood flow going directly to the muscles. A 15 second push up with full range of motion feels completely different than a two second movement performed at three quarter motion. These seemingly very small changes make a huge difference in muscle oxygen uptake and blood flow to the muscles itself.
As a side note, full range of motion does not mean to lockout the joints while in performance of the exercise. Locking out arms, legs, back, etc., takes the weight of the movement and puts it in the joints. The same thing occurs when you hit the rest point at the top or bend of the exercise movement. If you truly want to become a weightless monster you have to keep your muscles engaged through the full exercise movement.
Walking Lunges Tips:
The 90/90
While performing walking lunges most people forget to think about the 90/90, ninety degree front leg and ninety degree back leg. Don't get used to doing walking lunges with the knee over the front of the toes. This add unwanted pressure in the knee joint that will cause pain and even injury over time. Be sure to keep your back straight, head forward, and spin straight. Performing lunges in this manner will help to maintain a front and rear legs ninety degree angle.
Push Ups Training Tips:
Never break the top of the motion. When performing a proper push up for maximum pump and strength, never lock the arm out completely. When you lock your arms at the top of a push up you essentially send the power of the push up down into the floor. This disengages the chest and tricep almost completely, and takes away from the workout. Try tying a string to a tennis ball and hanging it so that your upper back hits the ball when you are just below full arm extension. This will trigger the motion to stop be the arms lock compete out.
Biceps Training Tips:
Working out the biceps without weights is a bit more challenging, but not impossible. I like to use the gable grip when performing resistance bicep curls. f you do not know what a "gable grip" is, it's when you claps one hand into the other, with fingers and thumb wrapped around the hand. To work the right bicep the palm of your right hand is facing up with the left hand covering it. This is resistance training therefore the tricep of the opposing arm is working while the bicep curl is being performed. I love gable grip curls because all of the supporting muscles like shoulders, back, chest, forearms, triceps, and even the abdominals are working at the same time.
Don't forget to checkout my other helpful articles geared towards your complete success, mind, body, and soul.
Respectfully yours, Michaelson Williams, tsx
That's a good exercise during lockdown, no need to go outside to be fit.