Krav Maga TV Blog

Can you get strong without weight training?

I have recently started incorporating some new bodyweight exercises into my training to increase overall strength and to have a change from my normal strength training routine.

I have always trained with weights since the age of about 14 when I had a plastic and sand weight training set at home.
I consider strength training important for a healthy body and it also helps with improving the amount of power delivered when kicking punching and grappling.

I have experimented with all sorts of weight training programs over the years, and the ones that I consider the best for real overall body strength always incorporate the use of the core muscles in conjunction with the arms and legs (see also the core training article on this site).

I know many of you are familiar with some bodyweight exercises such as push ups and squats, and you may be saying to yourself, big deal, I do these all the time and they are easy. The trick to making bodyweight exercises a good option to build functional body strength is to try to make the leverage worse so the exercise gets harder.

Let me explain this point a little more. When you perform any motion your body trys to make it as easy as possible by using as may joints and muscles as possible and by giving you the best leverage advantage – think leaning backwards when performing a biceps curl in the gym to ‘cheat’ a little extra weight up.

The next time you try a punch up try to elevate your legs, or use one leg on the ground or get your partner to hold onto your feet. Try to keep your body aligned and you should feel your whole body contracting to stabilise the motion.

Here are a few of the exercises I have added or am training towards:

Handstand push up
Planche Push Up
Single Arm Chin
Front Lever
Various types of plank

I find all of these very hard currently but they are getting easier!

There are so good websites available on bodyweight training, Google it and see what you can find. List any links to good site in the forum by clicking the link below.