It is well known fact that one of the best ways to build upper body strength fast is by implementing simple push-ups and pull-ups into your workout.  Unfortunately not all of us can knock out 25 of these in a blink.  For the average fitness enthusiast, push-ups and pull-ups are exercises they dread the most for many reasons:

1.  They’re hard

2.  They are boring if you do not know all the variations

3.   Hard to measure progress

4.   Difficult to know if you are performing them well

5.   Poor trunk stability and body awareness

6.   Poor body weight to strength ratios

7.   Hard to modify … Until now.

I have the workout and the perfect solution to becoming a push-up / pull-up master.

Resistance Band Assisted Body Weight training

With bands you can assist any body weight exercise… lunges, squats, dips and of course push-ups and pull-ups.  Assisting these fundamental exercises is equivalent to taking weight off the bar.  In this case you are simply taking body weight away.  No different.

With bands this becomes so easy as long as you know where to place the band on your body.

How do you progress with assisted exercises??

I use the rule of 12.  When you can do 12 assisted pull-ups or push-ups, I decrease the band assistance by one band.  I continue this progression until I am using a small red band which is approximately a 15 pound assist.  Once I am doing 12 reps with the red band, I will start doing a combination of assisted and full body weight to build strength.

Now how do I make this an interval strength work?  Easy… get Workout Muse!!! I recommend you start with  30-30 Mayhem Interval Workout Music and gradually work towards a 20-10 Ultimate Tabatas Interval Training Music.   It will be tough but the results are amazing.  Your goal is to keep your last set 60% of your first set.  I usually go 5 sets with 30-30 and 4 sets with 20-10.

Thanks to RBT, now anyone can knock out pull-ups and push-ups

Crank it

Dave “The Band man” Schmitz

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Dave Schmitz (physical therapist and CSCS) is the resistance band training innovator when it comes to creating functionally based band workouts.  His Resistance Band Unleashed DVD Series will provide over 100 strength training workouts and exercises using band alone or in conjunction with other training devices.    Additional bands and resources are available at www.resistancebandtraining.com

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