One of the simpler, yet effective ways of encouraging muscle growth using bodyweight exercises is to increase the reps you’re doing. While you may be lifting lighter weights than you would in the gym, increasing the reps means that you can still hit the RPE (a scale used to measure how intense your exercise is) that you typically would. It may take longer to get there, but you can still get there.

2. DECREASE REST TIME

Rest in between your sets is important, but if you want to amp up the intensity, then shorten the breaks you take. If your rest break is usually between 60-90 seconds, then take the minimum time of 60-seconds and then do your next set. By reducing the time off between your working sets, you can ensure that the intensity is still there. Plus, if you find that you can perform your set just as well with less rest time, then you know you’ve improved.

3. PERFORM VARIATIONS OF ONE MOVEMENT

There’s always more than one way to execute an exercise. Let’s take push-ups as an example. It’s one of the most popular bodyweight exercises that can stimulate muscle growth and still give you a challenge.

With the push-ups, you have your standard push up where your feet and hands are levelled at the same height. However, if you want to challenge yourself, then a decline push up is a great way to do so. This is when you elevate your feet so that they are on a raised surface (like a chair or bench) while your hands are at a lower level (such as the ground). In this position, the weight distribution changes so you have more weight to push up against. If you need to make that even harder, then find a higher surface.

If you need to start off on an easier variation than the standard push up, then using your knees as your base instead of your feet is a beginner-friendly version. Also, the incline push-up is a good option. This is the opposite of a decline one as it’s your upper body that’s elevated and your lower body is on a lower surface. There is less weight on your upper body so it will be easier than the standard or decline push up.

4. TRAIN TO FAILURE

Training is failure is another strategy you can use to build muscle using only bodyweight exercises. This means you’ll be taking an AMRAP (as many reps as possible) approach and continuing your reps until you physically cannot do anymore. However, bear in mind that you still need to make sure that you have good form. There is no use pushing out an extra couple of reps that compromise your technique, not to mention, it’s quite dangerous. So train to failure to completely break down those muscles while maintaining good form.

Here comes the next part that people tend to overlook. Recovery. When you train to failure to completely break down the muscle, you need to give them adequate time to recover and rebuild. So don’t use this strategy every time you workout and when you do use it, make sure that the following week is a rest and recovery week or at the very least a deload.

5. INCREASE TIME UNDER TENSION

Bodyweight exercises can promote muscle growth if you increase time under tension. This refers to the amount of time you’re putting strain on your muscles. You can do that by slowing down your movements instead of finishing them as fast as possible.

A way to do this is to add tempo lifts to your workout. Let’s see what we can do with tempo squats as an example. Don’t just squat down and bounce back up. To make it a tempo, add a count to each phase of the squat movement such as 3210. When you lower yourself down, count to 3. That’s the first number and component. Then pause at the bottom for 2 seconds. The next number is 1, so give yourself 1 second to move from the bottom position back to your starting. Then the last number, in this case 0, refers to how long you can pause at the top before moving onto the next rep. You can make any exercise a tempo variation, which will put a bigger strain on your muscle and encourage growth.

Another way to increase time under tension is to slow down the eccentric phase of the movement. This the lowering part of an exercise that elongates the muscle such as when you lower yourself into a push-up or squat. This means more muscle damage, hence stimulating growth.

6. MECHANICAL DROP SET

Our final tactic that will help you build muscle using bodyweight exercises is by implementing a mechanical drop set into your training. This differs from the normal drop set in which you do the same exercise until failure and then lower the weight and continue. With the mechanical drop set, you are training until you’re too fatigued but changing the exercise slightly to enlist the help of other muscles to complete all your sets.

If you’re training your squat, then the first set can be heels elevated squat. To do this, find something to stand on that will slightly elevate your heels. This will be a quad-dominant exercise. After you do these reps, immediately switch to a narrow stance squat, so your feet are closer together without the elevation and finish with a wide-stance squat that will recruit the help of the glutes and hamstrings to complete the mechanical drop set. This will count as one set so make sure you don’t rest until all three variations are complete.

Doing so will definitely fatigue those muscle fibers, causing them to repair and rebuild bigger than before.

Related: How To Train Your Hamstrings At-Home (12 Must-Try Exercises)

Final Thoughts

Building muscle with bodyweight exercises may not be as simple as adding weight to a bar but with these strategies, it can still be done. By adding variations, mechanical drop sets and increasing time under tension, amongst other tactics, you’ll find that you can still get the muscle growth you’re looking for.