Bodyweight Training

Performing strength training without weights is not only possible, the world of gymnastics shows that fantastic strength and physiques can be built using only your bodyweight. Upper body strength developers like the push up and pull up are obvious choices as are squats, lunges and step ups for the lower body.

This Everything Push-Ups article from T-Nation has some great ideas and routines for push ups.

Pull up progression is covered in this Clear the bar article from Experience Life mag.

Beastskills has a range of tutorials that cover the entire body and includes a few different combo moves as well.

Putting everything into a routine is covered by Bodyweight Culture which has a series of 20 challenges to progress through. (Please note: you must register first to be able to view the challenges)

The equipment required for bodyweight training is minimal and in some cases non-existent, so don't let not having access to weights stand in the way of your strength progress.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses. The challenge is deciding whether to continue to improve your strengths and specialize in those areas or to bring your weaknesses up to par and improve more generally. This decision depends on your goals and your reasons for training.

A person who is trying to improve their overall fitness, lose some weight and generally look and feel healthier is probably better served by training to improve their weaknesses. If you determine that you are lacking strength, then by focusing on improving your strength you will look and feel better. Similarly if you lack endurance you probably don't feel able to move very far without running out of breath. By focusing on that as a fitness quality you can improve your overall fitness and continue towards your goals.

Athletes training for performance are different however. Although they need to reach minimum standards across the requirements of their sport, once those minimum standards are met they are best served by focusing on their strengths. This really goes against the most common thought of bringing up your weaknesses to become a more complete athlete but outstanding performance comes from being able to use your strengths to their fullest. Think of the most explosive and dynamic athletes, they are the ones who utilize their strengths the best rather than minimizing their weaknesses. They also take the chances required to win rather than minimizing the risk of losing.

Once again it depends on your goals as to which path you take but as an athlete it is better to excel at one aspect than be good at none.

The Importance of Strength

I have previously written about the importance of strength here. In the past few days I have read two other blogs that really highlight the importance of strength, not just for performance but also for longevity.

In his blog Alwyn Cosgrove talks about strength as the greatest equalizer in sport and the importance of strength training in physical preparation. Check out his Moments of Clarity IV.
Lou Schuler from Male Pattern Fitness notes "I've cited studies in my books, and probably on MPF as well, showing that strength is correlated with longevity in men and women. The correlation between cardiovascular fitness and longevity is probably stronger, but it's pretty clear that muscular fitness matters for those seeking a longer, healthier life" in a post on 40 years of aerobics.

It would seem quite clear that no matter what some form of strength training is vital to reaching your goals.

Strength

Strength. It’s the very foundation of our lives. It influences everything we do and everything we attempt to do. From daily activities like getting out of bed in the morning or putting something away in a cupboard to running a marathon or lifting a heavy weight you need the appropriate amount of physical and mental strength to complete the task. Physical and mental strength go hand in hand. You may have the physical strength to perform a task however if you don’t have the mental strength your body will not be able to fully use its physical strength. Equally if you psych yourself up to the point that you’re more mentally strong than physically strong, injury is the likely result.

It’s amazing how co-ordination issues, balance, body composition (less fat, more muscle) and the ability to move faster and further all improve as your physical strength is improved. The first step to physical strength improvement is mental strength improvement. You can't just expect to grab something and heave it up any old which way and improve so you need to focus on the task and mentally have the strength to perform it properly.

Whether you are training for performance improvements, physique improvements or health improvements strength is the key to it all. You should prepare to improve some kind of strength every time you train.