Tip: The Pro-Level Push-Up

Strong lifters often overlook bodyweight training because they think it's not hard enough. But it's certainly possible to build muscle using your own bodyweight, especially if you can turn it into a challenge. Try this:

Push-Up With Intra-Set Holds

Do three pauses during your set (hold near the bottom position), then do reps after each hold. For example:

• Hold the bottom position of a push-up for 10 seconds, then do 5 reps.
• Hold the bottom position again for 10 seconds, then do 5 reps.
• Hold the bottom position once more for 10 seconds, then do as many reps as possible.

That's all one set. So don't stop between the reps and the holds.

You can play with the amount of time you spend on the holds. If you can get more than 12 total reps, lengthen the time of the holds.

Now, the holds don't all have to be the same length. You could do 20 seconds on the first one, 15 seconds on the second, and 10 seconds to finish.