There’s a method of training with weights called odd object lifting. While a barbell is made to be lifted, with its small diameter handle that is easy to grip, and the weight being perfectly balanced, most of what is encountered in the real world is not.
If you’ve ever moved furniture you know this to be true. While an item may not be all that heavy, its size and shape can prove very difficult to maneuver.
Thus if you want to become strong the use of odd objects is suggested. This means lifting things that are harder to lift like rocks, stones, barrels and the like. The idea being that this will force your stabilizing muscles to work much harder. Often your grip is taxed much more. Plus your form in lifting these odd objects will be different than how you’d handle a barbell.
But what does this have to do with bodyweight training? Can we take this idea of odd object training and apply it to bodyweight exercises?
Well, I was reading Raising the Bar by Al Kavadlo the other day. There’s a single sentence in there that got me thinking.
“Training on odd objects can sometimes offer unique challenges and benefits.”
This sparked my thinking about this more so in this article I’m going to go deeper on how to use odd objects in your bodyweight training.
Most pull-up bars are just like the barbell. Its perfectly straight and has a thin handle to make the exercise as easy as possible. So what happens when you do your pull-ups on things besides a normal pull-up bar?
Try it on a tree branch. The thicker grip will make it harder to do. Plus here you won’t be able to wrap the thumbs around. Depending on the strength of the branch there may be some sway as you do the exercise (of course you’ll want to make sure the branch can easily support your weight before you jump on it).
You could modify this even more with a tree. What if one hand hangs on a branch while the other is closer to the base of the tree, where the branch comes out. This will be an uneven pull-up and depending on how wide your hands are apart could also be an archer pull-up.
This same thing can be done on many monkey bars. Look around at the thick bars and the angles you can use.
And don’t just think pull-ups. Levers, hanging leg raises and dips can be done on different bar setups too.
Here you’ll gain some similar benefits as those odd objects can bring. The exercise will become harder as certain parts of your body will need to work more. The great thing is if you spend some time working on the odd bars when you go back to a regular bar its going to feel that much easier.
Bars aren’t the only way you can get this effect. What about pushups? Although you could use a variety of pushup handles you may be able to find objects to do pushups on too.
Plus this same effect can be accomplished on the flat floor just as well. Instead of always doing pushups in your perfect, ideal form, change them up.
Alter hand placement. Go closer, go wider, go offset. Turn one or both hands out to the side. Turn one hand backwards as you keep on forwards. Try this while they’re both wide.
The great hand balancer Professor E.M. Orlick taught handstands just like this. Don’t just keep trying to add time to holding a normal handstand. Instead alter your hand position (among many other things). Once again go closer, go wider, or offset.
When you train in this manner, since almost all of it will be harder than the normal version, when you get back to that regular pushup or handstand it will be that much easier.
While consistency with the basics is necessary and a good thing to do, one of the best ways to improve that is to “complexify” what you’re doing. This “odd object” like training will allow you to do just that. Sometimes you need to go outside the normal and play around with as many variations as you can.
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About Logan Christopher: Logan Christopher has been called a physical culture renaissance man as he is accomplished in a wide range of strength skills from kettlebell juggling, performing strongman stunts, and bodyweight exercises. He is the author of numerous books including Secrets of the Handstand and The Master Keys to Strength & Fitness. In addition, he’s spent the last several years going deep into mental training to find out what it takes to really excel and tactics that can help people instantly improve their exercises. You can find out more about all this at http://www.legendarystrength.com/.