A Top Trainer Shows How He Makes 'Simple' Moves Harder for More Gains
Have you gotten to a point in your training where you feel like simple moves like pullups or pushups have become "too easy" for you? If you think that's the case, trainer Marcus Filly, a former CrossFit Games competitor and proponent of “functional bodybuilding”, has some news for you: you're not above the basics. He made a video that take some of the most basic strength exercises to the next level of difficulty and intensity by making simple adjustments.
"My goal today is to show you how you can make the simplest stuff that much more demanding for yourself," says Filly. "There are several variables inside of training that you can manipulate to increase the difficulty and intensity of even the simplest exercises." (He refers to variables as 'levers' in functional bodybuilding.)
To do that, he manipulates four factors: tempo, rest periods, load/tension and position/range of motion.
He shares a four-movement upper body focused push-pull giant set that is straight-forward, then explains how he changes variables each set to increase intensity. The workout includes: pullups, dumbbell bench press, chest row with rings, and pushups.
Round 1: Warm Up
To warm up, he starts with 'regressed' versions of different moves, including banded pullups, an inclined surface for pushups, light dumbbells for bench press, and an incline position on the rings and pushups. He also used faster reps (no pauses) to get the blood flowing to his muscles. From there, he gets into 'working' sets.
Round 2: Add in Tempo
To take things up a notch with intensity, Filly focuses this set on tempo, performed at a particular cadence. In this case, it's a 3-second negative, with a pause at the bottom.
"For all the exercises, it's going to be slower on the way down, fast on the way up," says Filly.
He explains that in functional bodybuilding, it's all about knowing what 'lever' to pull to adjust intensity.
"With tempo, slowing things down with a 3-second negative and a pause at the bottom of a repetition is going to add a new challenge to the next contraction of the exercise," he says.
Round 3: Adjust Rest Periods and Increase Loading
Now, Filly notes that he is going to add in 30-second rest periods between each exercise, plus increased load by changing up his body position.
"In the ring row and pushup, I changed my body position. On the pushup, I elevated my feet. On the ring row, I moved my feet much further forward and elevated them slightly, which put my body in a position that was more horizontal and led me to have to support more of my bodyweight against gravity," he says.
He notes that it is the same thing as adding weight, except for he didn't have to add weight. He just had to change his body position.
"For the pullups, you saw I tucked my knees up, which changes the position of the torso, and the direction I'm pulling makes it a bit more of an isometric core exercise," he says. "And lastly, the dumbbell bench press, I raised my feet up off the ground. Bringing the feet up into that 90 degree position, it reduces the amount of stability and balance that you get from your lower body when you're bench pressing. So there's a little bit more core work there."
Round 4: Advanced Range of Motion and Load
For this last set, Filly notes it was a 9/10 effort load for him, hitting lower ends of his rep ranges.
"You probably noticed I used mechanical loading for my pullups. I added a weight belt, 25 extra pounds, same position and same tempo. For this last set, instead of push-pull, I went straight from pullups right into my ring rows. My ring rows, I added a weight vest to it to make those more challenging," says Filly. "I went from pulling to pulling, which definitely made it harder."
On the dumbbell bench press and pushup, he played with with range of motion.
"I didn't just do a traditional bench press, I did a one-and-a-quarter repetition. At the bottom of each rep, it was a slight pump of the dumbbells up. Then I went right to my pushup. There I also increased the range of motion by using parallettes, so I was able to get my chest to fall deeper than my hands on every repetition, meaning I was adding range to that end position of my pushup. Additionally, I added a resistance band to my body that added tension at the top of the press, which made me have to lock out with more force than normal.
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