Anyone who has been to a gym or enjoyed an outdoor activity day has, most likely, done something involving self body lifting. But what if we want that extra kick and want to get used to lifting not just ourselves, but additional weight as well?
One of the simplest ways to achieve this is to strap weights to ourselves. These are available very cheaply, or often free on loan from a gym. And the best part is that we can graduate the weights, so we can start off by adding just a few kilos, and over time build up to the point we are lifting the equivalent of ourselves and possibly an additional child’s weight. Depending on which area of the body we want to give a hard workout to, it’s perfectly possible to change around the weights so that one day we have them on our feet (which makes self lifting more strenuous but not uncomfortably so) or we can strap them to our biceps so that the workout is immediately made more intensive and difficult by virtue of the fact the additional weight is around our arms to start off with.
For those more familiar with the concept of self-body lifting, as long as the weight is evenly distributed and safely put on, strapping weights across our backs makes for some truly exhausting push-ups. If you have ever playfully allowed a young relative to sit on your back whilst you do push ups, you will know that at the end you feel like you have done ten times the usual workout. Doing this in a controlled setting is exactly the point.
Any additional weight placed onto the body does need to be done with safety, personal limitations and a goal in mind. There is no point slapping on weights on random appendages as it is not going to make for a coordinated workout, and the random placement does not allow any muscles to develop to a particular degree. But a controlled and sensible placement of weight will add a new dimension to self-body lifting.
