Ideas for Advanced Gym goers

Rompa_87

I thought I would open up this forum to those who have been working out for a fair amount of time and want to give some ideas of improving the basic exercises. My main motivation for doing so is due to individuals who seem to think the old pushup or pullup is too simple and that only benching and bicep curling their day away will help.

So here are some suggesitons to make the basic exercises more difficult:

Pushups - One version I love doing at the end of a workout involved placing your feet on a bench, hands on a fitball and performing as many clap pushups as possible. This helps activate the triceps much more than a traditional pushup and also helps to strengthen the rotator cuffs. An alternative version is to place your feet on a wall and perform as many pushups that way or if you are really brave work towards learning the planche.

Pullups and dips - Apart from the obvious solution of adding weight, you can always try the muscle up. I've seen many people in my gym who are able to perform the pullup and dip with weights but are unable to perform a single rep of the muscle up. Not only is the transition difficult but it is an energy intensive and time efficient way to train your entire upper body. For a demo of what the muscle up involves go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJX1pxL-NMo&feature=player_embedded

Pistol Squats - These are basically a more difficult version of the body weight squat and arguably one of the best lower body exercises around. They are also known as single leg squats, and the amount of balance and core stability to perform them will increase your leg strength. Once they become too easy add weight by holding a plate in front of you.

Anymore suggestions from those out there who get bored of the traditional gym exercises and do something more creative?