Add reps, then slow the tempo, then move to harder leverage variations before adding external weight.
With bodyweight training you overload by making the movement harder, not just by adding reps forever. First add reps within a range, then slow the tempo and add pauses, then progress to harder leverage variations, for example incline to standard to decline to archer push-ups. Once a movement gets easy at high reps, add external load with a weight vest, backpack, or dip belt to keep it in a strength-building range.
Bodyweight strength comes from harder variations, so climb a difficulty ladder: knee push-ups to full to feet-elevated to one-arm progressions, or rows to pull-ups to weighted pull-ups. Each step raises the effective resistance without any equipment.
When you cannot yet reach the next variation, slow the lowering to 3 to 5 seconds and add pauses at the hardest point. This increases time under tension and difficulty on the same movement.
If you are doing 20-plus clean reps, you are training endurance, not strength, so add weight to get back into a 5 to 12 rep zone. A weight vest, loaded backpack, or dip belt lets you keep overloading push-ups, pull-ups, dips, and squats.
Add reps, then slow the tempo, then move to harder leverage variations before adding external weight.
