Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Ways to make things more challenging


We've all hit training plateaus at one time or another where things get stale/stagnant. While there are way too many to list, here are 4 ways to prevent potential plateaus in your workout regimen:


1) Increase time under tension (TUT)- that is, slow down how fast you are raising and lowering the weights. A fair warning: this may cause increased muscular soreness, so make sure to always warm up adequately and engage in proper joint mobility work.


2) Increase # of reps- instead of doing sets of 6-8, increase the # to 10-12.


3) Increase weight- many people I watch in the gym can clearly do more reps after they terminate a set. Don't be afraid to pump out a few extra reps to get the most out of the exercise.


4) Decrease rest periods between sets- It drives me INSANE when people (typically guys) dilly-dally between sets, either chatting for 10 minutes about the Sox blowing another lead or texting their friends- ridiculous. Cut the rest time down to 30-60 seconds between sets and you'll feel the difference.

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