After doing the same workout, it becomes predictable and tiresome. You know which lifts will be challenging and which exercises you enjoy, so you struggle through the rest of the workout.
Or perhaps you have been lifting for a while and want to take your training to the next level. The 3 sets of ten are not going to work forever. If you are looking to get the most out of your workouts, you want more challenging sets. There are a few different things you can do:
Related:Â The 5 Rules To Break For Building Strength and Muscle
Increase the time under tension
Push to failure
Partial reps or drop sets
and let’s look at nine more.
1.) Paused Reps
Pausing reps can help you increase the intensity and reach personal records. By controlling the weight, you can bust through your previous achievements.
Powerlifting is a sport that requires dedication and practice. If you’re interested in trying it, you’ll need to put in the effort first.
The rep is paused for a short period between the eccentric and concentric portions of a compound lift.
- You would pause with the bar at your chest for a bench press.
- For a squat, you would pause in the hole at the bottom.
- You would pause with the bar at your shoulders for an overhead press.
- You can also apply this technique to other exercises.
To prevent your muscles from fatiguing, you must stop the force and re-engage them.
Pausing for a short time can significantly impact your exercise power. A three-second pause can help you sound more organized and confident in your speech.
2.) Negatives or Forced Reps
Negative reps or forced reps are not recommended because they will overwork your eccentric phase of the lift.
Bench Press is a common negative exercise for doing negative training. An example would be slowly letting the barbell creep down to your chest and having a partner help pull it back up.
The part of the lift we are overloading is the area with a high potential to cause muscle damage.
Partners can help you perform better if you are using free weights for forced reps, but machines are usually more efficient.
3.) Cheat Reps
We all know doing good form during a lift is essential. However, sometimes you want to force out a few extra reps. If you are reaching your failure point with your lifts, using some momentum may be able to help you complete a couple more half-reps.
Squeezing out a few more reps can help break down muscle fibers, but you must always be in control.
4.) 1.5 Reps
Performing 1.5 reps on a machine is unique and provide a great workout.
For these, you will simply perform the movement, go halfway through the eccentric phase, and finish the movement. You will perform a full rep, lower the weight halfway, lift the weight back up, and then let the weight all the way down.
This workout is excellent for toning your legs, arms, and triceps.
5.) 21s
If you want to get along well with your workout partner, 21s is an excellent way to do that. This is a bro protocol, but it may work well for you.
For a better workout, grab a barbell or EZ curl bar and perform 7 half reps from the bottom to the middle of the lift. Next, do 7 more half reps from the middle to the top of the lift. Finally, you do 7 full reps.
Your partner is responsible for handing the bar back to you during their 21s. This is your rest period until they do so.
6.) Time Under Tension
When under time pressure, your muscles can push further and tear more muscle fibers.
By slowing the tempo at which you are lifting, you can increase the time under tension, leading to a greater workout.
The stress intensity from the time under tension is more important than how much weight you are moving.
7.) Supersets
Supersets are an excellent way to increase our strength and muscle mass. Supersets can save time by allowing us to complete more exercises in a shorter amount of time.
Supersets are a great way to work multiple muscles at once. By alternating exercises, you still have a rest period for your muscle, but you’re working the other muscle group while it rests.
8.) Rest-Pause Training
The bench press is a great way to build power and strength. You can improve your anaerobic capacity by racking the weight and counting 15 seconds. This technique may only result in a couple of reps before failure, but it will help you grow stronger over time.
It is important to exercise safely and deliberately push the intensity envelope when lifting weights. The goal is to increase muscle strength and size, not injure ourselves.
9.) Drop Sets
If you love high-volume workouts, this technique is for you.
There is a specific order in which you should perform repetitions when training to become stronger or more muscular. The first step is to get to your working weight, and then you can increase the intensity by failing sooner. This process will be repeated until the individual decides they want to stop.
If you’re doing side lateral raises, you should complete 10 reps of the exercise before reaching your limit and then move on to the next set with the 20s. If you continue performing more than two drops in a set, the gains from these exercises will diminish.
Last Words
If you want to see an increase in your muscle gains, you’ll need to increase your intensity and consistently train. Eating some nutritious foods will also help.
