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Everyone will inadvertently hit a frustrating plateau in their training at one
time or another. You're cruising along for a while, gaining strength, losing
fat, looking better, and then all of the sudden it hits. Suddenly, you find
yourself even weaker than before on your lifts, or you find that you've gained
back a couple of pounds. It happens to everyone. Most of the time, these
plateaus occur because people rarely change their training variables over time.
Many people stick to the same types of exercises for the same basic sets and
reps and rest periods with the same boring cardio routine. Well, I hope to open
your mind and bring some creativity to your workouts with this article!
There are many ways that you can strategically modify your training variables to
assure that you maximize your fat loss and/or muscle building response to
exercise. Most people only think about changing their sets and reps performed,
if they even think about changing their routine at all. However, other
variables that can dramatically affect your results are changing the order of
exercises (sequence), exercise grouping (super-setting, circuit training,
tri-sets, etc.), exercise type (multi-joint or single joint, free-weight or
machine based), the number of exercises per workout, the amount of resistance,
the time under tension, the base of stability (standing, seated, on stability
ball, one-legged, etc.), the volume of work (sets x reps x distance moved),
rest periods between sets, repetition speed, range of motion, exercise angle
(inclined, flat, declined, bent over, upright, etc), training duration per
workout, and training frequency per week. Sounds like a lot of different
training aspects to consider in order to obtain the best results from your
workouts, doesn't it? Well, that's where a knowledgeable personal trainer can
make sense of all of this for you to make sure that your training doesn't get
stale. Below are a few examples to get your mind working to come up with more
creative and result producing workouts.
Most people stick to workouts where they do something along the lines of 3 sets
of 10-12 reps per exercise, with 2-3 minutes rest between sets. Booooorrrrring!
Here are a few examples of different methods to spice up your routine.
?Try 10 sets of 3, with only 20 seconds rest between sets.
?Try using a heavier weight and complete 6 sets of 6 reps, doing a 3 minute
treadmill sprint between each weight lifting set.
?Try using a near maximum weight and do 10 sets of 1 rep, with 30 seconds rest
between sets.
?Try using a lighter than normal weight and do 1 set of 50 reps for each
exercise
?Try a workout based on only one full body exercise, such as barbell clean &
presses or dumbbell squat & presses, and do nothing but that exercise for
an intense 20 minutes.
?Try a workout based on all bodyweight exercises such as pushups, pull-ups,
chin-ups, dips, bodyweight squats, lunges, etc.
?Try a circuit of 12 different exercises covering the entire body without any
rest between exercises.
?Try that same 12 exercise circuit on your subsequent workout, but do the entire
circuit in the reverse order.
?Try your usual exercises at a faster repetition speed on one workout and then
at a super-slow speed on your next workout.
?Try completing five 30 minute workouts one week, followed by three 1-hr
workouts the next week.
?Try doing drop sets of all of your exercises, where you drop the weight between
each set and keep doing repetitions without any rest until complete muscular
fatigue (usually about 5-6 sets in a row).
There are many more ways to continue to change your training variables. I hope
this article gave you some ideas on methods for you to take your body to the
next level.
©2005 truthaboutabs.com
Michael Geary - NCSF CPT, AFAA CPT;
Author of "The Truth About Six Pack Abs" ©2004-2005
Visit
http://truthaboutabs.com
to discover innovative training and nutritional strategies for
losing body fat and developing a rock hard body!
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