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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 moderately heavy 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. With this example, you could try sets of 5 reps at a
moderately heavy weight every 2 minutes until you reach 20 minutes.
•Try a workout based on all bodyweight exercises such as pushups, pull-ups,
chin-ups, dips, bodyweight squats, lunges, step-ups, 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. Keep in mind that no matter what style of training you are
using at any given time, progression on subsequent workouts should be your goal.
Work hard and train smart and watch your body change!
Visit http://truthaboutabs.com/freenewsletter.html to receive a free "Training & Nutrition Secrets of a Fitness Junkie" ebook
as well as your own free personalized metabolic rate calculator.
Michael Geary is a nationally dual certified personal trainer (NCSF-CPT,
AFAA-CPT), and author of the internationally-selling The Truth about Six Pack
Abs ©2004-2006.
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