Advanced Training Techniques
The following training techniques are designed to add intensity, shock your muscles, and break through plateaus. These techniques are very intense and should not be used every training session because it could lead to overtraining. Don’t use the same advanced training techniques every week in your routine or they will lose their effectiveness. Also, it is recommended that you only use these advanced techniques for the final set of an exercise, not on each set.
Drop Sets and Strip Sets
A drop set is done by doing an exercise until you can’t do any more reps. Then you drop (reduce) the weight and continue until failure again. Strip sets are done when you continue with more than one drop in weight. Strip sets are best done using machines with weight stacks so you can change the weight quickly.
Forced Reps
In forced reps a spotter gives you a little help to lift your last couple of reps when you aren’t able to lift the weight on your own. Before you start, it’s important to let your spotter know how many reps you think you will be able to do on your own, so that he or she will be ready for you. Be sure that your spotter is strong enough to lift the weight.
Negatives
Negatives are done by lifting 5-10% more than your 1 rep max (your 1 rep max is the most weight that you can lift for a single repetition). A training partner helps you lift the weight up and then you lower it slowly. The reason this works is because you have more strength as your muscle lengthens than when it contracts. This technique uses that as an advantage, and gets your muscles used to lifting heavier weights. Studies have also shown that you get most of your gains in muscle mass, as well as muscle soreness from the negative (muscle lengthening) portion of the rep. So don’t cheat yourself on your other sets by only focusing on the muscle contraction portion of the rep.
Pyramid Sets
Pyramid sets are done by increasing the weight and decreasing the reps on successive sets. This ensures that the joints and muscles are warmed up well before lifting the heaviest weight.
Functional Isometrics
Isometrics are done when you maintain an angle in the joint and just hold the weight in a fixed position. Isometrics are only effective for the position that is being held and not through the rest of the range of motion. A sticking point in a lift can be overcome by doing isometric holds in that range of motion. For example, if you find that you always get stuck half way up on a bench press, holding a weight in an isometric hold within that range of motion will help build strength specifically in that range of motion. Just make sure you save enough energy to bring the weight back up again. A spot is always a good idea when you are doing a bench press, especially with this technique.
Pause Sets
Pause sets are done by lifting a weight for as many reps as possible and then taking a 10-15 second rest; then resuming the lift until failure. This is a great technique to use if you don’t have or need a spot.