Drastically Different Training Methods – Break Through Plateau’s

Drastically Different Training Methods – Break Through Plateau’s

Bored of the Old 3 Sets of 10-12 reps? Well guess what, Your Body is too! Break Through Training Plateau’s and Get The Results You Want…

When you’ve been training consistently for some time you will hit a frustrating plateau in your training regime at one time or another.  It happens suddenly also, you find yourself actually weaker, the weight you lost begins to come back... You’re not alone and these tips will get you back on the winners list sooner than you think.

The majority of the time a plateau occurs is simply because routines rarely get changed. Many people stick with the same types of exercises and the same sets and reps. Rest periods stay the same and we continue on the same boring cardio workout.  This article will bring some creativity to your workouts and help you become more inspired to push through and continue to achieve results.

There are so many ways you can modify a training regime to maximize your fat loss, muscle building and overall fitness response to exercise.

Most only ever change sets and reps, however changing other areas can dramatically affect your results. Things like;

1.    Changing the sequence of exercises (order)

2.    Exercise groups (super-setting, drop sets, etc)

3.    Exercise type (one arm, two arm, free-weight/machine)

4.    Number of exercises performed per workout (less sets per exercise)

5.    The amount of resistance

6.    The base of stability (standing, seated, on stability ball, one-legged, etc.)

7.    The volume (sets x reps x distance moved)

8.    Rest periods between sets (aim for 1 minute between every set, gets harder!)

9.    Repetition speed (count 3 up and 4 down or 4 up and 3 down, etc)

10. Exercise angle (inclined, flat, declined, bent over, upright, etc)

11. Training duration per workout

12. Training frequency per week.

To name just a few...

It may sound like a lot of different training tools to consider. However in the long run Einstein’s famous quote “You Can’t Keep Doing the Same Thing Over and Over Again And Expect a Different Result.” In order to get the best results from your workout you will need to mix things up. 

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.  This is Soooo Booooorrrrring!!!!  Here are a few examples to get you kick-started and begin producing workouts.

• Try 5 sets of 6 with a medium weight, resting only 25 seconds between sets.
• Try using a heavier weight and complete 4 sets of 4 reps, doing a 300 metre Row between each weight lifting set.
• Try using a lighter than normal weight and do 1 set of 50 reps for each exercise
• Try using a near maximum weight and do 10 sets of 1 rep, with 30 seconds rest between sets.
• 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 circuit of 12 different exercises covering the entire body without any rest between exercises.
• Try that same 12 exercise circuit on your next workout, but do the entire circuit in the reverse order.
• Try completing three 1-hr workouts one week, followed by five 30 minute workouts the next week.
• Try doing drop sets of all of your exercises, this is where you drop the weight between each set and do as many repetitions without any rest until complete muscle exhaustion.