Lifting Heavy? – Some Training Principles

Progressive Overload 

When you overload a muscle with weight it quickly adapts to the added stress by growing larger  and stronger so it can comfortably handle the added stress when called to lift it again.  Therefore, to grow muscle you must progressively increase the weight after each set whenever  possible. You can also increase the number of reps done for a particular weight as a way to  stress and overload the muscle. Muscles by nature do not want to grow, you must force them  and demand they grow.  

Train to Failure 

The ‘golden rule’ of building muscle is that you must push your muscles to absolute failure. On  at least one set of each exercise you must push until you can’t get another rep. By going to  failure you shock the muscle and fully stimulate muscle fibers, which then causes breakdown of  muscle tissue. Immediately afterwards, your muscles tissue begins to adapt and repair itself to  become larger and stronger for the next time you work it. Don’t let your ego or the fear of failure  hold you back. Declare war on your muscles and finish them totally.  

Push PAST Failure 

As you continue to grow stronger the fight to break down muscle tissue and stimulate growth  becomes harder and harder. Fortunately, there are several advanced techniques and strategies  you can use to ‘shock’ your muscles and force them to continue growing. The following are  training techniques you will use throughout your program. They are typically used during the last  set of an exercise as a way to ‘finish off’ a muscle. Using these techniques will give you great  results, however you must use caution and prevent injury by concentrating on good form during  the exercise.  

1) Forced Reps – once you reach complete muscle failure during an exercise, have a spotter  help you get 1-3 additional reps.

2) Drop Set – once you reach complete muscle failure during an exercise, immediately reduce  the weight and continue doing more reps. 

3) Negative Reps – once you reach complete muscle failure during an exercise, begin to slowly  lower the weight on the eccentric portion of the movement. As you control the weight and lower  it slowly, have a spotter help you bring the weight back to the starting position. For example, on  bench press you would lower the bar to your chest slowly as possible and have a spotter help  

you pull the weight back to the top. Aim for at least 2-3 negative reps. 

4) Partial Reps – once you reach complete muscle failure during an exercise, shorten the  movement and range of motion and complete additional reps. Basically, you are ‘cheating’ for  the last few reps.  

5) Rest/Pause – once you reach complete muscle failure during an exercise, rack the weight  and rest for 2-5 seconds then immediately attempt more reps. For example, on leg extensions  you push to failure, then rest for 2-5 seconds and immediately get more reps until you fail again.  

Stretch & Squeeze 

Range of Motion is critical in stimulating and growing muscle tissue. Your focus needs to be on  getting full contractions of the muscle on each rep. The most important thing is not how much  weight you can lift, it’s how well you can fully contract the target muscle during the exercise.  During your exercise think about and ‘feel’ your target muscle stretching and then squeezing at  the end of every single rep. For example, on Dumbbell Chest Flyes think about and feel your  chest opening and stretching out as you bring the weight down, and try to squeeze and flex your  chest as you bring the weight back to the top.  

Mind-to-Muscle Connection 

Over time your mind will develop a better connection with your muscles. As your mind-to-muscle  connection improves you will notice it becomes easier to perform certain exercises and you will  have a greater ability to ‘isolate’ the target muscle you are working. To improve this connection,  keep intense focus on the muscle you are working throughout the entire exercise. Say to  yourself, “I’m working biceps” over and over again during the exercise and watch them in the  mirror as they contract and ‘stretch and squeeze’ thru the movement. Having a strong mind-to muscle connection prevents common problems like using too much shoulders when doing bicep  curls, or using too much biceps when doing back exercises. 

Fast-Twitch VS. Slow-Twitch 

Certain muscles respond differently depending on whether they are Fast-Twitch or Slow-Twitch.  Slow-Twitch muscles like your legs, traps and shoulders are designed for endurance and  respond best to low weight / high reps, and less rest time between sets. Fast-Twitch muscles  like your chest, biceps, triceps and lats are designed for quick bursts of power and respond best  to high weight / low reps, with more rest time between sets 

Pre-Exhaustion Technique 

By performing isolation exercises first in your workout you can maximize the total number of  muscle fibers that are stimulated during the more important compound exercises. For example, 

if you perform leg extensions and leg curls at the beginning of your workout your legs will be  fatigued. Then, when you move on to perform squats or leg press your legs are forced to use  and ‘recruit’ more muscle fibers to assist in the movement. Another example would be doing  

side raises and front raises before doing shoulder press, or lat-pulldowns and rows before  deadlifts.