want results? want to be bigger,faster,and stronger? of course you do everyone does. in order to do so you have to reach outside the box and do things that other people are not. lifting weights, exercising, dieting, and cardio are not a foreign language to most of us and really its not rocket science either. everyone reading this knows what a bench press is and everyone reading this knows what a squat is. its a concept everyone can understand and if you took a random person off the street and brought them to a gym and told them to bench press they would know exactly what to do 99.9% of the time. may not be great form or tons of weight but they get the concept of the lift. but if you told that exact same person to come in and do bench press with controlling the negative for 10 reps super setting with diamond pushups. most people that haven't been in the gym a while would have some questions on what you are talking about. for beginners it is a great idea to keep it simple. the reason for that is not only for the fact they dont understand the lingo and the exercise, but also they have to build a base of strength and muscle memory. its the same as someone who is getting into jogging or running. you would not expect them to on their first day of training to run a 5k or a half marathon. the same goes for lifting. a person that just started strength training to walk into the gym and do isometric exercises and high intensity interval training.
with that being said, if you dont fall into the beginner category but you are still doing beginner training there in lies the problem. ill use the runner scenario again. if you are a marathon runner who has completed several marathons why would you train for a 5k? again same goes for lifting. if you have a good muscle base and you are still training with in the perimeters as you started with do you really think growth is going to happen? NO! i am not saying when you become more advanced in your lifting dont do bench press! dont get that confused. those main exercises are great and beneficial in any strength training routine or mass gaining routine for that matter. but its how you do that exercise that matters. i so often see guys who have been lifting for years load 405lbs on a bench press and lay down and start their set by bouncing the crap out of the weight off of their chest and slamming it back up to the top and repeating that several times. now seriously what did that do other than boost his ego and bruise his sternum? well as far as benefit goes there was none. sure he lifted the weight but did he tax his muscles to the fullest capability with that weight? again the answer is no! all he did was a move a heavy object with no intent of delivering taxation on the muscles. i would have been way more impressed if he put 315lbs on the bar and slowly went down to his chest, paused at the bottom for 3 seconds, and then exploded up on the rep. that is taxation on the muscles at its fullest for that set. everytime i bench press i have a mindset that iam stretching my muscles as far as they will go and i will hold it to ensure i am delivering blood into the muscle cells this in turn is making it grow and making it stronger.
thinking outside the box doesnt have to be hard in lifting its actually simple once you grasp the function and are able to control the lift with weight added. for example if you have been training for size or mass and you have been doing squats with about 400lbs on the bar and you are able to handle that weight and control that weight for lets say 5 reps. what i would do to make sure the muscle is taxed to its fullest is do maybe 300lbs for 8 reps but what you will do is focus on control and focus on form and go down at a slower pace and get to the bottom of the lift and pause for 5 seconds and then explode up. and then i would immediate go back down for the next rep so i am keeping tension of the muscle group constantly. and then after that set is done i would super set it with leg extensions again same thing slow contraction with a 5 second pause at the peak of the lift. adding extra tension on the muscle group and maybe do 15-20 reps of that. time under tension is key for size and personally i think strength as well if you can control 300lbs for a long negative rep and pause for 8 reps how would it not make you stronger? trust me strength is not about maxing out and hitting huge numbers all the time. its about control and form. functional strength in my opinion is the key to strength. and by functional i mean control and being evenly distributed in strength through out you body. if you have strong legs but a weak back do you consider yourself strong? no you just have strong legs! if you have a huge bench press but can hardly squat down to tie your shoe do you consider your self strong? no you just have a strong bench press! functional strength is key!
i really wish i could go into more detail about thinking outside the box and really give detailed workout plans about overloading, time under tension, and functional strength but i would need a 100 page note book to write down my thoughts on all of it. i would encourage anyone wanting to switch things up and accelerate muscle growth to message me either on Facebook or if you have my number by text. i would be happy to talk with you and write my thoughts on your training and maybe tweak things a little to help with sticky spots or switching into your next gear of training.
*wolfman*
with that being said, if you dont fall into the beginner category but you are still doing beginner training there in lies the problem. ill use the runner scenario again. if you are a marathon runner who has completed several marathons why would you train for a 5k? again same goes for lifting. if you have a good muscle base and you are still training with in the perimeters as you started with do you really think growth is going to happen? NO! i am not saying when you become more advanced in your lifting dont do bench press! dont get that confused. those main exercises are great and beneficial in any strength training routine or mass gaining routine for that matter. but its how you do that exercise that matters. i so often see guys who have been lifting for years load 405lbs on a bench press and lay down and start their set by bouncing the crap out of the weight off of their chest and slamming it back up to the top and repeating that several times. now seriously what did that do other than boost his ego and bruise his sternum? well as far as benefit goes there was none. sure he lifted the weight but did he tax his muscles to the fullest capability with that weight? again the answer is no! all he did was a move a heavy object with no intent of delivering taxation on the muscles. i would have been way more impressed if he put 315lbs on the bar and slowly went down to his chest, paused at the bottom for 3 seconds, and then exploded up on the rep. that is taxation on the muscles at its fullest for that set. everytime i bench press i have a mindset that iam stretching my muscles as far as they will go and i will hold it to ensure i am delivering blood into the muscle cells this in turn is making it grow and making it stronger.
thinking outside the box doesnt have to be hard in lifting its actually simple once you grasp the function and are able to control the lift with weight added. for example if you have been training for size or mass and you have been doing squats with about 400lbs on the bar and you are able to handle that weight and control that weight for lets say 5 reps. what i would do to make sure the muscle is taxed to its fullest is do maybe 300lbs for 8 reps but what you will do is focus on control and focus on form and go down at a slower pace and get to the bottom of the lift and pause for 5 seconds and then explode up. and then i would immediate go back down for the next rep so i am keeping tension of the muscle group constantly. and then after that set is done i would super set it with leg extensions again same thing slow contraction with a 5 second pause at the peak of the lift. adding extra tension on the muscle group and maybe do 15-20 reps of that. time under tension is key for size and personally i think strength as well if you can control 300lbs for a long negative rep and pause for 8 reps how would it not make you stronger? trust me strength is not about maxing out and hitting huge numbers all the time. its about control and form. functional strength in my opinion is the key to strength. and by functional i mean control and being evenly distributed in strength through out you body. if you have strong legs but a weak back do you consider yourself strong? no you just have strong legs! if you have a huge bench press but can hardly squat down to tie your shoe do you consider your self strong? no you just have a strong bench press! functional strength is key!
i really wish i could go into more detail about thinking outside the box and really give detailed workout plans about overloading, time under tension, and functional strength but i would need a 100 page note book to write down my thoughts on all of it. i would encourage anyone wanting to switch things up and accelerate muscle growth to message me either on Facebook or if you have my number by text. i would be happy to talk with you and write my thoughts on your training and maybe tweak things a little to help with sticky spots or switching into your next gear of training.
*wolfman*