Use these 3 tips if you're looking to see your gains skyrocket.
Over the last few years these 3 key points have helped me get stronger than I have ever been, put on more muscle mass, and have guided me towards a new way of thinking about strength & hypertrophy training. They've helped me create one of the most effective bodybuilding programs on the planet, and I hope that these tips can help you out just as much as they have helped me. Check this out.
1. Utilize More Compound Exercises - Did you know that recent studies prove that individuals who performed Isolation Exercises vs individuals who performed Compound Exercises showed no significant increase in the amount of muscle mass they gained in comparison to the other. Essentially, all this means is that Compound Exercises are just as effective for building muscle as Isolation Exercises are.
So let's break this down - our muscles adapt to the stimulus that is applied to them, they do not care whether it comes from a multi-joint exercise or a single-joint exercise. Yes, some exercises are going to be more effective for specific outcomes, but this isn't determined by the classification of Compound or Isolation.
Compound Exercises are often more difficult, more intense, and require the individual to work really hard. While on the other hand, Isolation Exercises are often easier for everyone to perform, require less hard work, and in most cases end up being far less intense than a multi-joint movement. Pretty easy to understand why most people gravitate to Isolation Exercises now isn't it?
Think of it this way, compare a Biceps Curl to the Chin Up. Both movements are going to be equally effective for building muscle mass if performed correctly. The Biceps Curl has a far lower barrier to entry, is far easier to perform than a Chin Up, and is probably way more fun and exciting for most people. However, the Chin Up is going to require you to use more muscle and work harder to perform each and every single repetition.
So if the end goal is to make big gains and really change the way our body looks, we should be gravitating towards the Compound Exercises. And the reason behind it is simple, Compound Exercises require the use of more muscle. When we use more muscle we expend more energy, and if you're trying to lose body fat, you need to burn more calories. So wouldn't it be wise of you to choose the Compound Exercise?
2. Utilize Progressive Overload as often as possible - you need to regularly challenge your muscles with increased volume, higher intensities, or more frequency if you expect to make continuous progress. An anchored ship never gets to its destination. If you stay in the same place, and do the same thing over and over again, you will not progress.
- Increased Volume - adding volume to your training is simple, for example, if you did 3 sets of 10 repetitions one week, the next week you need to do 3 sets of 12 repetitions, or 4 sets of 10 repetitions. It doesn't matter how you spin it.
- Higher Intensities - in order to grow and adapt we need to be continuously challenging ourselves with heavier external loads. This is what provides the stimulus necessary for our muscles to grow. So if you squatted 225 lb for 5 sets of 5 one week, the next week you need to squat 230 lb for 5x5. Easy.
- More Frequency - out of all 3 key factors here for Progressive Overload, this is likely the most difficult to navigate. You can't lift heavy every single day of the week, and lifting really light weights every day won't do you any good. So you need variation or you will run yourself into the ground. If you want to go from squatting 1x per week to 3x per week, consider this - 1 heavy day, 1 moderate day, and 1 light day. This will provide a wide variety of stimulus that will not only keep you from burning out, but also help to keep ticking that needle forward towards more progress.
3. Variation - periodically change exercises, intensities, and total volume to prevent plateaus. Variation plays a huge role in keeping your training fun and exciting. There's nothing worse than hitting the gym every single day and doing the exact same thing over and over again, and honestly this is why most people stop exercising, simply because they get bored.
Exercise Variation will keep things fresh and exciting, but it will also allow you to improve aspects of other lifts. Variations allow for improvements in structural balance, provide stimulus to other muscle groups, and will break the monotony of doing the same exercise day in and day out. So Back Squat, Front Squat, Lunge, do Split Squats, it all matters!
Consider this, the day I RFE Split Squat 245 lb on each leg was the day I knew I was going to set a new Back Squat 1RM. Sure enough, the following week I Back Squatted 415 lb with ease, breaking my old 1RM by 20 lb. Getting strong in a variety of movements will benefit every movement.
Varying intensity and volume plays an important role in continued progress simply because we cannot smash ourselves with heavy weights over and over and expect to feel great every single day. 1-5 repetitions for overall strength, 5-20 repetitions for hypertrophy (building muscle), and 15-20+ repetitions for muscle endurance. They all go hand in hand - When we get stronger we can lift heavier weights for higher repetitions, when we lift heavier weights for high reps we build more muscle mass and torch body fat, but we can't lift heavy weights for high reps without having muscular endurance. You get the point, you need to do it all.
Key Takeaway
It's important to understand the most effective means for making the changes you want to make to your body. Using these 3 tips will provide a framework or a very basic guide towards continuous progress in the gym. But most importantly, you still need to have a plan.
Lucky for you, I have built that plan. We use these exact tactics on a daily basis on BuildRx. And as a result, members who follow the plan are getting stronger than ever, building more muscle mass, and loving the way they look!
If you want to reap the benefits of hard earned results, constantly challenge yourself with higher intensities, more volume, and use a wide variety of movement patterns in your daily training, then you should check out BuildRx.
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