HOW TO OVERCOME GROWTH PLATEAUS?
If you are just starting to lift weights you will notice that your strength on most of the exercises you perform will be increasing on a weekly basis. The increase of strength will lead to increase of muscle to your body.
However, there will be times in your bodybuilding endeavours when getting stronger or bigger will seem almost impossible no matter what you do.
Here are some tips to help you with this:
VARY YOUR EXERCISES FREQUENTLY.
Your muscles adapt very quickly to the weight and exercises you perform. If you have been performing the same routine over and over again for a prolonged period of time your muscles will adapt to the movements of those exercises which can lead to less muscle growth due to a reduced stimulus of the working muscles. To avoid this, mix your exercises frequently to shock the muscles to new growth. Do not perform the exact same routine for longer than two weeks.
CLOSE MONITORING OF YOUR NUTRITION.
Putting a great emphasis on your training and neglecting the dietary part will definitely halt your progress. If your goal is to put on lean muscle you have to make sure that you are in a 500-1000 calories surplus. Meaning, you consume 500-1000 more calories daily than what you are burning. Make sure that the calories come from good quality sources of protein, carbs and fats.
HAVE ADEQUATE REST.
Despite how significant rest is, it is often neglected among people that train. In fact, the importance of rest goes hand in hand with that of training and nutrition. To get the benefits of growth through recovery between workouts, aim to get adequate sleep and build a good sleeping pattern of about. 7-8 hours of sleep would work well
INCLUDE SOME ADVENCED TECHINIQUES OF TRAINING TO YOUR PROGRAM.
If you are an intermediate/advanced trainer (have been training for some time; perform exercises with good form) and have only followed a traditional routine of straight sets for every exercise, adding some advanced techniques can shock your muscles to a new growth.
Some of these advanced techniques to incorporate can include drop sets, supersets, negative reps, forced reps, rest pause, etc. Note that for some of these techniques you would need a training partner to perform them safely.
These are some of the techniques I have used over the years in my bodybuilding career and I find they are still helpful in pushing through my sticking points.
Keep up the good work!
