Plateaus are usually hit during strength training when you only take one approach to anaerobic exercise or you consistently over-train a muscle group. Here are great tips that I use every day with my clients to make sure that they continue to see maximum results from their regimen!
1. Plan your routine so that there is very little recovery time between sets that target the same muscle group. Not only does this provide new motor-unit recruitment, this also provides new stimulation. Groups of motor units generally work together to contract the same muscle.
2. One of the more obvious– but increase the number of sets for the selected muscle group. This not only changes up your routine, but completely adds another element to what your muscles are normally used to.
3. Change up the reps and sets, as well as the intensity. Even manipulate the frequency. This should be done within a 6 to 20 rep framework.
4. Switch up the sequence of exercises while leaving the amount of sets and reps the same. You can even leave the frequency the same.
As always, you can easily change the intensity of your anaerobic/strength training workouts by simply varying the amount of reps or even using high-intensity interval training.
Remember, your body doesn’t know how much weight it’s lifting. It only knows how much work it’s doing. Good luck and please practice proper lifting technique no matter what lifting exercise you’re performing!
Greenville's Personal Trainer, Justin Bowers 