Personal Trainer Northampton Blog

I personally love weight lifting and training but even so, sometimes your routines can get stale.  You can find yourself not looking forward to training or almost just going through the motions.  This shouldn’t be the case! You should enjoy what you are doing, whatever it is.  In addition, if you are looking to gain muscle mass, a stale routine probably also means that you aren’t getting the gains you want.  Your body is very clever and can get accustomed to routines that never change.  To get muscle growth again, you have to shock it out of this routine.  Try a heavier weight and do less sets.  Or have a session of pyramid lifting.  This techniques is where you start at a low weight with an exercise and gradually go up in weight each set, until you reach a maximum.  Then, go back down again.  I am talking maybe just 5 or 10 kg difference each time.  It may sound simple, but by the end you are are lifting a normally light weight and it feels anything but!

Another good technique is negative reps.  Get your traiing partner/spotter to help you lift one way when you are tired and you control the opposite movement.  For example, if you reach your limit on bench press, have him/her lift the weight and you slowly control the downward motion.  Although not a complete repetition, you are still pushing your muscles furhter than you would have done.

Please always be safe when using such techniques as lifting when you’re muscles are fatigued is very different. ALWAYS have a spotter with you.