If you have been going to a gym regularly, there will come a time when you think your normal workout sessions are having no effect on your strength. At first, logic would suggest you need to perform more exercise sets. Longer workouts and more training sessions seem to offer the best solution. Unfortunately, such training programs increase both the time requirements and the risk of overuse injuries. Just as few people can run two hours a day without experiencing physical problems, few people can lift weights two hours a day without experiencing tissue damage.
A promising and time-efficient approach to overcoming the plateau is the high-intensity strength training. Chances are your trainer is already using some of these techniques in your program.
What is High Intensity Training?
High Intensity Training (HIT) is a form of strength training popularized in the 1970s by Arthur Jones, the founder of Nautilus. It is based on the theory that brief, highly intense workouts are the best way to build muscle and strength. During high intensity training, exercises are typically performed with all-out effort until it is impossible to perform another repetition in good form. The training takes into account the amount of weight, the number of repetitions, and the amount of time the muscle is exposed to tension in order to maximize the amount of muscle fiber recruitment.
High intensity workouts are generally kept brief as it is known that there is an inverse relationship between how intensely and how long you can exercise. There is more emphasis on rest and recovery as the body requires time to recover and produce the responses stimulated during the workout. This training philosophy also stresses on the use of controlled lifting speeds and strict form. The repetitions should be performed in a slow and controlled fashion. Any bouncing, jerking, or yanking of the weight or machine movement arm should be avoided while performing the exercise.
Some general HIT guidelines are:
- Perform one set of each exercise.
- Use a weight that allows you to perform between 8 to 12 repetitions with slow and controlled movement. Take 2-3 seconds to lift the weight (positive phase) and 4-5 seconds to lower the weight to the starting position (negative phase). Avoid fast and jerky movements.
- Each exercise should be taken through the full range of joint movement.
- Increase the resistance by 5 to 10 percent when 12 repetitions can be performed in strict form.
- It is important to allow adequate time for recovery and rebuilding of muscle tissues between sessions. Allow at least 48 to 72 hours between sessions training the same muscles.
What can be done to work the muscle?
High Intensity training consists of various methods to further stress the muscle, to cause more growth. The following are some common methods. These should be used sparingly to shock the muscles or to help you get over a plateau. Allow for adequate warm-up and rest and go to positive failure (when it is no longer possible to lift the weight) on each set.
- Forced Reps: After positive failure is reached, your training partner assist you in doing a couple of more reps. Keep your form strict during all repetitions.
- Partials: Doing a movement through a small range of motion. It is usually used to strengthen the weak part of a lift. Also commonly seen when the person is using too much weight and can't do the full movement.
- Negatives: Using a weight that's above your max and only perform the negative portion (the part of the activity where the weight is moving with gravity). Your training partner will lift the weight through the positive area and you do the negatives.
- Stripping: Doing a set to failure then your training partner remove some weight and you do a few more reps to failure. This can continue for many reps.
- Burns: After positive failure occurs, continue doing mini-reps (a few inches of movement) to keep stress on the muscles.
- Super Set: To further fatigue a muscle, two different exercises for the same muscle group are performed in a row with no rest in between.
- Tri Set: Similar to Super Sets only three exercises are used instead of two.
Pushing yourself harder in your workout will yield results. Those stuck on the scales or not seeing an improvement in the bathroom mirror will benefit from upping their workout ante to a higher intensity.
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