Like anything else – when you have been training with weights for a number of years, your training will evolve. Well hopefully it will, particularly if your aim is to continue making changes to your physique in the form of improvement.
The first experience of using weights for many people (especially if there is not any guidance from an experienced trainer), involves simply moving the weight from point A to point B for as many reps as possible. Unfortunately after years of training, there is a large percentage of people who still think this is the only thing they need to do. More often than not, these are the same people that look exactly the same in appearance after lifting the same weights year after year.
Let’s take a look at six critical training elements that should be in place each time you lift a weight, if you’re serious about improving your physique:
1- Tight pelvic floor muscles – these muscles should be tight and isolated during every single repetition of each set to protect your lower back from injury. Even during general day to day activities this is very good practice. Have you ever bent down to pick something up off the floor or maybe bent down to empty the dishwasher and feel a sudden pain in your back? Had your pelvic floor muscles being tight, chances are your back would’ve been fine and avoided injury. The same approach applies to lifting weights. Keep your pelvic floor muscles tight at all times.
2- Maintain good posture to keep good form – you don’t need to be Einstein to figure this one out! Good posture is key when training, if you have poor posture chances are you won’t even be hitting the muscles you are targeting correctly, instead using a whole different set of muscles to move the weight.
3- Maintaining a set Scapula – if you don’t know how to maintain a set Scapula while training, you’re missing out in a big way! Not only is this the key to avoiding shoulder and elbow injuries, it’s also key to generating substantially more power In your lifts.
4- The mind muscle connection – once again key if you want to develop a muscle group to your full genetic potential. This is something a lot of people struggle with. If I were to say to you do you feel your side delts when training them? If your answer is no or maybe even worse, where are my side delts? How are you possibly going to develop them if you can’t feel them? Some people have to work a lot harder at this than others, it takes practice and mental application.
If you have trouble isolating a particular muscle group, a good way to improve this is to train that muscle group as per normal and the very next day complete a few more sets on that exact muscle group,you should feel the muscle you’re having difficulty isolating as it will, or should still be sore from your previous days work out. This is a excellent way to make the mind muscle connection with muscle group you have difficulty in feeling.
5-Breathing during repetitions- On the concentric phase of a lift (the effort phase) you should be exhaling. Two reasons: You generate more power and secondly if you hold your breath your neck tends to take the brunt of the strain leading to possible injury.
As you become more advanced it is also an advantage to inhale purposely on the on eccentric part of a repetition (the negative phase) This is particularly productive on isolation movements, it slows the movement right down and really lets you focus on the muscle group you are training and helps you bring a lot of blood volume into the muscle, which is what you are after for maximum muscle growth.
6- Deep breathing between sets for faster recovery – deep breathing relaxes the muscles and mind. Deep breathing between sets speeds recovery rates and lets you return to your next set at a faster rate than you normally would be able to.
Apply these six basic critical elements to your training and you will be amazed at how you progress and break through plateaus.
For a Free consultation contact Craig on: [email protected]