| There comes a point in everybody's training cycle | | | | helps to improve tendon strength which can often lag |
| where straight sets and reps just doesn't cut it any | | | | behind muscle strength and growth. |
| more. For one reason or another you body refuses to | | | | Using a bicep curl as an example, you take a weight |
| grow and needs pushing on to the next level. | | | | you wouldn't normally be able to curl up on your own |
| So what is the answer? | | | | using good form and either cheat it up yourself or your |
| As long as you aren't suffering from any of the | | | | partner helps you up with it and then you slowly lower |
| symptoms of overtraining and you still feel strong and | | | | the weight down yourself without any assistance. |
| full of energy each workout, it could be the time to | | | | Negative training shouldn't be used as an everyday |
| increase your work rate a little. The most efficient way | | | | occurrence but can be thrown in every so often to |
| of building muscle is to make each exercise more | | | | break through a plateau. It does place a large amount |
| intense instead of simply adding more sets and reps. | | | | of extra stress on the nervous system and even |
| Try these 3 advanced muscle building strategies to | | | | though it will force your muscle building efforts on to a |
| help you blast through the plateau and on to new level | | | | new level, it can quickly lead to overtraining. |
| of success. | | | | Supersets |
| Forced reps | | | | Superset training involves the performance of two |
| Performing forced reps is one of the quickest ways to | | | | sets back to back without stopping. Always start with |
| increase muscular strength and promote extra muscle | | | | the hardest or heaviest exercise first. If you have a |
| growth. In order to do them, you need to take your | | | | limited amount of time for your workouts, then this is a |
| working set to complete muscular failure and then | | | | great way to speed things up by training two different |
| push a couple more reps out with the assistance of a | | | | muscle groups together or if you are trying to force |
| training partner who helps you just enough so you can | | | | new growth, then two exercises for the same muscle |
| force out another one or two reps. This is a very | | | | group is recommended. |
| intense way of building muscle and is not | | | | If your current program is working in that you are |
| recommended for every set, the last set of every | | | | seeing signs of extra muscle growth and regular |
| exercise should be enough to begin with. | | | | increases in your strength, then advanced training |
| Negative Training | | | | strategies aren't necessarily the way you need to go |
| With this system of training you will again need the | | | | just yet, although you could add them in to simply add |
| assistance of a training partner. The idea behind | | | | a little variety to your workouts. But if you have |
| negative training is that you cheat the weight up or | | | | squeezed all you can out of your current training |
| your training partner helps you with positive part of the | | | | program then now may be the perfect time to give |
| exercise and then you perform the negative part of | | | | advanced muscle building techniques a try. |
| the exercise on your own. Using this type of training | | | | |