2 things that will help you get stronger IMMEDIATELY
There’s a ton of little tips and tricks that will help you increase the intensity of your workouts, however these are the 2 key ones that will make a difference instantaneously.
Pause Reps- Pausing during reps has multiple benefits. By having to stop at the top or bottom of a rep you’ll find it almost forces you to have strict form. You can’t create momentum if you’re coming to a complete stop. Because of this, you’ll isolate the muscle much better and neglect using other muscle groups. It’ll force the working muscle to break down muscle fibers and increase blood flow to the area which is exactly what we want for growth.
You’ll also increase the muscle memory in that position. For example, if you were to bench press and pause at the bottom of the rep it would allow your muscles to get used to the feeling in that position. By pausing, it increases the time under tension in that muscle. This would inevitably help build strength and hopefully help you increase your weight on your bench press being you’ll feel more comfortable in that position.
Squeeze- Although this may seem obvious, you’re going to want to really squeeze and tighten the muscle you’re working. A lot of time we just go through the motions of our workouts. We do cable tricep extensions without locking in on only our triceps doing the work. By thinking about really squeezing that muscle, you’re going to contract it that much more. This is why knowing what muscle you’re training is so important. You can’t have a good mind to muscle connection and squeeze that muscle if you don’t know what you’re working! So locking in and thinking about flexing the muscle you’re working will help you get the most out of every workout.
If you start to incorporate both pause reps and squeezing the muscle you’re working, you will see a drastic difference in your muscle growth. You may fatigue faster, but that’s okay! This is just because the muscle is working harder and is truly being isolated. You can always go lower in weight or do an easier progression if need be. This is a good thing and will only help level you up over time!
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