1.focus on low reps:
If the total number of reps you perform for an exercise adds up to 25, you’re more likely to maximize muscle and strength gains. Just keep the reps relatively low and the sets moderate. Configurations like 5×5, 6×4, and 8×3 work well.
2.from heavy to light:
Train with heavy loads one month, using sets of four to six reps. The next month, go lighter and stay in the 10-12 rep range. The heavy training allows your body to make even faster gains during the lighter weeks.
3.Use A moderate Grip:
If your sticking point on the bench press is at the bottom of the lift when the bar is on your chest, work on dumbbell bench presses with your palms facing each other. This positioning also forces you to tuck your elbows close to your sides when you lower the weights, which will become a habit when you press with a barbell. Benching with elbows tucked makes for a safer, stronger lift.
4.heavy Warm-Up:
Here’s a great bait-and-switch trick for the nervous system. Work up in weight as normal on a lift to warm up, but make your last warmup set a few pounds heavier than the load you plan to use for your first work set. Just make sure you perform fewer reps in the warmup set than in the work set. So, if you want to squat 315 for five, you might work up to 320 or 325 in your last warmup set for two reps—it shouldn’t be very difficult or tiring. Rest, then back off to 315 and go for five reps as planned. The set should feel easier than it would’ve otherwise, and you might try to go heavier next week.
5.Pull-ups every day:
Do one set of as many as you can in the morning. Do another all-out set at night. Repeat this every other day. After 30 days, test your max number of reps. You can expect to see up to a 10-rep increase. This system works for dips as well.
6.Train as heavy as possible:
To build muscle, most of your sets need to be performed with weights that are at least 70% of your max weight for that exercise. This generally necessitates keeping reps to 12 and under.
7.Do isometrics:
Hold a weight in the contracted position (usually the top of the lift) and have a partner take off plates or reduce the load. It forces your muscles to keep working through the weight change. Unlike with regular dropsets in which the lifter will usually get a few seconds to recover, you get no rest doing this. This technique works well for machine exercises like Hammer Strength or Smith machine chest or shoulder presses. It’s also great for barbell curls.
8.Total rep method is great:
Forget three sets of 10. Choose a weight you can get about 10 reps with, and aim for 30 total for that exercise. Perform each rep explosively and take as many sets as you need to get up to 30. The quality of your reps will likely be better, and you’ll let your body determine the optimal number of sets.
9.Do curls on legs day:
You’ll be fresher than if you had just done back exercises and able to train the biceps more frequently. Now you’ll be hitting them not just with legs, but indirectly on back day as well.
10.Protein Post-Workout Shake:
Proteins that have been “hydrolyzed” digest superfast, so your muscles soak them up quickly. The fast absorption also spikes levels of insulin. Try adding hydrolysates to your whey and carb post-workout shake to boost its efficacy.
11.Eat six times a day:
In this manner, your blood sugar remains stable, cravings are minimized, energy and metabolism are maximized, and muscle gets fed constantly.
12.Drink your water:
Properly hydrate yourself as water is needed for muscle building and fat loss to happen optimally, in addition to creating a feeling of fullness that helps when one is dieting. Shoot for a minimum goal of half of your bodyweight in ounces of water per day.
13.Eat good carbohydrates:
To figure out your carbohydrate needs, multiply your lean body mass (fat-free body weight) by 0.8 and that will give you the total grams of carbs you need to consume per day. Divide that number by 3 and that equals the amount of carbohydrate grams you will have for Meal 1, on your meal prior to the workout and on your meal after the workout. Since we are emphasizing fat loss, stick to low glycemic carbohydrates (such as oatmeal, brown rice, grits, and sweet potatoes), except for the post workout meal where a high glycemic carbohydrate such as cream of rice is more desirable.
14.Eat the right amounts and types of protein:
To figure out your protein needs, multiply your total bodyweight by 1.2 and that will give you the total protein grams you need to consume per day. Divide that number by 6 and that equals the amount of protein grams per meal. Limit your protein sources to lean meats like chicken, turkey, and white fish such as tilapia. Out of the six meals, no more than three should be protein shakes. The post workout meal should be a whey protein powder mixed with the cream of rice as in this manner nutrients will reach the muscles as quickly as possible. In addition to the post-workout meal, no more than two other meals should be liquid ones.
15.Plan For Adequate Recovery Time
You can’t train 24/7, unfortunately. If we could, we’d all be stellar athletes. Between those beatings you place on your body, it needs time to recover.
Fill up your glycogen tank after a workout with carbs (do I have to even say it, carbophobes?) to prepare yourself for recovery and your next workout, get enough sleep every night, and drink more water than you think you need. In fact, if you think you’ve had enough water, drink more, because odds are you haven’t.