The problem of stagnant muscle growth is relevant for athletes. Unfortunately, not everyone knows how to overcome this condition. Learn a few secrets of getting out of stagnation. Before talking about how to progress in bodybuilding without changing the training program, you should understand the cause of the state of stagnation. Everyone knows very well that the human body is able to fully adapt to all kinds of external stimuli, pain sensations and pathogens. The time required for this adaptation is individual for each person, but on average is from 2 to 4 months. After that, the body completely gets used to the stress.
Most athletes, when drawing up their training program, focus on standard exercises: squats, bench presses, deadlifts, etc. This is certainly correct, since the basic exercises should not be ignored. However, the body gradually adapts and the effectiveness of the training decreases. When you start doing the bench press in a prone position, the body already knows what awaits it and will do everything possible to make the work as energy-intensive as possible. For this reason, it is necessary to put the muscles in shock. And now the recommendations themselves.
Increase your working weight to progress
The easiest way is to increase the working weights to load the muscles more. It is this idea that comes first at the moment of stagnation. By adding a load, you put the muscles in a state of shock, since they have not experienced such a load before.
To date, a mass of all kinds of pyramids has been created, thanks to which you can seriously load the muscles and force them to increase in volume. You can also recommend the so-called competition method. It is as follows.
You come to workout and start working in the same exercises, but with the maximum possible weight. In this case, you should try to do as many repetitions as possible in each exercise. As a result, the previous weight will no longer seem sufficient to you, and you will be able to increase the load. You can give the following example to make things clearer.
Before, you bench pressed 90 kilograms, and during competitive training you squeezed 120. During the next session, the previous 90 kilograms will obviously not be enough, and you just add ten more, doing the same number of repetitions as with 90 kilograms.
Change the speed of the movements to progress
Changing the pace of the exercise also contributes to the effectiveness of the entire training session. Even greater results can be achieved by combining an increase in working weight and speed of exercise. By increasing the weight, the speed will simultaneously decrease, but the efforts that you apply will increase.
You can also lose weight but increase your pace. However, in this case, it should be remembered that the exercise should be performed as correctly as possible from a technical point of view. Sometimes athletes sacrifice technique for speed, but in this case it is necessary to work to failure until there is no strength left for the next repetition.
Changing the angle will help you progress
You can not change the training program itself and perform the same exercises. In this case, the main task will be to change the angle of inclination. You are doing the same bench press in a prone position, but with the bench raised or lowered, muscle training will be different and progress will not stop.
You can also do any exercise. For example, when squatting lower, it is only better in this case to reduce everything, but add the number of repetitions.
Separately, I would like to say about deadlift. The barbell can first be raised to half the trajectory, and in the next approach, do not lower the sports equipment to the floor. But in the third approach, the movement is followed by efficiency with full amplitude. There are tons of ways to change the angle in any exercise, and you need to get a little creative.
Equipment replacement and progression
It is also very simple and accessible advice on how to progress in bodybuilding without changing the training program. You just change the shell. For example, if you have previously worked with dumbbells, replace them with a barbell. This will load the muscles with an unknown stimulus and progress will continue.
The effectiveness of the entire training depends on the frequency of changing sports equipment. The best option would be to change the weights every month. Many bodybuilding stars like Frank Zane did it weekly. There are no restrictions here. You just need to be able to listen to your body and make a decision in accordance with this.
Adjust the intensity of your activity to progress
And finally, in order to progress in bodybuilding without changing the training program, you can change its intensity. Even when you just change the rest time between sets, the muscles will have to work in a new mode that they are not used to. Here you can use the following cyclicality:
- Reduce the recovery pause between sets, and only having managed to regain strength, start again to perform the movement.
- By increasing the time period for rest, you give your muscles the opportunity to work in a sparing mode.
After a while, you should return to the previous intensity of the training session, and again you surprise the muscles with this. The main thing is not to allow the body to adapt to stress, and you will continue to progress.
After reading this article, you have at your disposal several powerful tools with which you can progress in bodybuilding without changing the training program. By and large, everything that has been said today is not addressed to beginners, but to more experienced athletes.
If you are already at a certain level of building your body, and now you want to move on to the next, then these recommendations will help you do this. The main advantage of the methods described above is that the training will become more varied and can surprise not only the muscles, but also yourself. Well, the result will come quickly enough.
Learn about additional ways to progress in bodybuilding from this video:
