Bodybuilding.com athlete Kizzito Ejam’s shares his three tips to break your PB and increase your gains.
1. Increase your sets
Adding more sets per exercise will increase the load capacity of your muscles. So, if you normally do three sets at 6-8 reps, start doing five sets at 6-8 reps. You’re training your muscle to endure a heavy load of weight for a longer period of time. Doing this for a few weeks will increase your muscle endurance capacity. When you return to your regular three sets of 6-8 reps, the amount of weight you can lift will increase.
2. Add negatives
There are two parts to any lift: cocentric (lifting) and eccentric (lowering). The cocentric is considered the weakest part of a lift. The eccentric contraction is the strongest stage. With that in mind, a great way to break past a plateau is by killing the strongest part of your lift with negative, meaning lift the weight and count five seconds as you slowly bring it down. Doing this will increase the strength in your overall lift.
3. One-rep max immediately to 80%
My favorite ways to push past my plateaus, but you may need a spotter. After you’ve finished warming-up for your workout, put on an amount of weight you’ve never done before – over your one–rep max. Do one rep out then rest for two minutes. Repeat. Once completed, unload to the weight you’ve always maxed out at. You’ll see how much easier it will be to lift, since you’ve fooled/trained you body into feeling a heavier weight.
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