Advanced Personal Training Essentials Boost your strength gains - part 1 Progressive overload, as a crucial cornerstone of all good resistance training programs, is a key predictor of the extent to which our muscles will respond positively to the demands of intensive training. Resulting from the incremental increasing of resistance across a given training cycle, progressive overload must form the basis of our training approach if we are to force our muscles to grow and become stronger. Without it we might as well take up lawn bowls or some other less physically challenging, testosterone-optional pursuit. To overcome unaccustomed resistance (usually in the form of training weights), our muscles will remodel their tissues so as to meet further such challenges with greater success. This is done through the building of larger and stronger muscle fibers in the aftermath of increasingly heavier workout sessions. By becoming progressively stronger we prompt our muscles to adapt and grow. By failing to properly overload our muscles on a regular basis we will remain at our present size and strength - bottom line. Provided we train with excellent form and periodically modify the structure of our workouts by changing variables such as rep range, sets, intensity methods (how hard we train), volume (how much we do in each session), and frequency (how often we work out), we must always look to increase our training weights, to become stronger. Getting stronger seems a relatively straightforward process; we simply add more weight to the bar, or at least try to, each time we train. But this is not the case at all. Genetic factors, years spent training, a finite capacity for strength gains, and fluctuating strength levels means that to become stronger is not a linear process. We must instead be patient and value any small strength increase. Clearly we cannot expect to continuously add weight to the bar for the rest of our training days. There is a limit to how strong we may ultimately become. But unless we find this limit (and most of us are far from doing so) we will never tap our full muscle growth potential. This article will explain how you can become progressively stronger. By incorporating the following six tips, your muscle gains will soon be increasing in line with your burgeoning strength levels. About the author David Robson is a specialist health and fitness writer who has written professionally for such publications as Muscle & Fitness magazine, FLEX, bodybuilding, New Zealand Fitness, Inside Fitness, ALLMAX Nutrition, Pakulski Fitness International INC and Status Fitness magazine. As Founder and President of the New Zealand Wheelchair Body Building Federation (NZWBBF), and founder and managing director of Fit Futures Charitable Trust (both not for profit organisations set up to provide sporting and exercise options for people with physical disabilities), and Advanced Personal Training, David also doubles as a trainer, health and fitness educator and mentor to both established elite athletes and novice trainees alike. A competitive bodybuilder, David believes in leading by example.
Posted on: Thu, 06 Nov 2014 20:41:49 +0000