Varying Your Muscle Building Workout to Overcome Plateaus
Most weight lifters will eventually hit a plateau at some point in their bodybuilding careers.
This often happens after following the same workout for a long period of time.
It can be extremely frustrating to see little improvement using a certain workout that may have given you huge gains at one point.
Luckily, there are a few simple adjustments that you can make to overcome these plateaus and start seeing gains again.
The simplest adjustment you can make is to keep your same workout, just structure it differently.
First, you can try modifying the lifts you do.
Each lift works a given muscle group slightly differently, so it is always good to vary your lifts in order to get a more complete workout.
Next, you can change the order you do the lifts in.
This simply exhausts different parts of a muscle group in a different order, changing the way they perform in later lifts.
Finally, you can change the number of sets or the number of repetitions you complete for some or all of the lifts.
This affects the degree to which you exhaust the corresponding muscle group.
It is important to note that the amount of weight used to complete the lifts will have to be adjusted, as your muscles will be fatigued differently than before.
All of these things can have a huge impact on the intensity of your workout.
This will really shock your muscles and often can be very effective at getting over plateaus.
Another adjustment you can make is to change your workout completely.
There are a variety of possibilities out there, ranging from full body workouts to working each muscle group one day per week.
This may lead to the most dramatic changes, as your muscles will be completely unprepared for the workout you will be giving them.
Even if you have grown pretty comfortable with the workout you are doing, don't be afraid to change things up.
This is very common for bodybuilders of all levels and should definitely be considered by anyone unhappy with their current progress.
The most important point is to realize that there is no single workout that works best for everyone.
Although it takes some time, the best way to discover what works best for you is to simply try new things.
Whenever you feel like your lifting routine simply isn't giving you the same workout it once did, it is probably time to modify it.
This often happens after following the same workout for a long period of time.
It can be extremely frustrating to see little improvement using a certain workout that may have given you huge gains at one point.
Luckily, there are a few simple adjustments that you can make to overcome these plateaus and start seeing gains again.
The simplest adjustment you can make is to keep your same workout, just structure it differently.
First, you can try modifying the lifts you do.
Each lift works a given muscle group slightly differently, so it is always good to vary your lifts in order to get a more complete workout.
Next, you can change the order you do the lifts in.
This simply exhausts different parts of a muscle group in a different order, changing the way they perform in later lifts.
Finally, you can change the number of sets or the number of repetitions you complete for some or all of the lifts.
This affects the degree to which you exhaust the corresponding muscle group.
It is important to note that the amount of weight used to complete the lifts will have to be adjusted, as your muscles will be fatigued differently than before.
All of these things can have a huge impact on the intensity of your workout.
This will really shock your muscles and often can be very effective at getting over plateaus.
Another adjustment you can make is to change your workout completely.
There are a variety of possibilities out there, ranging from full body workouts to working each muscle group one day per week.
This may lead to the most dramatic changes, as your muscles will be completely unprepared for the workout you will be giving them.
Even if you have grown pretty comfortable with the workout you are doing, don't be afraid to change things up.
This is very common for bodybuilders of all levels and should definitely be considered by anyone unhappy with their current progress.
The most important point is to realize that there is no single workout that works best for everyone.
Although it takes some time, the best way to discover what works best for you is to simply try new things.
Whenever you feel like your lifting routine simply isn't giving you the same workout it once did, it is probably time to modify it.
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