Column 53 | Successful training

ANSWER

In order to overcome a training plateau, any change in your workout is a good idea - no matter what kind. This includes changes to the weekly plan, the order of the exercises, the exercises themselves or the use of intensity techniques: I personally like to work with super and reduction sets to "finish off" the muscles and ensure increased blood flow. This way, the muscle cells are better supplied with nutrients and I can push myself to my limits and give the muscles a growth stimulus.

With supersets, I work on the same muscle group twice: I combine two exercises that I do one after the other without interruption (also called a superset). This increases the intensity of the training significantly! I always do the reduction sets in the last set of the last exercise for a muscle group. Isolation exercises are particularly suitable for this technique because they allow you to maintain muscle control very well.

As an example, I perform cross cable pulls for chest training as follows: The last set actually consists of four individual sets, which are also performed one after the other without a break, and the weight is reduced until the muscles are completely exhausted. But as with other intensity techniques, reduction and super sets should be used sparingly, as excessive use of them can often lead to a state of overtraining. In the article INTENSITY TECHNIQUES you can learn about the most useful methods to increase intensity.

There are many other methods to increase the intensity and thus the growth stimulus for the muscles. For example, simply shortening the rest periods between two sets is enough. Or you can use the PITT-Force training system you mentioned. However, these "Professional Intensity Training Techniques" are not for beginners and require a certain amount of training experience. PITT-Force requires lifting heavy weights as often as possible. To do this, the repetitions are performed individually - each with a short, worthwhile break between the next repetition. The breaks should be as long as necessary and as short as possible.

You can learn more about this training method and some others in the article TRAINING METHODS . I also recommend the book "PITT-Force", in which author Karsten Pfützenreuter describes his system in detail and in an understandable way (information on ordering the book can be found at www.pitt-force.com). This high-intensity training approach is definitely worth it for anyone who is facing a performance plateau and wants to give their muscles new stimuli.

Of course, there are also numerous other training systems that rightly promise success, such as HST, FST-7, volume training, heavy duty and so on. I personally train according to a holistic training principle (holistic training), where I address each muscle group with different repetition ranges (from six to 50 in total). In this way, I recruit both the white (fast-twitch) and the red (slow-twitch) muscle fibers.

No matter which training system you choose, you should give it time to develop. I think it takes at least eight weeks to check whether your body responds to it or not. And always remember: If a training system is to really produce results, it naturally requires very basic things from us bodybuilders such as ambition, discipline, endurance, optimal nutrition and, last but not least, heavy weights that have to be moved safely and in a controlled manner!