5. Change Your Method of Training
If you’re a beginner, you may want to be more conservative with your changes. Too much change can lead to injury or soreness and you need more time to master the exercises and get used to lifting weights. If you started out with total body training, you may want to stay with that for a few weeks before you venture out into different types of training.
If you have a few weeks or months of training under your belt, you’re ready for more drastic changes, such as changing the format of your workouts. Below are just a few examples of how to do that:
- Drop sets: After completing all your reps and reaching failure, reduce your weight to finish up the set with a few more reps. Some experts recommend doing one set of drop sets and only doing them for 2-3 exercises to avoid overtraining and injury. You may need to experiment with this training method to find what works best for you.
- Pyramid Training: This type of training involves increasing or decreasing your weights and reps with each set. For example, doing one set of curls with a lighter weight for 15 reps, using a heaver weight and doing 12 reps for the next set and then finishing with your heaviest weight for 8-10 reps. You can find examples in this Upper Body Pyramid Workout and this Lower Body Pyramid Workout
- Supersets: Supersets involve doing one exercise immediately followed by another without rest. You can do two or more exercises for the same muscle group or work different muscle groups. Some examples:
- Superslow Training. This method of training involves performing each rep at a slow tempo, usually 8-10 seconds. This type of training is very challenging, for the mind and body. Strict focus on form is key for avoiding injury with slow training.
- Eccentric Training. This type of training involves focusing on the lowering portion of each exercise, such as lowering the weight during a biceps curl. For this training method, you'll often need a partner to help you lift the weight into position so you can then focus on the eccentric movement.
- Circuit Training: Circuit training workouts can have many formats - all strength training, all cardio or a mix of both. The idea is to go through several exercises, one after the other, for one or more circuits. You'll find a variety of examples in this database of circuit training workouts.
How Do I Know What to Change?
Looking at all your choices you may think – do I have to change all of these? And if not, which ones should I choose? Remember that all of these components – frequency, weights, reps, sets and method of training - are related. Changing one aspect of your training may require you to change others to make things work. Keep it simple by changing just one component and allow your body to respond to that. Over time, you'll learn more about your body, allowing you to make changes more easily.
Sources:
American Council on Exercise. (2003). ACE Personal Trainer Manual, 3rd Edition. San Diego, CA: American Council on Exercise.
Hass, Chris J., et al. Single versus multiple sets in long-term recreational weightlifters. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc., Vol 32(1), Jan 2000.
