Tips and Tricks that have helped you with training

[JDid23]

hey guys....... so i figured i would make a thread about some simple things that you guys have done to help with your training. Whether it be a specific food or specific routine or anything, i'd love to hear what everyone has to say. I think this thread will be a good way to pick up some extra knowledge, so please don't hesitate to post! Thanks

 

[ExtraMile]

I got a few:

working on mind-muscle connection

making sure I have a strong grip

sorting my diet out and keeping it as consistent as I can

I didnt do this and now Im regretting it but try to eat as clean as you can even while bulking, being lazy and eating dirty just means you will have to do a cutting period after and cutting sucks!

something I need to work on - setting new goals is good but try to appreciate what you have achieved so far and dont beat yourself up over the things you dont have, try to step back and see what you have managed this far

another thing I suck at and I dont do so I cant say it has helped me but injury prevention exercises and stretching are probably a good idea lol

you could check the "tricks of the trade with ceo and needto" thread too

 

[Tblock1]

1. something new I just figured out: Grip SUPER hard on pullups. It makes deadhang pullups much stabler and easier.
2. Takes lots of rest in between deadlift sets

 

[ghettostudmuffin]

Training with a good program like 5x5 and understanding why it is a good program and why you're doing what you're doing.

Getting a better general understanding of training and it's effects on the muscular and nervous systems.

I don't really agree with eating super clean while bulking. If you're legitimately trying to push the strength and muscle gain it can be really hard and ultra tedious trying to eat perfect to do it.

So many guys worry about gaining any fat and then wonder why they can't push past a certain strength barrier or bodyweight point. Back in the day people used to bulk up 40-50-60lbs past their peak weight and then cut down. Alot of bodybuilders still do this in the off season and if you think all they eat is lean steak and brown rice think again.

Not training to failure on sets of exercises in purpose. This ties into better understanding of training. Alot of people don't realize that taking an exercise to failure skyrockets the rate at which your cns is firing off your muscle fibers to lift the weight which is called rate coding.

You do not need to train to failure to stimulate muscle and strength gains and imo it's counterproductive.

One thing I think alot of people gloss over about the old timer's training and their 2-3 hour/6 day a week training is that they did high volume and they did not purposely go to failure on every set.

You cannot go high volume with high intensity without incurring a big debt on your recovery ability. It's the same even with low volume and super high intensity. The body can only take so much. While it can handle brief periods of very high loading it cannot take this for sustained periods. All quality training programs understand this and factor it in. Periodization, dual factor, stress-fatigue theory all take this into account. Your typical bodybuilding splits do not and most wouldn't even know what the hell this stuff is.

Working on constantly trying to improve exercise technique.

Learning to be consistent in training. I'm still working on this one.

 

[miked8c]

Going with what T-Block said...

Grip the bar super hard on every exercise you do, it shows your body that its need to push hard when you grip hard. Even on Squats I feel stronger when I am grabbing the bar as opposed to just hoding it in place.

 

[ghettostudmuffin]

Yup. Maintaining tension throughout the body is excellent for strength.

Olympic rings are an awesome display of full body tension at work.

 

[Kaytime]

Well at one time back in the days my chest and traps where lagging back when i was 19. i always came on this website and others and studied and learned heaps of tricks.. if you look hard enough you will always find some new ways to hit that muscle

back when i was 19 i couldnt even lift 100kg and i was built back then and everywhere but chest n traps stood out
i watched videos and watched seminars on you tube and i read on people who gave new things a try to see how it helped them.

now my chest has gone thicker and rounder then ever and its starting to be a strong point and i can lift close to 210kg for 2 reps
and for traps i found that different angles helped and especially on the negatives going towards a very good stretch helped aswel.

The stretch for the muscle is the main thing and if you put mind on muscle not just counting how many reps your doing you just focus on lift squeeze then stretch on the way down BOOM it helps Different angles and different styles always help

 

[layinback]

for bodybuilding only:


slow strict reps in a range of motion that keeps muscle under constant tension.

body splits that are strategic.

routines with movements that are optimal for specified muscle group and movements that are synergistic.

strategic deconditioning and progressive load routines to avert plateau.

using weight that lends itself primarily to hypertrophy.

emphasizing positive on one movement and emphasizing negative on another, synergistic movement. e.g. standing BB curl with emphasis on positive followed by preacher DB curl with emphasis on negative