Advanced Training Techniques
By Team iForce Nutrition

All too often we get caught in the daily grind, and our workouts suffer from a lack of intensity. This can lead to lackluster gains and frustrating plateaus.  Here are some great ways to crank up the intensity and punish your muscles into submission!

1) Forced Repetitions
Forced Repetitions are done by going to positive failure on a given exercise, and then using a spotter to help bring the weight up for more repetitions. This post-failure overload will cause more muscle fibers to be recruited and therefore create maximum growth response. One important thing to remember about forced repetitions is that you have to stay in the hypertrophic rep range in order for them to be beneficial. 

Example: Bench Press, Rep Range: 6-12
Perform as many reps as you can on your own, preferably 6-10 repetitions. And then, depending on how heavy the weight is, perform additional reps with a spotter helping just enough to bring the weight to the peak contraction position. After the forced reps are completed, your total reps should be between 8 and 12.

2) Rest Pause
This is another great way to crank up the intensity without a spotter. You may have to use a machine for some exercises, but make no mistake when performed correctly the rest pause technique on any exercise is very effective.Rest pause means performing 2-3 mini sets, separated only by enough time to catch your breath. Just like the Forced Repetition method, it is key that you stay in the correct rep range. Since there is a break in between sets, there will be more repetitions, but the overall number of reps should still never go above 16 reps. 

Example: Bench Press, Rep Range 10-16
Perform a Set of Bench Presses to positive failure, for about 8-10 reps, and rack the weight. Take a break for 30 seconds, or just enough time to catch your breath, and do another set for about 2-4 repetitions. You can stop there or do one more for an additional 1-2 reps. As you can see the key here is to use a heavy weight so that you can make sure you are staying in the correct rep range.

3) Strip Sets
Strip Sets are great for putting that finishing touch on a stubborn body part. Most often this is done for higher repetitions, and with the help of a spotter. Perform a strip set by doing an exercise to positive failure, and once you fail, immediately strip off enough of the weight so you can perform another set in the correct rep range. You can do as many strips as you like, but most strip the weight one or two times.  Make sure that you still go heavy enough that each set stays in the 6-12 rep range. 

Example: Bench Press
For example, begin with 315 pounds for 6 complete reps, assuming the 7th you fail on, rack the weight and strip it down to 225, for an additional 8 repetitions. From there you could strip again to 135 pounds for another 6-12 reps.

So stop making excuses and start jacking up your intensity in the gym. The only thing stopping you from reaching your goals is you! Doing these advanced training techniques will give you a great way to shock your muscles into newfound growth.  Be careful though, these techniques are very taxing and should always be done carefully and preferably with a spotter. Remember that more isn’t always better when it comes to training volume, so use these techniques sparingly, or else you may find that you are overtraining. Now get in there and start growing!

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