Maximize hypertrophy with these superior coaching methods.
Final up to date on July sixteenth, 2024
Progressive overload is a cornerstone of energy and muscle positive aspects that entails regularly growing stress on the muscle groups. And whereas it’s typically achieved by lifting heavier weights, different methods exist.
On June 9, 2024, former Girls’s Physique Olympia champ Dana Linn Bailey printed a video on her YouTube channel detailing 5 coaching methods for constructing muscle and energy with out counting on heavier weights.
5 Methods to Construct Muscle With out Lifting Heavy
These 5 methods can be utilized throughout the board.
Try the video beneath:
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1. Drop units
Drop units contain coaching to mechanical failure (the place kind begins to interrupt resulting from fatigue), then lowering the load and persevering with the set till failure once more. This may be repeated a number of occasions.
Bailey prefers utilizing drop units on the ultimate set. She recommends a number of drops per set, reducing weight by 30 to 40 % every time.
2. Pulsing Reps (Shortened Partials)
Partial reps within the motion’s high half to maintain fixed stress on the goal muscle. As an illustration, after finishing a set of dumbbell lateral raises by way of a full vary of movement (ROM), Bailey performs banded shortened partials to max out her muscle pump. (1)
This technique contrasts with findings from a randomized managed trial printed within the European Journal of Sport Science, which means that partial ROM coaching could also be simpler for muscle adaptation when carried out at lengthy muscle lengths quite than brief muscle lengths or full ROM. (2)
3. Tempo Reps
Gradual, managed reps can increase hypertrophy by growing the time beneath stress (TUT) (3). Whereas Bailey favors three-to-four-second eccentrics, she notes that gradual concentrics will be equally efficient.
Tempo reps may also help strengthen stabilizer muscle groups, which may translate to raised efficiency in compound lifts just like the squat, bench press, and deadlift.
4. Isometric Holds
After finishing 10 to 12 reps on her high set, Bailey holds peak contraction for so long as potential. She suggests incorporating isometric holds with handbook resistance, the place a associate applies stress to the load for added problem.
5. Relaxation-Pause
The remaining-pause method entails performing an train to mechanical failure, adopted by a short five-to-10-second relaxation earlier than resuming the set with the identical weight. This course of will be repeated a number of occasions inside a set.
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References
- Hirono, T., Ikezoe, T., Taniguchi, M., Tanaka, H., Saeki, J., Yagi, M., Umehara, J., & Ichihashi, N. (2022). Relationship Between Muscle Swelling and Hypertrophy Induced by Resistance Coaching. Journal of energy and conditioning analysis, 36(2), 359–364. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000003478
- Pedrosa, G. F., Lima, F. V., Schoenfeld, B. J., Lacerda, L. T., Simões, M. G., Pereira, M. R., Diniz, R. C. R., & Chagas, M. H. (2022). Partial vary of movement coaching elicits favorable enhancements in muscular diversifications when carried out at lengthy muscle lengths. European journal of sport science, 22(8), 1250–1260. https://doi.org/10.1080/17461391.2021.1927199
- Azevedo PHSM, Oliveira MGD, Schoenfeld BJ. Impact of various eccentric tempos on hypertrophy and energy of the decrease limbs. Biol Sport. 2022;39(2):443-449. doi:10.5114/biolsport.2022.105335
Featured picture: @danalinnbailey on Instagram