When you begin weight training, any stimulus you apply to your muscles is new. As long as you’re using progressive overload, you make gains – at least for a while. But at some point, you’ll likely probably reach a plateau. It happens to everyone eventually. That’s when your strength and mass gains slow or even come to a halt – and it’s discouraging, especially if you’re far from your goals. What’s happened is your body has become accustomed to the stress you’re placing on it and is no longer compelled to change.
Once you reach a plateau, you’ll have to change your routine too, again, force your muscles to adapt and grow larger and stronger. You probably know some of the training variables you can change to break through a plateau:
. Change the resistance
. Change the number of sets
. Change the frequency of your training
. Change the exercises you do
. Change the number of reps
. Change the tempo of your reps
. Change the order of the exercise you do
You can even get fancy and do advanced techniques like drop sets, supersets or increase the number of compound exercises you do. Of course, if you’re plateaued, you also want to consider the quality of your diet. Are you consuming enough calories and protein for your muscles to grow? That’s always a consideration when you aren’t progressing.
Changing the Rep Speed
As mentioned above, one of the variables you can change is the speed or tempo of the reps you do. At one end of the spectrum, you can SLOW down the tempo of the eccentric or lengthening phase of a movement. This is the portion of the movement where you’re relaxing a muscle against resistance, for example, the phase of a biceps curl where you’re bringing your arms back to the starting position. Emphasizing the eccentric portion of an exercise can be highly effective.
The benefit of this approach is it keeps the muscles you’re working under tension longer. Why is this important? Some studies show keeping your muscles under tension for a longer time stimulates muscle protein synthesis more than shorter periods of time under tension.
At the other end of the spectrum, you can INCREASE the speed of a rep and make it more explosive. Although this might seem counterintuitive, considering more, not less, time under tension seems to enhance muscle growth, power or explosive moves can also help you build muscle and break out of a weight-training plateau.
Recruiting More Fast-Twitch Muscle Fibers
Just as time under tension promotes muscle growth, so does recruiting MORE muscle fibers. For muscle growth, you want to target fast-twitch muscle fibers, the ones optimized for strength and power, and the more of these fibers you recruit the better. When you lift heavier weights, you activate more fast-twitch fibers AND you also recruit more when you lift lighter weights at a faster speed.
The problem with lifting heavy weights all of the time is it’s stressful on your joints and too much of it can lead to fatigue and overtraining. One way to still get the benefits of maximizing fast-twitch fiber recruitment without the constant stress on your joints is to lighten the weight you’re using and move the weight explosively.
Doing explosive training may have other benefits as well. A study carried out at the University of Massachusetts showed that doing explosive training or power movement before a strength exercise can bolster strength during the subsequent strength exercise by 5%.
One plausible reason is that explosive training activates your nervous system so it’s “fired up” in preparation for the strength move. As a result, your nervous system can recruit the maximum number of muscle fibers during the subsequent strength exercise. More muscle fibers activated means greater potential for growth. Doing an explosive movement prepares your nervous system for a heavy lift. As you can see, strength and power go hand-in-hand and both are important for overall fitness.
Therefore, explosive training, using a lighter resistance, is good preparation for the strength moves to come. For example, doing plyometric push-ups before standard push-ups or kettlebell swings before biceps curls. Doing this gets your nervous system primed for the strength move to follow. Plus, one study showed doing a plyometric move, another type of explosive exercise, prior to a strength training exercise leads to a greater release of anabolic hormones, like growth hormone and testosterone. If you’re trying to develop muscle strength or size, that’s a positive.
Don’t forget about plyometrics – moves like box jumps, squat jumps, and plyometric push-ups. These, too, help to sculpt your body, as they recruit fast-twitch muscle fibers, the type optimized for strength and power. Adding plyometric training to your fitness routine is another way to keep your body guessing and avoid adaptation that stops growth and development.
Other Benefits of Explosive Training
So, whether you use weights, kettlebells or your own bodyweight, add a little explosiveness to your workout. Doing explosive moves, including high-velocity weight training, kettlebells, and plyometrics can improve your sprinting and jumping skills as well. That’s helpful if you play certain sports. Who doesn’t want to be more powerful?
The Bottom Line
There’s more than one way to vary your workout and build strength and muscle size. Explosive training is a good way to break out of a plateau and be rewarded with greater gains. One thing you don’t want to do is train the same way all the time. Your body adapts and adaptation stops further growth and strength gains. Plus, with explosive training, you’re building power, which is just as important, if not more important, than strength. So, shake up your routine a bit by changing the speed with which you do a rep, in this case, explosively.
References:
FitnessRX. June 2015. “Explosive Plyometric Training”
Int. J. Exerc. Sci 2(2): 131-151, 2009.
Fitness RX. June 2015. “Explosive Plyometric Training”
Related Articles By Cathe:
How to Torch More Calories Weight Training by Picking Up the Tempo
5 Triple-Duty Exercises that Combine Power, Strength, and Cardio
New Study Sheds Light on Best Way to Build Strength
Ramp Up Strength and Power with Plyometric Drills
Are There Drawbacks and Risks of Training to Failure?
Related Cathe Friedrich Workout DVDs:
STS Strength 90 Day Workout Program
All of Cathe’s Strength & Toning Workout DVDs
Total Body Workouts
Lower Body Workouts
Upper Body Workouts