# Overcoming Plateaus



## Seeker (Mar 10, 2014)

Regardless if you are a Pro or normal lifter, Plateaus are common in our sport where you reach a point in no further growth due to your body adapting to your workout and diet. Once you reach this point it becomes an uphill climb to push your body to grow muscle. Body adaptation becomes more common as you reach advanced levels of bodybuilding.  Good news is there are ways to overcome these plateaus by implementing some advanced techniques into your training.  Below is a list of such techniques.

1) Diet:

It's probably time to review your diet and adjust your macros by increasing your daily intake of protein and calories. 

2) Adequate sleep:

 Always make sure you are getting enough rest. Sleep a good 7-8 hours every night. Lesser the sleep, lesser the muscle growth.

3) Super-sets:

Perform sets of two exercises for the same or different muscle group back-to-back with no rest in between.

4) Tri sets:

Perform three consecutive exercises for one muscle group in non stop sequence.

5) Giant sets:

Four or more exercises for one muscle group performed back to back  with no rest in between.

6) Burns:

Continue a set past the point of failure with a series of rapid partial reps. Do this for as long your muscles can move the weight.

7) Drop sets:

After completing your reps in a heavy set, quickly strip an equal amount of weight from each side of the bar or select lighter dumbells. Continue to do reps until you fail,  then strip more weight off the complete even more reps.

8) Forced reps:

Have a training partner assist you with reps at the end of a set to help you train past the point of failure. 


9) Negatives:

Resist the downward motion of a very heavy weight, for example, on the bench press use a weight that's 15% - 20% heavier than you can normally handle, and fight the negative as you slowly lower the bar to your chest. Have your partner assist with the positive portion of the rep.

10) Partials:

Do reps involving only a partial range -- at the top, in  the middle or at the bottom -- of any movement.

11) Pre-exhaust:

Pre exhaust is starting a routine with an isolation movement exercise and then moving onto a compound exercise. 

12) Rest Pause:

Take brief rest periods during a set of a given exercise to squeeze more reps out of the set after failure.

13) Cheat reps:

Use momentum to overcome a sticking point as you fatigue near the end of a set ( a slight sway of the weight )

14) 21's :

instead of doing the the full motion of the rep, do only the 1st half of one full rep for 7 reps, then do the 2nd half of one full motion for 7 reps, the finish the set with with 7 reps of full motion for a total of 21 reps.

15) 100's

do this at the end of a training session. Just simple use a weight that you think you can do 100 continuous reps for.

16) Time under tension:

17) I go/you go:

If you have a training partner you do your set then you partner does his set. The only rest you get is the time it takes your partner to finish his set.

18) Slow  reps:

Slow reps  time under tension is a technique which is an excellent way to increase intensity and push your muscles past failure. You do your regular routine except that each rep is performed at a slow pace. 

19) Peak contraction:

When you get to the end of a movement, tense the muscles as hard as you can before lowering the weight back down.

20) SQUATs, SQUATs, SQUATS! If you aren't squatting you aren't getting the most out of your potential for growth.


Well there you go. I might have missed a couple of techniques but these are the ones I have used in the past to get me over that  hump.

Something else to consider that I have done with great success.  There have been a few occasions where I went from bodybuilding style training to powerl lifting and strength style training where I increased my overall numbers in squats, dead lifts, bench press, and OHP. Lifting heavier weights allows for more muscle growth.

Just a couple of years ago I switched my routine completely around where I did 30 days of sheiko, then I went into 7 whole months of 5/3/1 and finished it off with 3 months of GVT. Yes, GVT. GVT is not considered a power lifting routine but it was a nice way to end that cycle of training. 

When  I went back to bodybuilding style routines again I was jacking up heavier weight and it felt great!!

Thank you and good luck!

- Seeker.


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## losieloos (Mar 10, 2014)

One more to go on your list seekah. 21) up the dose.


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## Armedanddangerous (Mar 10, 2014)

Nice thread Seeker, great info!!!!!


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## AlphaD (Mar 10, 2014)

Good post Seeks!!


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## Seeker (Mar 10, 2014)

losieloos said:


> One more to go on your list seekah. 21) up the dose.



Let's get the most we can out of our natural potential 1st.  even when on though diet and training still play the most important roles. You can take as many grams of whatever a week, if you don't got your diet and training tuned in well then you aren't gonna go very far with gains.


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## Pinkbear (Mar 10, 2014)

this post is a single work out for me so i never plateau


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## losieloos (Mar 10, 2014)

Seeker said:


> Let's get the most we can out of our natural potential 1st.  even when on though diet and training still play the most important roles. You can take as many grams of whatever a week, if you don't got your diet and training tuned in well then you aren't gonna go very far with gains.



Well that's why it's last on the list.


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## losieloos (Mar 10, 2014)

Pinkbear said:


> this post is a single work out for me so i never plateau



You workout?


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## stonetag (Mar 10, 2014)

Nicely put Seeker, I use many of these techniques. I always resort to one in particular when I'm feeling down and out, Negatives! not one body part, but all, in my weekly routine, then I take a couple of weeks off. One, you will need the two weeks off, because your ass is kicked. Two, I come back to the gym feeling damn good.


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## Seeker (Mar 11, 2014)

stonetag said:


> Nicely put Seeker, I use many of these techniques. I always resort to one in particular when I'm feeling down and out, Negatives! not one body part, but all, in my weekly routine, then I take a couple of weeks off. One, you will need the two weeks off, because your ass is kicked. Two, I come back to the gym feeling damn good.



I once got together with two other dudes and we focused on negatives for the whole week. I slept all weekend after that! I got up to eat and go to the bathroom and that's it. I was so fried...the worst For me was leg presses. I was in tears


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