9 ways to boost your training sessions

Here's what you need to know...

• Each of these program upgrades will significantly improve the results you get from your training.
• Think you're already focused and training hard? Try ladders, time limits, the 25 method or rest/pause squats. You may have to redefine the term "hard work" after this!

Get better results from your training sessions. All you need to do is select one or more of these "hacks" and incorporate them into your training plan.

1. the "personal challenge" method

This concept can take many different forms, but the underlying idea always remains the same: you increase intensity by removing a familiar comfort while you exercise. This can mean anything from shorter rests between sets, fewer warm-up sets, not using a weightlifting belt, using a wider range of motion than usual, not using talcum powder, to training without music (or on your own).

Such challenges will make you more adaptable and psychologically stronger. There is no particular benefit to using this method in any structured way or on an ongoing basis. Instead, you simply choose to give up one of your usual comforts for the duration of an exercise or training session.

If you do this, be aware that it may be necessary to reduce the weights initially. For example, if you always use a weightlifting belt, you shouldn't expect to be able to handle the same weights without it. This is perfectly fine. Over time, your weights will increase without a belt and when this happens, your weights with a belt will increase as well.

2. compensatory acceleration training

One of my first mentors was powerlifting legend Fred "Dr. Squat" Hatflield, the first person to squat 1000 pounds in an official competition. Fred was always way ahead of his time. In fact, he was one of the first to question the point of things like low-fat diets and aerobic exercise back in the eighties.

One of Fred's most ingenious contributions is a training method known as Compensatory Acceleration Training or CAT. When left to our own devices, most of us move a given weight with the least amount of effort possible. This tendency is completely normal and is not a sign of laziness. What Hatfield pointed out was that the more tension you put on a muscle, the more muscle fibers are activated, which naturally leads to better results. By performing the easy part of the movement at normal speed, we are unnecessarily robbing ourselves of adaptive stress.

A better approach is to use maximum effort throughout the range of motion of the exercise. In other words, you compensate for the stress-reducing effect of better leverage ratios by accelerating the weight in that portion of the movement. In short, you move the weight (through the concentric part of the movement) very quickly.

The only thing to be aware of is that you need to reduce the speed before reaching the end position of the movement to prevent unnecessary stress on the joints and to avoid the bar flying off your back in the case of squats.

This minor problem can be easily solved by using chains and/or bands to slow down the speed towards the end of each repetition, while still allowing you to use maximum acceleration throughout the range of motion.

3. ladders

I don't know the early origins of this fantastic technique, but I do know that kettlebell pioneer Pavel Tsatsouline deserves credit for popularizing it. Best used for hypertrophy training, ladders are the best way I know of to add a lot of volume quickly.

Here's how the whole thing works: You use a weight in the range of 75 to 85% of your current max weight and start with one repetition. For set 2, you perform 2 repetitions. For set 3, perform 3 repetitions. Continue doing this until you reach a number where you are within 1 to 2 repetitions of muscle failure. This is a ladder. Depending on your goals, time constraints, etc., you can perform one to three ladders, expecting a reduction of one set per ladder.

Volume accumulates like crazy with this method. See for yourself:

Set 1: 1 repetition
Set 2: 2 repetitions
Set 3: 3 repetitions
Set 4: 4 repetitions
Set 5: 5 repetitions

Within five light and fast sets, you have already performed 15 repetitions. Add a sixth set and you're up to 21. Even better, you don't need dedicated warm-up sets, as the first few sets of low reps already do the trick. Ladders work particularly well with bodyweight-only exercises such as pull-ups or dips, but can also be used with almost any barbell exercise.

4. rest/pause

Sometimes you will overlook a method simply because it is so simple. The rest/pause method is one such case. You perform more repetitions than you normally could by inserting short (3 to 10 seconds) recovery pauses between repetitions when the accumulation of fatigue requires it.

The exercise where the rest/pause method is most commonly used is squats and Super Squats Author Randall Strossen popularized this method through his 20 repetition squat program. In Super Squats, Strossen has the exerciser perform 20 repetitions with the maximum weight for 10 repetitions. You may wonder how this is possible. Through rest/pause. You simply pause with the bar on your back and take a few breaths between reps.

I've always been skeptical about performing 20 reps with a real 10RM weight. After all, if you do 20 reps with that weight, it's technically your 20RM weight, right? But regardless, this method will ultimately significantly increase the number of reps you can perform with any given weight. And that, my friend, means better and faster gains.

5 Same But Different

Specificity is necessary, but problematic at the same time. Not enough specificity and you won't make progress. Too much and you'll fall victim to stagnation and overuse injuries. Fortunately, there is a simple solution.

Let's say you focus on squats and you use a program that has you doing squats three times a week. The reason for this is that a higher squat frequency will result in faster gains. While I agree with this, I would use at least three different types of squats instead of the same squat variation in each training session.

And by "different" I don't necessarily mean radically different. For example, I would use different types of bars and/or positions of the bar. Right now, I rotate between low-bar squats performed with a curved bar and high-bar and low-bar squats performed with a standard barbell bar. These three different types of squats all contribute to leg strength and hypertrophy, but the small variations of each exercise reduce the risk of overuse injuries. These variations also make squat training more interesting as I have something different on the program every day.

This approach can take many different forms. You can use different grip widths or foot spacing, different equipment, different ranges of motion or different execution speeds of the repetitions. The list of potential possibilities is almost endless, but the central idea is that you change something about the exercise without changing the fundamental essence of that exercise. If you do this, the benefits will increase and the disadvantages will decrease. So you can only win!

6. give it your all on the last set

Question: This is your last set, so why would you stop just before reaching muscle failure? This is the simplest idea on my list, but also one of the most effective. I have often advised against training to muscle failure, but the exceptions to this are if this is your only set or your last set of an exercise. In both cases, you might as well give it your all. Doing this not only provides superior training stimulus, but also boosts your confidence for future workouts.

If you are currently performing 5 sets of 5 reps on the bench press, you should try to complete more than 5 reps on your last set if possible. Training to muscle failure escalates fatigue, which could affect your performance on subsequent sets, but in this case there are no subsequent sets - so why hold back? No matter what training program you use, you should leave no stone unturned on the last set.

7. time limits

There are a number of ways to implement this simple hack, but regardless of how you do it, better progress in less time will be the result.

You can set a time limit for an entire training session or simply one or more exercises within a training session. I love using what I call "timed single reps" on exercises like power punches and deadlifts. Once you have performed your warm-up sets, perform 10 single reps at around 85 to 90% of your current maximum weight in such a way that you perform one repetition every full minute.

This will focus your mind and often improve your performance. In addition, this approach takes away the fear of a given weight, because how heavy can a weight really be if you can do 10 repetitions in 10 minutes?

As an added modification, I often try to perform my 10 single reps in less than 10 minutes to give myself a head start and boost my confidence for future workouts.

When you first try this method, you'll notice that you don't have enough time to put things off, think of reasons to stop performing the exercise, or overly focus on any fatigue you may feel. One minute is just enough time to take a sip of your workout drink, align the bar, take a deep breath and then perform the next single repetition. If you're short on time, lazy or easily distracted, time limits will become your new best friend.

8 Mandatory and optional exercises

When I set up training programs for my clients, I almost always differentiate between mandatory exercises and optional exercises. The mandatory exercises provide the most value for the effort and even if my client never does the optional exercises, not much is lost.

If you look at any intelligently planned training session, you can almost certainly assume that the earlier an exercise appears in the routine, the more important it is. To implement this idea, all you need to do is draw a horizontal line under the first two or three exercises. Everything above the line is performed, everything else is designated as "maybe".

In my experience, once you have warmed up and performed the mandatory exercises, you will most likely perform the optional exercises as well. But to reiterate, if you don't, that's perfectly fine too. The whole idea is about stress reduction. By reducing the stress of seeing a long list of exercises in front of you, you are much more likely to start exercising. And when you do start exercising, you're much more likely to finish.

9. the 25 method

I've been aware of this and similar methods for a long time, but they've only really become popular in recent years. The concept is simple and effective: you perform 25 repetitions with a given weight in any manner of your choosing.

This could mean anything from 5 x 5 to 10-8-7 to 7-6-5-4-3 - whatever you want. There are a few guidelines regarding the initial choice of weight, and progression strategies, which I'll look at below.

Initial load selection: An initial weight that allows you to perform at least 6 reps on the first set is recommended. I would like to add that a weight that allows more than 10 reps on the first set will probably be too light, but as you will see in a moment, the progression strategy will correct this error over time.

And speaking of progression, it's worth noting that there are at least two possible options. Some recommend increasing the weight by 2 to 3% if the number of repetitions on the first set can be increased by 2 or more. For example, if in a given bench press training session you perform 5 sets of 5 repetitions with a weight of 95 kilos, each subsequent training session in which you can perform 7 or more repetitions on the first set (regardless of what happens on the following sets) requires an increase in weight on the following training session.

Another progression strategy I like is to increase the load when you are able to reduce the total number of sets you need to perform your 25 reps. Let's say your last session of shoulder presses at 70 kilos looked like this: 6-6-5-4-4. If you can perform your 25 reps in 4 sets or less during your next training session, then you've earned an increase in weight for the following session.

There are a number of reasons why I like these methods. The first is that it puts the focus on production rather than how the production comes about.

Secondly, this method makes it necessary for you to earn your weight gains rather than doing them haphazardly. It enforces discipline and maturity - qualities that most of us seem to lose the moment we step into the gym.

Third, no matter what progression strategy you use with this method, you will be forced to use the same weight at least twice before increasing it. In other words, you must first demonstrate increased performance with a given weight before moving on to a more difficult challenge.

From Charles Staley | 10/01/13

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/ways-to-upgrade-your-workout