TRAINING TIPS

Everyone knows that in order to get bigger, you must lift heavy weights with the basic exercises. Using the most weight for 6-10 reps with the right exercises will add thickness and mass to the most stubborn muscle groups. However, the question that many beginning bodybuilders might ask is, how do you get strong enough to lift heavy weights?

I struggled with this dilemma myself when I was a teenager in search of more mass and thickness. I knew, from reading all the bodybuilding magazines, that the way I was going to develop the size I craved was to train with the big weights. The problem was that I was not strong. I was not only skinny but weak too.

The most basic way to develop strength is to continuously push yourself to use heavier weights in your workouts. The standard formula is to use a weight that you can perform 10 repetitions with and stay with that weight until you are eventually using 12 reps with it. At this point, increase the poundage by 5% and begin the process all over again. Work your way up in reps until you reach 12 reps and then increase the weight by another 5%.

Using a training notebook will help with this progression (see last week's Training Tip - Write It Down). By keeping track of the weights you are using in each workout, you will know what you need to do during the workout to make each training session better than the last one. If you used 50 pound dumbbells for 8 reps in the Incline Dumbbell Press at your last workout, for example, you know that you will want to use the 50 pound dumbbells again but for 9 or 10 reps at the next workout.

One tip for getting stronger is to SLOWLY make progressions with the poundage you are using. Jumping up in weight too soon or making too big of an increase in the weight will only slow you down and set you back. You do want to push yourself to use heavier poundages but do it slowly and consistently and think long term progress when you increase the weights each workout.

As you become more advanced and begin to use heavier poundages in your workouts, you will want to start using enough resistance that you will only to be able to perform 3-5 reps before failure takes place. I mention that you should have some training experience under your belt before you attempt to handle weights that limit your reps to 3-5 because the nerve to muscle pathway is more developed after training with weights in the 8-12 rep range for several months.

The way to incorporate heavy weights in the 3-5 rep range is to first warm up the muscles by utilizing several sets in the 6-12 rep range first. After the muscle is thoroughly worked with higher reps, then you can put on the heavy poundage and go all out for 3-5 repetitions. These heavy sets will build the tendons and ligaments which will really help to develop further strength and power.