Slowly does it
Getting big is the easiest thing in the world but you have to go slow when lowering a weight. Lowering, or the eccentric contraction, uses only half the muscle fibres as lifting so there is twice as much muscle tension. Muscle remodelling only occurs after eccentric contractions, so keeping the muscles under greater tension will increase size and strength.
Rest right
Long rests promote the production of testosterone, which makes muscles bigger, while shorter rests increase growth hormone, which makes the muscle think being big is normal. You should mix up your rests so the body believes it needs to build and maintain strong muscles.
Keep innovating
There is no perfect training plan. A plan is only as good as it takes your body to adapt to it, so never do the same workout more than six times. Constantly innovate in your training by altering the number of sets and reps – three sets of eight, five of six, two of 15 – as well as the tempo, the angle, the weight and the rest period. These changes prevent the muscles from becoming comfortable.
Study German
German volume training is the best plateau-buster there is. It involves doing ten sets of ten reps with a 90-second rest between sets. It kills the muscles, forcing them to rebuild far stronger. Select a weight you could lift about 20 times straight, and only increase it when you can do ten sets of ten without failure.
Train efficiently
I watch people train and so much of it is wasted effort. Never spend more than 52 minutes in the gym. This is the optimum time to make the biggest gains. Any longer and it’s wasted time. People constantly talk or text between sets, too. You are there to train, not to make friends. That’s what bars are for.
Charles Poliquin
Poliquin is a strength coach and founder of the world-renownedPoliquin Performance Centre. He has trained many athletes, includingthe former Olympic 100m champion Donovan Bailey. For more visitcharlespoliquin.com.
