Student Fitness

By: Veljko Petranovic

If you happen to live the fitness lifestyle, you know that progress is not optional, but required. Everyone strives to bench more then they did last week. If you run regularly, it’s a given that you try to increase your speed or endurance by running faster and longer. The boys seek more muscle, the gals want to shed even more fat. The trouble is, a large number of health enthusiasts tend to fall short of their respective goals, then settle for maintenance, then quit exercising altogether. It’s the plateau that breaks or makes the trainer. I am going to tell you, How To Break A Weight Plateau.

I don’t know about you, but I love a good plateau from time to time. That’s because it brings change. So, I start with searching for a good training program on the Web. I assess my short term goals and pick a plan that complements them. Do you want to gain or to lose weight? Maybe you need to bring up those arms? Preparing for a marathon race, perhaps? Or are you looking for overall strength in your lifts?  

One thing is certain – the new program should be totally different then the last one, thats the secret to Breaking A Weight Plateau. Swap exercises, rep ranges, set numbers. If you’re used to cycling five times a week for an hour, try doing it twice a day at shorter intervals and with more intensity.  Our bodies are built for survival, which means they are quick to adapt to various influences. If you’ve been doing 3 sets of ten reps in the squat since the Clinton administration, it’s about time for you to change things. Why not try ten sets of 3 reps with a higher weight? Or try switching to the front squat, in which the bar rests on your clavicles, supported by your arms. Bodybuilding great Tom Platz, known for his outstanding thigh development, used to work his legs with reps varying from one to one hundred.  

There is no “right” way to approach your training. The only important thing is to remember to include all muscle groups into the equation. Other than that, anything goes!   All this is truly simple. What amazes me is the existence of legions of people who keep doing the same thing, day in and day out, over and over, somehow hoping for better results. Adding more weight only seems to work for a while, and that’s because the movement remains the same. 

Eventually, you will slow down on your gains and then your body 
get’s use to the exercises.
Thats why constantly adding more weight dosen’t break a weight plateau. There is a good reason why the stagnant approach is so overwhelmingly popular, and it seems to be avoidant behavior. No one wants to sweat anymore. No one likes the pain that comes from hard work. No one likes feeling nauseated at the end of a training session.   Imagine your comfort zone as if it were a circle. Inside it, you feel fine, but your results will always be “meh”. Only outside of those boundaries, you will work towards being faster, stronger and fitter.

• Compound Exercises - Deadlift with 50 percent of your 1 rep max, 20 repsSuper set withPull ups, 10 reps (or as much as you can manage)  
• Chest - Bench press with 70 percent of your 1 rep max, 10 repsDrop set toBench press, 10 reps, with 15 pounds lessDrop set toBench press, 10 reps, with 15 pounds less then before  
• Arms - One-armed barbell curls (you grip the bar at the middle and maintain balance during the lift)Super set withTricep dips, body kept straight,
• Abs - 12 reps  Hanging leg raises, 20 repsSuper set withCrunches, knees bent, 20 repsSuper set with30 second static hold, lying on the floor, legs straight, feet at two inches above ground  The 20 rep breathing squatTake a weight that’s just enough for 10 repetitions. Do a rep, and then breathe in and out three times while your knees are locked in the upright part of the lift. Then, do another rep. Et cetera. Do not quit until the set is complete.

It’s tough, but ultimately worth it. Try some of these unorthodox methods for a month, and see if the plateau will stick (it won’t, though).  

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Posted in Dorm Room Workout | By Veljko |