The Mind-Muscle Connection

If you are feeling like you’ve hit a wall with your training, try the super high volume world of German Volume Training.  In a nutshell, it is 10 sets of 10, all out, of the basic exercises. 

For example, on leg day, do 10 sets of 10 for squats, leg curl and calf raise. That’s an easy 300 reps and should only take you an hour.  It’s not easy and it’s a challenge to keep your focus for that long, but you’ll be feeling it the next couple of days. 

Other exercises you want to include – bench press, military press, barbell curl, pullups (if you can do 10 sets of 10 chinup, even better), barbell shrug, skullcrushers, close grip bench or dips, wrist curls.  The goal is to take the compound movements for each muscle group and perform 10 sets of 10.  You can add or remove exercises as you feel comfortable.

Be ready for a shock to the system and a new level in your training and mindset.

Bumper plates are those colored rubber plates that all have the same diameter as 45 lb plates, although they range in weight from 5 lbs to 35 lbs. This is to teach proper form on exercises where the lifter is pulling from the ground, like deadlifts or power cleans. Using traditional 25 lbs plates would make the user bend over farther to get the weight off the ground. The 25 lb bumper plates let the user use less weight than 45 lbs regular plates, but still have the same range of motion. It also provides safety as dropping bumper plates will be more padded than iron weights. The 45 lb bumper plates also have a wider base width than 45 lb iron plates, so there is more stability on ground lifts.

What bumper plates are NOT used for is curling, squating, leg press or any other exercise where the weights dont touch the ground. Just because the weights look like 45 lb plates, it doesnt mean you need to add four of them to each side to make it look like you are lifting four 45 lb plates. Leave the bumper plates for lifters performing ground exercises, and stick with the cold iron weights for everything else.

It is inevitable that throughout the many years of resistance training, years of compressing your joints with piles of weight and exerting your body to repetitious motions designed to tear down the structures that are designed to hold it all together, you will eventually incur an injury that will require more time to heal than just waking up sore the next day and powering through the pain

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Core exercises (also known as The Big 3) are compound exercises that should be included in everyones workout program. Squat, Deadlift and Bench Press are highly regarded as the best muscle building exercises available and although difficult and complex to perform correctly, these exercises yield the best results for lifters.
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Sometimes, less is more when it comes to making progress in the muscle-building game. This is especially true when it comes to recovering from hard workouts day after day. Unless you are getting some chemical assistance, your body usually needs at least 5-7 days to recover per muscle group.

Over-training muscle groups can slow progress and even prevent muscle growth, because your body doesnt have the proper nutrition or rest/recovery time to fully repair the muscle.

Try taking 5-7 days off between muscle groups and then a whole week off every 12 weeks. You should feel refreshed, rejuvinated and even a bit larger after this rest period.