Advanced Personal Training Essentials Progressive overload - part 3 Our first training plateau often signals the need to begin progressively overloading our muscles. It is at this stage that the adaptive processes of our body will respond only if continually required to exert greater force to meet higher physiological demands. Of course, as bodybuilders, muscle hypertrophy is our number one priority. However, by centering our training on the importance of progressive overload we will also progressively stimulate the development of stronger bones, tendons, ligaments and cartilage as well as improve the degree to which our muscles experience greater blood volume while training – all of which, in unique ways, facilitate greater muscle gains. In addition to moving more iron, we may also progressively overload our muscles by building a stronger mind/muscle connection, increasing training duration and volume, and compounding the intensity of our training sessions. Let’s explore how. Mind/muscle connection Another key benefit of progressive overload is the incremental stimulation of the nerve connections between the brain and the muscles (which become more responsive with repeatedly heavier and more intensive bouts of training). It is said that the brain is the strongest muscle we have. Whoever said this clearly does not fit the profile of which they speak (the brain is an organ, not a muscle!). Nevertheless, in order to fully stimulate our muscles in a progressive manner we must first be in the right mindspace. Simply going through the motions will not do the job, irrespective of how much weight we are able to add to the bar. In fact, without working to establish an optimal mind/muscle connection (where the training resistance is felt and intensified with sufficient time under tension (TUT) through the full range of a rep, from the first repetition to the last) any attempt at progressively overloading our muscles will invariably fall flat. This article and others like it can be viewed at: mi40nation/ - Ben Pakulski: Mi40 Nation
Posted on: Sat, 03 Jan 2015 18:50:40 +0000
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