Bodybuilding Basics: Why Can’t I Get Bigger? Part 2

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Chest Day! Your ready to start banging. Slam down your pre-workout drink, maybe gobble a few amino acid tablets to get your protein levels up, grab your gym bag, jug of water, and you head to the gym to hit it hard.

You know the routine: Flat bench, incline, pec deck, dips. The same routine you’ve been doing for the past year. Day after day after day.

How about changing up your training routine once in a while? If you believe the principle that your muscles adapt to stimulus as I do then it also might follow that your muscles will become used to the same movements done in the same pattern over time.

Let’s take your chest training. If you’re like a lot of people, you’ll start off by walking right to the flat bench and get started with some bench press training. Then, after having fatigued the muscle considerably, you might go over to the incline.

Consider this: If you make a change and start off on the incline, while your muscles are still fresh, wouldn’t it stand to reason that you might be able to start putting up some heavier poundages on the incline after a few weeks? And if you do, your flat bench will only get stronger!

The same principle could apply to your lat training. I know that one thing I enjoy doing for my back is t-bar rows. It just seems to give me that thick look that we all want in our lats. The problem is that I can sometimes find myself stagnating on my cable pull-downs or on pull-ups if I continue to do t-bar rows as my first exercise.

Variety Is The Name Of The Game! When it comes to working legs, how many of you only do leg pressses or squats and then toss in a few leg extensions or hamstring curls? Now we all know that the squat is king when it comes to leg development but have you ever considered pre-exhausting your quads and glutes before you slam it at the squat rack? How about some lunges? Or what about doing your leg extensions and ham curls before you squat? Why not? Because someone once said to do it a certain way and stick to it?

Don’t Fall Into The Boredom and Stagnation Trap! My take on it is that by continually changing your routine you will not only avoid stagnation, but boredom as well. Try switching things around every few weeks, see if you are able to ramp up your gains!

In Part 3 of this series, I’ll discuss what is probably the most important piece in the puzzle to put on more size - Nutrition!

Mike Berg has been involved in bodybuilding and fitness as an enthusiast and trainer for over 20 years.

Visit his website for bodybuilding and fitness articles and Bodybuilding Supplements at http://www.milleniumfitness.com.

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