When it comes to hypertrophy (muscle growth), one of the biggest misconceptions is that you only need to lift heavier weights to gain muscle mass. And then, one leads to another automatically. This myth has existed for a long time in the bodybuilding and fitness industry. And bodybuilders have also believed it for a long time.
The truth?
The key to increased muscular hypertrophy is increased intensity. But genetics do play a role in how big your muscle size can be. Not that you cannot increase density by lifting heavier weights over time. It sure is one of the ways. But the drawback is that lifting heavy weights can lead to joint, muscle, and tendon pain. It can also cause injuries and eventual burnout.
You use less weight when you use intensity techniques. That’s why there is less wear and tear on the body. Also, it allows you to have a break from the usual way you train. Also, you can break through plateaus, giving you the ability to develop a mind-muscle connection. When you learn to focus less on how much weight you can lift, and more on the techniques you need for lifting it, you end up increasing the muscular potential of the body.
Why The Myth is Still Believed?
Well, there are many reasons why people still believe this ideology. For starters, when a newbie gets into bodybuilding and works out on a daily basis, the body responds quite fast. There is a lot of new muscle growth. Since not everyone is aware of how muscle building occurs or what hypertrophy is, it is understandable as to why someone would just keep adding on weight until you get injured or hit a plateau.
Intensity Builds Muscles
Rather than poundage, it is the intensity that builds muscles. It is rather personal. For example, a person can grunt and groan and lift all the weights they can. However, at the end of the day, intensity tends to be subjective. The person who is working hard knows how much he is working.
Lowering the reps and piling the weights increases intensity. After a while, you are going to hit a dead-end in terms of increasing both your muscle mass and strength. To ensure that you don’t end up tearing the joints, you need to have some extra information and tricks to help you through.
Some of the intensity techniques might seem ordinary, but they work. They are effective and are going to challenge you if you work hard.
Here are the top four:
Short Rest Periods Between Sets
One of the easiest ways to boost intensity is shortening the rest periods between sets. The best way to do so is to time yourself and then work on reducing that time. Taking short rest periods means that you might have to decrease the weights you are lifting. This cannot happen if you take long breaks. You might be lowering the weight but you are increasing the intensity that means that you are lifting hard.
Bring Variations in your Rep Tempo
You can also increase the speed of your reps. Here are a few tips on how you can do that.
Barbell curls: Raise the weight, which is the concentric motion of this exercise a lot more slowly than you usually would using a 5-second count. After squeezing your muscle at the top, lower it through the eccentric phase at a normal tempo. Do not let fatigue tempt you to get sloppy when you are doing the eccentric portion. As you lower it down, keep the weight under control or your muscles won’t be working and you can injure yourself.
In the next set, complete the concentric motion at a regular tempo while slowing down the eccentric 4-5 seconds. Keep switching between these two while doing the sets.
Machine Bench Presses: Pick up any weight that you can normally do 12 reps with. See that you do 3 reps at your normal tempo. As you lift for the fourth rep, count off 5 seconds as you press the weight back down. Then, do 3 more reps following a normal tempo. Then, slow down for the eighth rep. Then, do three more normal tempo reps again. When you reach the twelfth rep, slow down. You shall feel the serious intensity in the muscle.
Tire Your Muscles Down Before Central Nervous System
The great Robert Kennedy talked about this technique in his book “Savage Sets: The Ultimate Pre-Exhaust Pump Out”. For example, you are set to do some barbell bench presses. Before you do that, complete several sets of dumbbell flyes. And before you start your first set of benches, your chest will feel a bit torched. As a result, you cannot go heavy on the flat benches. But then, there is no need to do it. You would see for yourself that the lighter-weight workout shall feel rather intense to you.
The main goal behind pre-exhausting your muscles shall let you focus on the target muscles with as much effort but lower weights are used. This exerts a force on the joints and tendons while working on your muscles very hard before the tiredness and fatigue hit your central nervous system.
Drop sets
When you strip off weight as you progress through the set, nothing burns a muscle more than that. You can use this technique with barbells, cables, dumbbells, or machines. If you have never run down a rack of dumbbells before switching to lighter and lighter pairs, you are in for a surprise.
So, the next time you feel bored and not feeling it as your workouts hit a plateau, you can try out these techniques a try. You might get exhausted and even sore the next day, you shall be getting some amazing gains. If you stick to this routine and have the genes, you are going to see some excellent results.
That’s it. This is what you need to understand about intensity. This is an important component of working out, particularly when you have bodybuilding goals. Apart from following a proper diet and getting sufficient sleep, you need to train hard. Bodybuilding is not easy. It needs a lot of dedication and commitment. If you need to put on weight and gain muscle mass, try getting the most out of high-quality steroids and supplements from Buy Steroids Online. It is a U.S based company that ships throughout the country at affordable rates. It is one of the most trustworthy platforms for buying injectable steroids online. What’s more? They offer a variety of payment options too. BSO is the best place to buy steroids. It houses a wide range of products from fat burners to energy supplements to testosterone boosters and weight loss supplements. BSO sources premium ingredients from Para Pharmaceuticals, a renowned name in the industry that ensures that you get 100% real products that get you results as well. If you are skeptical about using steroids, BSO is a place you can trust. However, do consult your physical trainer and doctor before starting any of the oral and injectable anabolic steroids for sale from BSO.
