It can’t be helped, sometimes after a session at the gym you just feel like you didn’t accomplish anything. That rush of excitement you usually get from a tough workout just doesn’t hit you. There’s nothing wrong with you, maybe you’ve had an off day or maybe you just don’t feel as engaged with your routine. When it gets to that point, then you may have to ask yourself if it’s time to make some changes. We have a few suggestions on how to make your work outs a bit more challenging.
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Different grips
Sometimes keeping the same grip can prove to be boring. The whole point of the exercise is for your body to be stimulated and sometimes doing the same things day in and day out can end up making you feel underwhelmed after your time at the gym. Why not try switching up the grip you use? The barbell will give you more options for this kind of practice. You can use a mixed grip like you see in deadlifts or a false grip (the thumb on the same side of the bar as the fingers) to make things more challenging.
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Exercise Order
There’s nothing wrong with having a structured routine. It keeps things simple and allows you to hit the gym with a game plan rather than have to think on the fly. But if leg day is always a Wednesday, then why no change things up a bit and have leg day on a Monday. If you don’t want to switch up the days, then try switching the order of your exercises. If you start out with leg presses and end with squats then try flipping it and swap the order of the exercises. You may see more gains from the experimentation.
We have three more tips to really push your workout to the next level. Just head over to page 2!
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Shorter Rest Periods
When it comes to resting between there are usually two schools of thought: either you time your rest or you lift again once you’re good and ready. Though there may not be a method that must adhered to in order to see the best results, there’s no doubting that there’s a difficulty found in having shorter rest periods between your sets. You’ll be exhausted afterwards, but why not try shortening your rest intervals and you’ll get to see exactly what you’re made of.
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More Weight
No matter what your lifting philosophy is, there’s going to come a day when lifting the same amount of weight day in and day out is simply going to become so routine that it’ll become a practice in tedium. When it’s apparent that you’re lifting the same amount of weight is general ease then it’s time to pack on some more weight. We’re not powerlifting here, we get that, but at the same time what’s the point of weightlifting if you can’t challenge yourself and lift some heavy ass weight once in awhile? Pick a day out of the week to lift heavy to gauge your level of growth as opposed to sticking with the same weight week after week.
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More Volume (Reps/Sets)
Some times adding more weight to your lifts isn’t enough. Upping the volume to your routines can provide you with an adequate challenge. If you normally perform 3 sets of 10 reps then why not add another set on top of that and a few extra reps. Start out slow, perhaps 4 sets of 12 reps to begin with. Once it’s apparent that kind of challenge isn’t cutting it, then add an extra set and pair of reps as well as a bit of weight to make things interesting.
Try out these different methods to make your workouts less routine. Be sure to follow Generation Iron on Facebook and Twitter for all your bodybuilding needs.