How To Take Your “Workouts” To The Next Level As You Get Advanced In The Gym

Congratulations! You’ve established a solid gym routine, mastered basic exercises, and are seeing results. But as any seasoned gym-goer knows, progress eventually plateaus. Don’t fret – it’s time to level up your workouts and challenge your body in new ways.

Brain Crawls writes about the problems with repetitive physical training. “If you work out regularly, it’s easy to fall into the habit of doing the same set of exercises every time. This might make your workouts feel more comfortable. But this comfort comes at a cost. When you perform the same exercises repeatedly, they become easier over time…. Eventually, your workouts won’t offer you much of a challenge.”

Using the same corporate training over and over for many years has a similar effect. The level of comfort you feel with the training starts to mentally and even emotionally outweigh the perceived benefits of changing things up. It makes you more and more reluctant to spend money on new training because you feel like everything is fine the way it is.

How can you get out of a complacency mindset and into the habit of critically evaluating your training on a regular basis? Our suggestion is to adjust your thinking to be more like Brian Crawls’s.

Sticking with the same training program for a long time is a sure-shot way of hitting a plateau and stalling your gains. To get the most out of your workouts, your training techniques should develop and advance with you.

Improving your physique with every passing year is a constant quest for which you’ll have to work hard. Shocking your muscles is the only way to make them grow. If you follow the same training program in every workout, your muscles can get used to them and will refuse to grow.

This article equips you with advanced training techniques to push your limits and unlock further strength and muscle growth.

Embrace Progressive Overload

The cornerstone of continual progress is progressive overload. This principle states that your muscles need constantly increasing stress to adapt and grow stronger. Here’s how to implement it:

Increase Weight: Gradually add weight to your lifts once you can comfortably perform the desired number of repetitions with good form. Start with small increments (2.5-5 lbs) to avoid injury.
Increase Reps or Sets: If adding weight proves difficult, consider increasing the repetitions (reps) or sets you perform per exercise. Aim for a rep range that challenges you in the later sets (e.g., 8-12 reps for hypertrophy, 4-6 reps for strength).
Decrease Rest Periods: Shorten your rest periods between sets to increase workout intensity. This pushes your cardiovascular system and forces your muscles to work harder under fatigue. Aim for 30-60 seconds of rest for strength training and 60-90 seconds for hypertrophy.

Advanced Training Techniques

Advanced training techniques like the super, drop, giant, rest-pause sets, forces, cheat, 21 reps are a great way to shock your muscles and force them into growing. As you get advanced, you’ll have to be on the lookout for how to make your workouts harder.

Bodybuilders are always chasing the pump and you should be willing to leave your comfort zone and try new things. Changing the rep tempos and increasing the time under tension can do wonders for your muscle growth.

Once you’ve mastered progressive overload, explore advanced training techniques to further stimulate muscle growth and challenge your nervous system. Here are a few effective methods:

Supersets/Trisets/Giant Sets: Combine two or more exercises (antagonist or agonist pairing) for specific muscle groups with minimal rest in between. This intensifies your workout and saves time. Supersets combine two exercises, trisets combine three, and giant sets combine four or more.
Drop Sets: Perform an exercise until failure, then immediately reduce the weight and continue performing reps until failure again. This technique depletes muscle glycogen stores and forces further muscle fiber recruitment.
Rest-Pause Sets: Briefly rest (10-15 seconds) during a set after reaching failure. This allows you to squeeze out a few more high-quality reps without compromising form.
Partial Reps: After reaching failure on full reps, continue performing partial reps at the peak contraction point of the exercise. This keeps tension on the target muscle for a longer period.
Eccentric Training: Focus on the lengthening (eccentric) phase of an exercise by performing it slower and with more control. This can be particularly effective for building muscle strength.

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Advanced Training Split Considerations

As you progress, consider modifying your training split (the way you distribute workouts throughout the week) to accommodate higher training volume and intensity. Here are some options:

Push-Pull-Legs (PPL): This popular split targets pushing muscles (chest, shoulders, triceps) on one day, pulling muscles (back, biceps) on another, and legs on a third day. Advanced lifters can incorporate a fourth day for additional muscle groups or weaknesses.
Upper/Lower Split: This split divides workouts into upper body and lower body, allowing for more focused training on each. Advanced lifters may benefit from a higher frequency (training each body part twice per week) with reduced volume per session.
Full Body Split: Advanced lifters can experiment with full-body workouts performed 3-4 times per week with lower volume per exercise. This approach requires excellent recovery strategies.

New Training Equipment

The use of new training equipment can be instrumental in sparking new muscle growth. Using an arm blaster, fat grips for your arm workouts, elastic bands for supersets or adding resistance, or using assistance tools like slingshots, knee, elbow sleeves can take your workouts to a whole new level.

If you have been working out at the same gym for a year or two, your body might get familiar with the machines. Changing gyms can help ignite muscle gains as the ergonomics of the machines will be new for your body.

Change Training Splits

Switching up your training days can be a good idea. If you train your chest on the international chest day, i.e. Monday, move it to the end of the week. Doing this can keep your muscles guessing.

You could also train two muscles groups in a single workout. Training two muscles in a single day allow you to train one muscle group twice a week which is a great way of bringing up lagging muscles.

Start a New Training Program

You’ll know your body is adapting to your training program when you stop getting a pump and see no positive changes in your muscles. Every training program intends to develop your muscles by following certain principles.

You can’t follow the same training program for building muscle, losing fat or toning your muscles and expect to see results. Make sure you don’t jump the gun and start an advanced program if you’re a beginner.

Time

As you advance in your training, the time you spend in the gym shouldn’t increase. Most people think spending more time training will get them better results. Your muscles don’t grow while you’re working out, they develop when you’re resting and are following a diet.

Incorporate advanced training techniques and make your workouts more intense so you can get a lot done in one hour at the gym. After the one-hour mark, the time you spend in the gym will be inversely proportional to the effectiveness of your workout. Most people will do better by keeping their workouts short, intense and explosive.

Fueling Your Advanced Workouts

To support your demanding workouts, prioritize a healthy diet with sufficient protein intake (around 0.8-1 gram per pound of bodyweight) to aid muscle repair and growth. Complex carbohydrates provide sustained energy, while healthy fats support hormone balance and nutrient absorption. Don’t neglect proper hydration – aim for at least half your bodyweight in ounces of water daily.

Prioritizing Recovery

Advanced training places significant stress on your body. Prioritize recovery to avoid overtraining and injury. This includes:

Adequate Sleep: Aim for 7-8 hours of quality sleep per night to allow your body to repair and rebuild muscle tissue.
Active Recovery: Engage in low-intensity activities like walking or yoga on rest days to promote blood flow and recovery.
Stretching: Regular stretching improves flexibility, reduces muscle soreness, and enhances range of motion.

Listen to Your Body

While pushing your limits is essential for progress, be mindful of your body. Pain is a signal to adjust your training. Take rest days when needed and consult a doctor if you experience persistent pain.

Wrapping Up

Taking your workouts to the next level requires a multi-faceted approach. By incorporating progressive overload, periodization, proper nutrition, and recovery strategies, you can keep challenging your muscles and achieving new fitness goals. Remember, consistency, dedication, and a willingness to learn are key ingredients for continued success on your fitness journey.