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Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned weightlifting veteran, incorporating advanced training techniques into your workout routine can help you break plateaus, achieve your fitness goals, and spice up your training. Advanced training techniques are not only for experienced lifters but can also be used by anyone to add variety to their workouts and make progress in their fitness journey.
In this article, we’ll explore the most common advanced training techniques, how to program them into your routine, and their benefits. By the end of this article, you’ll have a comprehensive guide to advanced training techniques that can help you achieve your fitness goals in no time.
What Are Advanced Training Techniques?
Advanced training techniques are variations of traditional weightlifting exercises that aim to increase intensity and provide new stimulus to the body, which in turn leads to muscle growth and improved performance. These techniques are designed to break through plateaus by increasing the workload on your muscles and stimulating muscle growth through different means.
Advanced training techniques can be used to add variety to your workouts, make them more challenging, and accelerate your progress. They include techniques such as supersets, dropsets, traditional rest-pause, and cluster sets.
Supersets
Supersets are a popular advanced training technique that involves performing two exercises back-to-back with little to no rest in between. Supersets can be used to increase work volume when time is limited, and they are composed of either exercises that work the same muscle group or opposing muscle groups (agonist/antagonist) with no rest between the couplet of exercises themselves.
For example, you can perform a superset of biceps curls and triceps overhead extensions. In practice, you would perform 10 reps of the biceps curls, then immediately jump to 10 reps of triceps overhead extensions with no rest between the two exercises. Once both exercises are completed in succession, that would be considered one set.
Supersets are easy to program, as they feature similar set/rep ranges as straight-set training. I recommend choosing agonist/antagonist supersets since using two exercises of the same muscle group leads to greater soreness, decreased work volume, and may require more recovery for no extra benefit. Antagonistic, on the other hand, does not negatively impact training volume or muscle activity.
Dropsets
Dropsets are a great way to fully work a muscle and are particularly beneficial when improving lagging musculature. They involve completing an initial set in a conventional manner, then immediately lowering the weight lifted by anywhere from 25-50% and performing a second set until momentary muscular failure.
After completing the second set, you can optionally drop the load a third time by 25-50% of the second set's weight and perform a final set until momentary muscular failure. Using this, you have one conventional set with one to two “drops” counting as a single overall dropset.
Dropsets can be incorporated into your training program as the last exercise of the training day in a muscle group or movement you wish to advance. I recommend incorporating one to three sets of dropsets per muscle group, ensuring you rest as long as you would between conventional sets after each dropset.
Rest-Pause
Rest-pause is another technique that can help increase work volume while decreasing total training time. This technique involves breaking a single set into multiple mini-sets with very little rest between each. Rest-pause sets can be programmed for either hypertrophy or strength.
Cluster Sets
Cluster sets are a variation of rest-pause that involve lifting heavy weights in a triplet fashion with very little rest between each exercise within the triplet. Each triplet ultimately counts as a single set in your programming, and the volume of sets or reps can be progressed over time.
Top 15 Advanced Training Techniques
| Technique | Description |
|---|---|
| Progressive Overload | Gradually increasing the weight or resistance used in training to continually challenge the muscles and promote growth. |
| Drop Sets | Performing a set of an exercise until failure, then immediately reducing the weight and continuing for another set without rest. |
| Supersets | Performing two exercises back to back without rest, typically targeting different muscle groups. |
| Giant Sets | Performing three or more exercises back to back without rest, targeting the same muscle group. |
| Time Under Tension (TUT) | Slowing down the lifting and lowering phases of an exercise to increase the amount of time the muscle is under tension. |
| Partial Reps | Performing a portion of the full range of motion for an exercise, often to target a specific part of a muscle. |
| Pre-Exhaustion | Performing an isolation exercise for a specific muscle group before a compound exercise to fatigue the target muscle before engaging surrounding muscles. |
| Post-Activation Potentiation (PAP) | Performing a heavy or explosive movement before a lighter exercise to activate more muscle fibers and increase power output. |
| Rest-Pause Sets | Performing a set until failure, then taking a short rest before continuing with more repetitions until failure again. |
| Pyramid Sets | Gradually increasing or decreasing the weight used in each set for an exercise. |
| 21s | Performing 7 partial reps in the lower range of motion, 7 partial reps in the upper range of motion, and 7 full reps for an exercise. |
| Blood Flow Restriction (BFR) | Restricting blood flow to the muscles using specialized bands or cuffs during exercise to increase muscle activation and promote growth. |
| Isometric Training | Holding a static position for an extended period of time to activate and strengthen specific muscle fibers. |
| Eccentric Training | Focusing on the lowering phase of an exercise to increase muscle damage and promote growth. |
| Occlusion Training | Similar to BFR, but using pressure cuffs or wraps to restrict blood flow during exercise. |
Note that these techniques should only be attempted by experienced individuals under the supervision of a qualified trainer or coach.
Incorporating Advanced Techniques
When incorporating advanced training techniques into your routine, it's important to program them appropriately for your individual goals and needs. Here are some tips to help you get started:
Start slowly: Incorporating too many advanced techniques too quickly can lead to burnout or injury. Start by adding one or two techniques to your routine and gradually increasing over time.
Use proper form: Advanced techniques can be demanding on the body, so it's important to use proper form and technique to avoid injury.
Monitor progress: Keep track of your progress when using advanced techniques to ensure you're making progress toward your goals.
Rest and recovery: Remember to give your body adequate rest and recovery time when using advanced techniques. Overtraining can lead to injury and decreased performance.
Conclusion
Incorporating advanced training techniques into your workout routine can provide a welcome change of pace and help you break through plateaus. Whether you're looking to increase work volume, target lagging muscles, or simply try something new, there's an advanced technique that can work for you. By following the tips outlined in this article, you can safely and effectively incorporate these techniques into your routine and reach your fitness goals.
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