For a workout session, as is true for other things in life, it’s not about just working hard but working smart that can make all the difference.
In conversation with The Channel 46, Shivohaam, Personal Trainer to several leading B-Town celebs, shares his expertise on how to optimise your workouts, grow and strengthen your muscles the sustainable way, and get the desired results out of every workout sesh.
1. Efficiency
Correct technique and form is the number one priority. Don’t be in a rush and take your time with each and every rep (repetition) and make it worth it. You can lift heavier and do more reps but if none of those reps is 100% proper, the workout won’t be as efficient as you think. In that case, you can be in the gym the whole day for 365 days a year and yet you won’t see the transformation.
2. Tempo
Once you have achieved efficiency in all your lifts and movements—whether freehand or weighted—you can now start playing around with tempo. Tempo means the speed of the movement when you’re exercising or lifting. The ideal time for tempo is roughly anywhere from 1 second to 5 seconds in each phase of the lift. Spending more time under tension will put more stress on the muscle and will force it to grow and get stronger. Use a weight that is not too heavy and you can achieve at least 8 to 10 reps or do it for roughly 60 seconds to 90 seconds, taking into consideration that each rep is taking you anywhere between 6 seconds to 8 seconds.
3. Range Of Motion
Range of motion plays a very important role in stressing the muscle but also in making sure that you keep your joints flexible and healthy. You can increase the depth of the squat and increase the depth of the push-ups by putting your hands on a platform or using dumbbells (also called deep push-ups). Work done = Force x Distance. So when you keep the force, which is the weight constant, and now increase the distance automatically, you are increasing the amount of work being done. This means more stress is getting exerted on the muscle.
4. Repetitions
Use moderately heavy weights and aim for 30 reps. About 6 to 8 reps put more stress on the nervous system, but the focus should be to avoid stressing the nervous system and go for the muscular system. Therefore, 30 reps are considered to be ideal. If you manage to do it easily, then you can definitely add some more weight and once again do the next set. This too will add tension to the muscle and lead to muscle growth.
5. Rest Periods
You can shock the body and the muscles by creating a metabolic effect which means you are playing around with the 3 energy pathways which are ATP, GLYCOGEN and AEROBIC. By playing around with rest time between your sets, you can cause stress on the muscles too.
For your major strength lifts like deadlifts, squats, bench, overhead press and Olympic lifts, take between 2 to 3 minutes rest or else the body won’t recover and you won’t be able to push the next set. Keep the heavy sets in a range of 4 to 6 reps. Also, for the smaller lifts like biceps, triceps, delts take between 1 minute to 90 seconds of rest and keep the rep ranges from 12 to 15 reps.
Playing around with the rest periods will definitely shock the body and cause growth in the muscles
Key Takeaways
- Focussing on accuracy of each rep or repetition during your workout is the most important priority for maximising efficiency
- Once you have perfected every rep, you can experiment by increasing your tempo to exert more pressure on your muscles, which will in turn strengthen them
- Explore the range of motions to impart flexibility to your joints by exerting more stress to your muscles
- Flex your muscles beyond 6 to 8 reps and instead aim for 30 reps with moderately heavy weight. This will help reduce stress on the nervous system and exert pressure on the muscular system.
- Explore different rest periods between your workout sessions, depending on the intensity of the workout routine, for strengthening and building your muscles
From form and technique to reps and sets, this workout guide is here to help you learn more, grow more, do more, and be more, simply by making every minute you put into your workouts twice as more effective.
