Advanced Exercises for Weight Lifters

Advanced Exercises If you've been lifting weights for a few months, you've hopefully been changing your workout as your muscles become adapted to each routine.
It is estimated that your body adapts to a workout routine in only 6-8 weeks, and then gains begin to slow down or even stop.
Your body is an efficient machine, and will modify itself to exert the least effort to accomplish a specific task.
If you're not switching up your exercise routine every two months or so, your gains are suffering.
Below are some ideas to shock your body back into growth.
Give them a try next time your body needs a change and see if you like the results.
Perform Single Drop Sets This should only be used on one exercise per body part.
Any more than that could result in over training.
The idea is, once you finish a set of an exercise, immediately switch to a different exercise for that same body part.
Just be sure to use a lighter weight than you normally would because your muscles are already pre-exhausted.
Below are some suggested combinations: Chest - Barbell Bench Press followed by Dumbbell Flies Shoulders - Barbell Military Press to Dumbbell Arm Raises Lats - Behind the Neck Pull downs followed by Seated Rows Thighs - Squat or Leg Press followed by Leg Extensions or Hamstring Curls Biceps - Barbell Curls followed by Concentration Curls or Preacher Curls Triceps - Standing Triceps Pull downs followed by Behind the Head Dumbbell Extensions Traps - Barbell Shrugs followed by Dumbbell Shrugs Note that completing each combination of two exercises counts as only one set.
Do Cardio between Sets This sounds strange, but it can help your body to burn fat while simultaneously building muscle.
You should already be timing your breaks between sets, only taking between 60 and 90 seconds before starting your next set.
Now during these breaks, try to jump on a stationary bicycle or elliptical machine and work at about 50% of your full effort (so don't go as fast as you can, but don't go too slow, either).
If your weights aren't close to the aerobic equipment, then just run in place or, even better, jump rope.
This will keep your heart rate and blood flow relatively high, constantly burning fat and replacing nutrients that your muscles lost during the previous set.
You may notice that you are not able to do as many reps during your next set if you employ this technique.
Don't despair; your muscles are getting just as much of a workout even though your numbers seem to be lagging.
If you continue this for four to six weeks, you'll certainly notice a difference in your physique.
Vary your Weight, Reps and Exercise for each Set You're no doubt familiar with the fact that different numbers of reps per set affects different aspects of muscular development: lower reps equates to growth in muscle mass, higher reps usually means higher muscle stamina and endurance.
The theory behind this idea is that the weight lifter should strive to gain in all three aspects of muscular development in a single exercise session.
Three sets are done for each body part, with a different exercise and rep count for each set.
Using thighs as an example,

1. First set would be squats for 6-8 reps followed by 90 seconds of rest.
   
2. The second set would be leg presses for 12-15 reps followed by 90 seconds of rest.
   
3. Finally, the third set would be leg extensions for 20-25 reps.
   

Using this technique, the muscle is exercised in three different ways to prevent it from adapting to just one exercise.
Also, you'll notice that your muscles will burn like fire after that last set - a good feeling if you have been at a plateau.
After working out for several months, the weight lifter begins to crave a little variety in their workout.
The ideas above could provide that variety, along with sparking new gains in muscular strength and size.
However, as these ideas tend towards being high-intensity, it is recommended not to incorporate them for more than 6 weeks in a row.