All resistance training is definitely not the same.
Lately I've been getting excellent results with partial rep training. This means lifting heavier weights in your strongest range of motion for each muscle group. Training this way requires special attention to safety as well as equipment like a Smith machine or Power Rack to limit your range of motion to just a few inches. The basic idea is that you're going for maximum overload to encourage maximum muscle fiber recruitment.
For example, on my leg press I was doing about 500 lbs (not counting sled weight) with full range exercises. But when I limit the range to just 3-5 inches for my leg press, I'm up to 680 pounds and getting stronger every workout.
Partial rep workouts are very tiring and require more recovery time, so you really have to watch out for overtraining. I find that I can't effectively work the same muscle group more than once a week when doing partial reps -- if I train twice a week, my muscles don't have enough time to fully recover and grow between workouts. But when I allow enough recovery time between workouts, I get noticeably stronger every single workout and am alway increasing the weights. With other types of training I never got stronger every workout.
I've noticed a definite increase in my muscle mass in the several weeks I've been doing partial rep training, especially in my arms. Erin has commented on it too.
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