Follow These 5 Steps To Bring Up Your Lagging Muscle Group
You’re having the perfect workout, you’re all pumped up and your biceps have turned into mountains, but then you look at your toothpick legs and its all over. Most people have a lagging body part which can create a hole in their self-confidence.
There could be a couple of reasons behind the lagging body part. It could either be your genetics or you’re not training the muscle group correctly. A lagging body part needs to be treated differently as compared to the other muscles.
1. Start Your Workouts With The Weaker Muscle Group
Humans have unique genetics and they determine the muscle composition of an individual. Although the most common weak muscle groups are forearms, calves, biceps, and triceps, it may vary for every person.
If you train your lagging muscle group with a stronger muscle group, you should train the weaker muscle at the beginning of your workout. If you have weak calves and stronger upper legs, you should train your calves before you train your quads and hams.
2. Use Advanced Training Techniques
A big reason why you might not be seeing results in the gym could be because your body has got used to your training. You should constantly change your training programs and use advanced training techniques to break the plateau.
Advanced training techniques like supersets, drop sets, negatives, intraset stretching, etc. are a great way to pump blood into your weaker muscles and shock them. Try switching these advanced training techniques with every workout for optimal results.
3. Train The Lagging Muscle Group Twice A Week
If you’re not seeing results you should start training your weak muscles twice a week. You don’t need to worry about overtraining your muscles if you give your body enough time to recover between the workouts.
Schedule your workouts so you have at least 48 hours before you hit the same muscle again. Keep your workouts short and explosive. You should be spending around 45-60 minutes inside the gym, not more than this.
4. Switch Volume and Intensity
Most people make the mistake of sticking to the same volume and intensity for all their workouts. While 3 sets of 12 reps might work for other muscle groups, they won’t budge the needle for your weaker muscles.
Volume refers to how many reps or sets are performed, and intensity indicates how much weight is lifted. Switch your volume and intensity at regular intervals to keep your muscles guessing. The combinations of high reps, low weight and low weight, high reps work the best for lagging muscles.
5. Establish a Mind-Muscle Connection
Bodybuilding isn’t about going through the motions. You need to focus on your muscles and contract them with every single rep. Arnold Schwarzenegger brought the mind-muscle connection to the limelight.
The Governator believes you need to become the muscle to see the best results. If you’re training your biceps, focus all your attention on the bicep and squeeze the living hell out of it at the top of the movement. Arnie is famous for thinking of his biceps as mountains.
Which is your weakest muscle group? Let us know in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow Generation Iron on Facebook and Twitter.