Last newsletter, I told you about my eagerly anticipated Kindle title "Bodybuilding Blackjack". In my upcoming book, you get 21 chapters of muscle gains goodness, including some killer, game-changing training tips to help you build a winning physique.

To celebrate its launch, I want to share an exclusive chapter preview with you.

So grab a cup of your favourite beverage, and discover why you need to go heavy or go home…

Heavy Set First?

If you are like most gym-goers, you don't perform your heavy set first. Instead, the more common protocol practiced in weight rooms up and down the land, is to build up to a heavy top work-set.

Yet did you know performing your heavy work-set first is a terrific way to trick your muscles into lifting more?

Here is what happens:


Heavy Set First to Boost Hypertrophy

When you perform heavy low-rep sets first then follow up with higher-rep sets of the same exercise with a slighter, lighter load (say 10% less), this lighter load actually feels a LOT lighter. Why is that? The reason is because of a cool training phenomenon called postactivation potentiation.

So what is this phenomenon and how does it work?

Writing in "Maximum Strength", author and coach Eric Cressey explains how reverse pyramid training creates a priming effect which prepares - or "potentiates" - the muscles to work harder. The benefits to you? You set the stage for increased muscle growth.

Want to try this next time you visit the gym? This is what you do:

• Follow your warm-up with your heaviest work set.

• Reduce your heavy work set load by 10% and perform a second set. (In our example, this would see a heavy work set of 100 kilograms followed by a second 'lighter' set of 90 kilograms.)

As promised, this second set will feel a LOT lighter when compared to the typical training protocol of working up to a heavy top set. By lifting heavy first, you now find yourself able to lift more weight as you optimise each set for greater gains.

And here is where things get really exciting. This training trick can be boosted even further. How? With the use of partial repetitions.


Power Partials

You see, something amazing happens when you use partial repetitions and combine them with your regular training. Right away, this limited-range technique allows you to significantly boost the weights you are able to lift.

Anthony Clark is a fan. The first teenager in history to bench press 612 pounds, he had this to say: "I think they work! If you're doing heavy partials, that's providing a real overload, which causes a quick adaptation by the body. Once you go back down to a regular style of training with a lighter weight, it's much easier."

So, partial repetitions allow you to lift much heavier weights than normal? Absolutely. The heavier the weights you lift, the greater the overload you impose on your body. And there is a further benefit we haven't even touched on yet.


All Boats Rise with the Tide

In the same way all boats rise with the tide, partial reps allow you to train in your strongest range of motion, thereby allowing you to maximise the weights you are able to move. Compare this to full-range repetitions where you are restricted to how much overload you can impose on your muscles due to certain leverage deficiencies, even though you are capable of lifting significantly more.

Yet switch to partials, and suddenly you find yourself able to lift more and blitz through plateaus and "sticking points".

By changing to partials, you are no longer restricted by an exercise's weakest range of motion and are now able to train in the heaviest manner possible.

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Are you a regular reader of my newsletter? Then stay tuned to find out how you can grab a copy of "Bodybuilding Blackjack" absolutely FREE!

Until next time,

Squat for Glory!

Lee

P.S. Before I go, I just want to quickly tell you about my latest fiction Kindle title. And the really cool part? You can download your copy right now for FREE! 

Enjoy!