Yes, it’s possible to increase your load now with these hacks
These easy exercise hacks can help you to lift more weight in a matter of seconds, making it great to help you push through a plateau in your training or simply to get stronger faster. Here’s what you need to know to give you a head start on your lifting goals, instantly:
Irradiation is your friend
You can actually prime your nervous system before lifting so that it is ready to engage at a higher capacity when you pick up the weights by using a body response known as ‘irradiation’.
The easiest ways to do this are to clap your hands together (hard – it should sting a little) and by gripping the bar or dumbbells extremely firmly. Both these techniques work by stimulating the nerve ending in the hands, which in turn sends a message through the arms, shoulders and to the brain, preparing your body for a huge effort that it now senses is about to come.
Align it up
If your body is out of correct alignment, it will have an adverse affect on your lift performance. If your alignment is good, the message your brain receives will be to go all out, but if it’s poor, your brain will be getting danger signals that will limit the motor power of the working muscles. The right alignment starts in the feet, so experiment with getting it right from the base up. If you’re unsure, a personal trainer will be able to assist.
Post activation potentiation
“Post-activation potentiation” is a method that can be used to trick your muscles into becoming stronger naturally. The theory goes that prior to your main lift, you expose your muscles to a heavy weight for a single set. This won’t fatigue the muscles, but “potentiate” them, which makes them temporarily stronger, spiking your central nervous system. After a single heavy set of only about 2 reps, jump into your main session with your muscles ready to go. They should be more receptive to calcium for faster contraction and your nervous system will be primed to generate more force.
Total body tension
The “total body tension” technique increases your weight lifting performance by activating your nervous system and engaging as many muscle fibres as possible to bring strength into the movement. Simply think actively about engaging every muscle in your entire body to create maximum tension and away you go.
Breathe
You can even use your breathing as a technique to get instant strength. The breath is the base of any lift and where your initial stability comes from. If you align your breathing with your weight lifting movements and use the correct breathing method, you can create greater stability in your foundation through intra-abdominal pressure. To do this, breath deeply from the diaphragm right before the lift, by inhaling in the belly so it grows outward as you breathe in the air. As you begin to move your weight, exhale out powerfully. Winner!