Training Tips - by Junkyard Dog
If you have any training tip questions you would like answered email me at jyd@beyondmass.com. I will answer all inquiries and your question just might make the monthly newsletter!

This months questions:

Question:I have reached a plateau with my training. My DOMS have disappeared and I cannot seem to provoke any new growth. Do you know any ways I can trick, shock, or fool my muscles into growing?

Answer: Yes, I run into this problem about 2-3 times a year. My routine starts to get diminishing returns. I add negatives to my sets to spark growth. Here is how...

Using negative reps to your advantage.

I will be using curling as an example:
Positive: Contracting the muscle, curling a dumbbell up.
Negative: Extending the muscle, lowering the dumbbell.

Many people tend to work very hard to get the weight up only to let the fall back down offering little or no resistance. What a waste! You should use as much energy to keep the weight from falling that you did in getting it up in the first place.

Time it out to a 1:1 ratio. The time it takes to get the weight through the positive motion (curling the weight up) should match time to get it through the negative motion (lowering the weight back down). It really adds a lot to your workout!

You can intensify this by changing the ratio to 2:1 or higher. You can also have your spotter add more weight to the negative by lightly pushing on the bar. This will add a burn that you will not soon forget!

I have added 3 negative reps to almost all exercises and it really delivers great DOMS.

Question: Shrugs are boring! I know they are very good for my traps but I cannot motivate myself into doing them anymore. What can you suggest to make them more interesting.

Answer: I add a mild variation to my shrug routine that makes things more interesting, it will work for you as well. Especially if your shrugs can be done near a mirrow where you can see this work in real time! Here is what I do...

A shrug variation that will produce massive pumps.

This can be done with dumbells, barbell, or the shrug machine (best results).

I first got this idea in Cancun. We got there before check-in time and I was forced to carry 2 very heavy bags around for 3 hours. It was such a good workout that the pumps and subsequent DOMS stayed for the entire week we were there.

Months later, in the gym, I was bored with doing the same old shrugs day in and day out. My brother and I were working traps one night and I remembered the workout I got carrying the bags in Cancun.

After doing the basic shrugs I took the last set of shrugs and decided to shrug the weight up and just hold it. The first time I did it I just held it as long as I could then set the weight down. While I was holding the weight my brother noticed my traps were pumping up at a very rapid rate. I did another rep, I held it for a 30 count. The pump quickly returned, faster than the first time. Each time I did it more of the pump seemed to stay in the traps.

Since then we always finish our shrug routine with hold sets, as we call them. We add approximately 10% more weight and do 12 reps holding in shrug position for a 30 count. Try them, the pump is great!

Warning: Be very careful when setting the weight down. Unload the weight from your shoulders at a very slow pace. Allowing all the weight to quickly release adds a lot of stress to the neck.

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