|
Rest Pause Training
Rest Pause training is flat out brutal! It is mean to allow
you, as an athlete to go past what you normally would have
on a given set. You begin by reaching failure on an
exercise. Once you have accomplished this, you will rest a
few seconds and then continue the set until you reach
failure again. The key, however, is to rest as shortly as
is possible. The exercise will dictate the form of rest
pause you implement. For exercises like Chin-Ups, you can
do your reps, let go of the bar, rest momentarily, and then
attempt to force out some more. For biceps curls, you can
allow the weight to hang in front of you, and for squats,
you can actually rest pause, by simply standing and locking
your legs. In fact here is a quote from an article of mine
on how to use the rest pause method for squats.
From The Article Muscle Fibers Part I
I would like to give one final example of how your body can
actually use all three energy systems in one set.
Lets analyze perhaps the most brutal shocking method ever
devised! The 20 rep squat. For those of you who do not
know what it is I'll briefly explain it. You choose a
weight you can lift 10-15 times and rest pause it out for a
total of 20 reps. You see when squatting you can lock out
at the top of a rep, which provides a perfect form of rest
pausing. It takes tremendous amounts of pressure off of
your quads, hams and glutes.
Therefore when failure approaches, you simply stand straight
up with the weight on your shoulders and rest until you feel
recovered enough to continue.
A shocking method like this will utilize all three energy
systems. Lets take a look! You step under the rack, rest
the weight on your shoulders and move backward. Adrenaline
is being released at an enormous rate and you want to take
clear advantage of it. This translates to an explosive and
powerful first rep. The weight feels as if it was going to
fly up and break the ceiling because of your powerful
contraction. Guess what? You just used up essentially all
of your ATP stores! As you go into the second rep your body
begins recycling ADP back into ATP to fuel the contraction.
It is still almost as powerful rep one.
You continue pulverizing the weight until you reach rep
seven! The contractions are now less explosive and a
tingling, almost numbing feeling arises in your hamstrings.
This means that the lactic acid system has kicked in! By
the 10th rep your whole lower body is on fire and you know
it's time to rest pause or the lactic acid build up will
totally prevent any further contractions. Standing with
your legs locked you notice that you are breathing heavily.
Your body is now using its Aerobic Respiration system to
fuel the muscles responsible for stabilizing your body while
standing. This is the upper back and the shoulders to name
a few.
Moreover oxygen must be supplied to replenish glycogen
stores.
After sufficiently resting the set continues. Moving at a
medium pace and again relying on the lactic acid system you
complete 5 more repetitions. You again rest pause. This
time however breathing becomes almost unbearable! This is
due to the fatigue in the stabilizer muscles, and the fact
that you are running intensely in the Aerobic Respiration
zone. Finally you some how manage to continue the set
getting one rep...two reps...then on your third the lactic
acid build up simply will not allow your muscles to contract
and the weight falls back onto the safety rack! Following
this brutal set you collapse to the ground in agony,
breathing like you have never breathed before! You guessed
it, the body needs oxygen to replenish its stores for the
next bout! So suck that wind warrior, cause you need it!
|
