Do you feel like you’re doing a lot in the gym but not seeing the results you expected? Physical trainer, James Alexander-Ellis, has shared five simple hacks in a recent Instagram post that he says will improve your existing fitness plan or workout routine. Here they are, in no specific order:
1. Use the ‘time under tension’ stimulus for all your sets
Time under tension, or “TUT” as it’s also known, refers to the amount of time a muscle is held under any amount of tension during an exercise. To perform a TUT workout, you simply need to lengthen each phase of the movement so your sets are longer. The idea here is that it forces your muscles to work harder, therefore optimizing your strength and eventually your growth.
Ellis advises lowering your regular weights much more slowly and counting those seconds in your head. For example, on a typical set of 10 reps, he’ll look for the set to last around 40 seconds, that is, 3 seconds down and 1 second up, for 10 reps.
2. Train twice a day (for a short period)
It may seem like a lot, but if you’re impatient and want to see gains, and fast, Ellis recommends training twice a day for a short period of time, as it “will give you more growth spurt.” She trains the same body part with 6-10 hours of rest in between.
He reassures anyone worried about missing out on gains that protein synthesis begins 24 hours after working out, so he suggests training heavy in the morning but with fewer reps, then lighter in the evening with more volume but with more repetitions.
To support protein synthesis, it is beneficial to increase protein intake; the easiest and most convenient way to do it is to use protein powder shakes after workouts. If you have trouble gaining weight, you can use weight gainers instead.
3. Make your workouts more ‘painful’
Of course, we would never recommend doing anything potentially dangerous in the gym; Pain is usually a sign that your body is doing something that could cause injury. that is not worth it. But what Ellis means here is that he should continue to lift even when he feels the burn, even when he gets uncomfortable.
4. Shorten rest periods and time them
This one is simple and simply involves shortening your rest period. Train your muscles to work under partial recovery, and they will adapt and grow faster. After workouts, feel free to use foam rollers either massage guns to speed recovery.
5. Focus on exercises you’re not good at
Sit uncomfortably and you’ll see profits coming to you faster than ever, says Ellis. This is because humans naturally avoid the most difficult or uncomfortable things and prefer the movements that we are used to and therefore better. This means missing out on a different kind of mechanical stimulus, so focusing on exercises your body finds difficult will force your body to adapt and help improve your results.
