Breaking Plateaus with a Versatile Equipment

You have probably heard of the phrase “hitting a plateau” in conversations discussing various forms of training. The essence of what is happening when the body plateaus is pretty simple. Once your body achieves the necessary physical adaptations to deal with the workload you challenge with it, it stops growing. You see... your body is smart. It doesn’t want to work any harder or consume any more fuel than necessary. If you pack on tons of “unnecessary” muscle, the result is more body to fuel. Your body will not allow this unless it deems the additional muscle necessary. What you have to do is “trick” or push your body into needing more muscle. When the stresses placed on the muscular system are greater than that of what it can handle it makes the gain of muscle “necessary.” If it is necessary your body will adapt and grow so long as the right fuel is available.

The question you should be asking yourself is, “What do I have to do to make muscle gain necessary?” The answer to that question is to move serious weight with consistency. Rubber resistance bands and bodyweight exercises are great; but, they will not help you pack on serious muscle and bust through the dreaded plateaus. The tried and true method for challenging the body to gain lean mass is via Old School Resistance Training. One of the best types of programs is one built around a piece of equipment that allows you to perform all the basics and at the same time lets you really stack the weight on.

If you want to make this happen consider a Barbell Weight Set used in a Power Rack and a Utility Bench.
When you couple a Power Rack with a Utility Bench with your Barbell Set you quickly find you have the necessary equipment to smash all the major muscles of the body. You have the ability to pack on the weight necessary to thoroughly challenge your musculature to the point where it has to grow. With a Power Rack and Utility Bench you have tons of exercises at your disposal.

Basic Exercises (These are the exercises that have built and continue to build the best bodies in the world):

-Bench Press
-Incline Bench Press
-Shoulder Press
-Barbell Bent-Over Row
-Barbell Upright Row
-Barbell Curl
-Lying Triceps Extension
-Barbell Shrugs
-Barbell Squat
-Barbell Lunges
-Good Mornings
-Stiff Leg Deadlifts
-Pullups
-Hanging Leg Raises

These are not uncommon exercises…what is uncommon is people pushing as hard as necessary to make the gains they desire. That is where a Power Rack comes into play. Most people bench on a standard bench without a spotter and without safety bars. When in a Power Rack you can set the safety bars to push to your extreme limits without worrying about getting caught under the weight. Better yet, have a lifting partner and use the safety bars and push beyond your limits with assisted reps! This same concept can be used on Incline Press, Squats, Shoulder Press and numerous other exercises. When you push the basic exercises to the absolute limit you will get results!

There are a couple of accessories that come to mind that are particularly effective.

The Lat Tower Option increases the number of gym quality exercises dramatically. With it bolted on you have all the free weight movements necessary to put on serious mass you had before and added pulley points for cable exercises allowing you to move weight smoothly through more movement patterns for even greater results. With the Dip/Chin Bars and Lat Tower you have tons of additional exercises.
Additional Exercises (Following is a sample of the additional exercises you can do with the Lat Tower Option):

-Body Weight Rows
-Hip Hike
-Lat Pulldown
-Cable Bicep Curl
-Lying Triceps Extension
-Triceps Pushdown
-Cable Upright Row
-Cable Front Raise
-Cable Side Raise

SAMPLE WORKOUT

Monday:
4×10-15 Incline Bench Press
4×10-15 Bench Press
4×10-15 Decline Bench Press
3×10-20 Dips
3xMAX Pushups (with dip handles low for added chest stretch)
4×10-20 Lying Cable Triceps Extension
Tuesday:
4×10-15 Deadlifts
4×10-15 Barbell Rows
3×6-25 Pullups
4×10-15 Lat Pulldown
3×10-20 Single Arm Cable Row
3xMAX Bodyweight Rows (with dip handles)
4×10-20 Cable Curls

Thursday:
4×10-15 Squats
4×10-15 Good Mornings
4×10-15Lunges
5×10-25 Barbell Standing Calf Raises
2×10-20 Hip Abduction (Lat Tower Low Cable Pulley with ankle cuff)
2×10-20 Hip Adduction (Lat Tower Low Cable Pulley with ankle cuff)
2×10-20 Hip Flexion (Lat Tower Low Cable Pulley with ankle cuff)

Friday:
4×10-15 Barbell Shoulder Press
3×10-15 Barbell Upright Row
3×10-15 Cable Side Raise
3×10-15 Cable Front Raise
3×10-15 Cable High Row towards the Face from Top Pulley (Rear Delts)
2×10-25 Barbell Shrug
5×10-15 Barbell Curl (SUPERSET WITH TRICEPS PUSHDOWN)
5×10-15 Triceps Pushdown

Saturday:
3×10-25 Hanging Leg Raise
3×10-25 Hip Hike
3×10-25 Twisting Knee Raise
2xMAX TIME Planks on Dip Handles
4×15-25 Crunches on Bench

There you have it! This is a program that when used on a regular basis on great equipment will get you the results you have been looking for. It’s time for you to create the body you have always wanted.