Build Your Life To Order ™

Why it’s Okay to Cheat

In the bodybuilding world. When it comes to lifting weights for increasing muscle size or strength there is a ‘cheat’ that is beneficial to perform. I know some people perform forced reps or half reps at the end of their set in order to fatigue the muscle further but I disagree with this. Fatiguing a muscle to the maximum doesn’t lead to maximum growth. You will achieve maximum growth when you place maximum overload on the muscle. Then each workout you must aim to increase this load in accordance with the law of Progressive Overload.

When to Cheat

Let’s set the scene. Your workouts have been going great but now you are plateauing. Take for example dumbbell curls. You’ve been curling the same weight for the same amount of reps for four weeks now. If you have been performing the reps with strict form, know that you can allow a little natural movement to improve your results. In fact, results will be impeded if you keep your form too strict. You can place more overload on the muscle by allowing a gentle swing when performing each repetition. Now don’t confuse this with a huge swing where your muscle isn’t actually feeling the weight. I’m talking here about the natural movement of your body as you raise and lower the dumbbells. Picture this, as the dumbbells are being lowered your upper body moves forward and your hips move out back a little. As you raise the weight, your hips come forward again and your upper body moves back.

This little tip isn’t applicable to all body parts, e.g. you can’t swing during a bench press or sit-ups. But certainly for developing great biceps, triceps and shoulders, you should apply it and see your results explode! In addition to this please have a little look at this article which will detail another little tip to ensure progress week in, week out.

Mark McManus

If you enjoyed this post, please bookmark it below for others: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.