Sometimes when you hit a plateau, it is not due to muscle strength but connective tissue strength. Partials can help overcome this.

Partials can be done in a continuous without taking tension off the muscles, or in brief reps, allowing the weight to be supported on the racks for a few moments before doing the next rep.

The continuous style provides more muscle tension but reduces the amount of weight that can be used. Don't bounce the bar off the pins. Develop tension in the muscles gradually so you don't jerk anything out of the sockets. If you use a lot of partial movements, it is very important to stretch after each set.

It is also a good idea to finish with a set that takes the muscle through a full range of motion. A static hold and a negative is a good way to do this as it keep a lot of tension on the muscle all the way through the entire range of motion.

Hold in the stretch position for as long as possible at the bottom of the movement. Pre-Exhaust Training Do a set of an isolation exercise for a muscle group, then, with no rest, do a compound movement for it, e. Start with a triceps isolation exercise such as push-downs. Go to shoulder press, which works triceps and shoulders.

Next, do bench press, which works the triceps, shoulders and chest. Cheat Reps At the end of a set, when you can't do any more reps with good form, use a bit of body swing or momentum to help get the weight past the sticking point, e.

Do not cheat excessively or you may cause injury. Cheat only to work the muscle harder, not to make the exercise easier. Drop Sets This entails doing a set to failure with a weight then immediately doing another set to failure with a lighter weight.

Down-The-Rack Drop Set If you are doing laterals for your shoulders, start with a weight you can get six reps for, then pick up the next lightest set of dumbbells and go again. This idea works well with selectorized machines.

Simply just keep raising the pin to the next lightest weight. Don't feel confined to drop only one notch or dumbbell.

You may drop two notches or skip a pair of dumbbells. This can depend on the exercise. You may finish a set with very heavy weight and may be unable to do another rep with the next lightest weight, as it is still very heavy. It is also not necessary to stick to a set number of reps during the drops e.

get 6 reps on every drop. You can try doing one rep with each drop or do as many as it takes to fail at each drop. Obviously, the lighter the weight gets, the more reps you will be able to do.

Variation Triple Drop Sets Do the first set with the strongest variation of an exercise e. Fiber Sweep Triple Drop Sets This type of triple drop set works three different ways. This will work on relative strength and connective tissue strength.

For the second drop, use a weight that allows 8 to 10 reps. This builds muscle mass and circulation. For the third drop, use a very light weight and do 6 to 8 fast, explosive reps one second up, one second down. This will work the explosive fibers and the neuromuscular system.

Another option on the last set is to do a set of very high reps with a very light weight 30 plus. Rest-Pause Training This is an advanced technique that allows you to get more reps with the same weight. Do a set to failure. Rest for 5 to 10 seconds then do a few more reps with the same weight.

Do this once or a few times depending on your energy levels and how far you wish to push. With this technique you can take a weight you can only do for three reps and do a set of six or more reps with it.

Supersetting This is a good way to train if time is limited. Same Part Supersetting This is the most common type. Antagonistic Supersetting Do a set of an exercise for one body part then immediately do a set of an exercise for the antagonistic body part, e.

Antagonist supersetting can help each muscle group recover while working the other muscle. It also makes you stronger in both. For the arms, it has the advantage of keeping the blood localized in the upper arm area.

Back and chest or quads and hamstrings are other examples of antagonistic muscles. In-Set Superset Do two different exercises within a rep. You must be able to make a smooth transition between the exercises in order for this to be effective. An example of this is doing a dumbbell bench press on the positive then a dumbbell flye on the negative on every rep.

The Zottman curl, where you use a regular grip on the way up and a reverse grip on the way down is another good example of this. Others include regular deadlifts up and stiff-legged deadlifts down , or close-grip bench press up and lying barbell extensions down.

Giant Sets Do several exercises for one body part in a row without resting in between exercises, e. Variation Giant Sets Use variations of the same exercise starting with the weakest version and going to the strongest, using the same weight.

Jump Sets This is a way of doing a large number of heavy sets for several muscle groups without losing as much strength from set to set.

Burns These are typically done in the stretch or contracted positions. Strip Sets These are done with barbells.

Negatives This technique focuses on the negative portion of muscle contraction the eccentric or lowering phase. Use a spotter to give you a lot of help with the positive then lower the weight slowly on your own.

Each negative rep should take about six to ten seconds to lower. To really get the feel for a proper negative, you must not just allow the weight to lower, you must actively push or pull against it, fighting it all the way down. It is like you are trying to do a positive rep but aren't.

Another way to do negatives is to do the positive normally then get your spotter to add to the resistance on the way down by leaning on the bar or pulling down on it. Do focused negative work at the beginning of your body part work when you are at your strongest.

Use two arms or legs for the positive phase then lower it using only one arm or leg. This type of negative training is useful if you do not have a partner to work with. To really max out, follow the negative sets with a static hold with both limbs.

Jettison This is similar to the drop set and strip set technique but doesn't require changing weights or using spotters. Mayo Clinic offers appointments in Arizona, Florida and Minnesota and at Mayo Clinic Health System locations.

Effective weight training depends on proper technique. Follow these do's and don'ts to maximize your weight training program.

You don't have to be a bodybuilder or a professional athlete to reap the benefits of weight training. When done correctly, weight training can help you lose fat, increase your strength and muscle tone, and improve your bone density.

If done incorrectly, however, weight training won't give you these benefits — and may even lead to injury. You might learn weight training techniques by watching friends or others in the gym, but sometimes what you see isn't safe.

Incorrect weight training technique can lead to sprains, strains, fractures and other painful injuries that may hamper your weight training efforts.

If you're just getting started, work with a knowledgeable weight training specialist — a physical therapist, athletic trainer or other fitness specialist who's familiar with proper weight training technique.

If you've been using weights for a while, consider scheduling time with a trainer to double-check your technique and identify any changes you may need to make. Lift an appropriate amount of weight. Start with a weight you can lift comfortably 12 to 15 times. For most people, a single set of 12 to 15 repetitions with a weight that fatigues the muscles can build strength efficiently and can be as effective as three sets of the same exercise.

As you get stronger, gradually increase the amount of weight. Use proper form. Learn to do each exercise correctly. When lifting weights, move through the full range of motion in your joints.

The better your form, the better your results, and the less likely you are to hurt yourself. If you're unable to maintain good form, decrease the weight or the number of repetitions.

Remember that proper form matters even when you pick up and replace your weights on the weight racks. If you're not sure whether you're doing a particular exercise correctly, ask a personal trainer or other fitness specialist for help.

Remember, the more you concentrate on proper weight training technique, the more you'll get out of your weight training program. There is a problem with information submitted for this request.

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You may opt-out of email communications at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link in the e-mail. Try a heavy weight. Lift once with a silent exhale. Lift again with a grunt, and I bet you'll feel the difference. When my workout partner gets quiet while weightlifting, that's when I know they aren't pushing with all their might.

I try to use one of these advanced weight training techniques in each workout, usually toward the very end. This is when my partner does the lifting and I just fight the weight on the eccentric motion, slowing the weight as slowly as I can while still lowering. Sometimes on my last set, when I break form, my partner will start doing the lifts for me and I'll do negatives going just as slow as I can.

In the gym, you are breaking down and tearing apart your muscles. The actual growth happens by feeding them and by getting lots of zzzzs.

In terms of supplements, there is nothing fancy here. If the label makes big promises, my trust in the product vanishes.

If you read my previous article, you know that I'm a big fan of compression gear for its endless benefits. Getting oxygen to your muscles is critical for optimal performance during workouts. Compression meggings boost the amount of oxygen your muscles receive by increasing blood flow.

More oxygen means more energy and power. Compression meggings also act like a shock absorber, reducing vibrations in skeletal muscles when you run.

This can help prevent muscle trauma. To find the perfect workout and weightlifting meggings in the latest trends, styles, and designs, please feel free to visit Matador Meggings and browse our online store today! You may also email us at hello matadormeggings. com or reach us via Facebook Messenger for further assistance.

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At age 62, "Big Bill" shares his wisdom to dominate one of the ultimate strength marks. Follow these fit women we're crushing on for inspiration, workout ideas, and motivation.

Whether you are new to training or a seasoned weightroom veteran, advanced training techniques can be used to spice up your routine. When programmed correctly, they offer many of the same muscle-building advantages as traditional straight-set training in a fraction of the time and can be used effectively to break those pesky plateaus you run into.

Advanced training techniques come in many fitness flavors: supersets, dropsets, traditional rest-pause, and cluster sets being among the most popular. Supersets are a great way to increase work volume when time is limited.

They involve performing two exercises rapidly forming a couplet with little to no rest in between. Antagonistic, on the other hand, does not negatively impact training volume or muscle activity. As an example, you may program a superset of four sets of 10 reps of biceps curls and triceps overhead extensions.

In practice, you would perform 10 reps of the biceps curls then immediately jump to 10 reps of triceps overhead extensions with no rest between the two exercises. Once both exercises are completed in succession, that would be considered one set and then you rest as you would between conventional sets before moving on to your second round of the previously discussed four sets.

Dropsets are one of my favorite ways to make sure I fully work a muscle, and are particularly beneficial when improving lagging musculature. They really force you to thoroughly exhaust the muscles worked in a time-efficient manner. After each dropset, rest as long as you would between conventional sets.

I recommend incorporating one to three sets of these as the last exercise of the training day in a muscle group or movement you wish to advance. Rest-pause is another great way to increase work volume.

It has been shown to yield similar strength and size improvements compared to traditional sets while decreasing total training time. Rest-pause converts a single set into multiple mini sets with very little rest between each usually seconds. For hypertrophy , I recommend shooting for a rep goal. The number of reps you achieve on your first mini set will determine how many reps you will do combined for the entire rest-pause set.

Take that weight and lift until failure, then note how many reps you achieved. Double that to identify your total rep goal ex: if you reached eight on your first mini set, then your total rep goal for all mini sets combined will be In a workout, retaining a static position while doing an isometric hold causes tension in the muscles without producing joint movement.

Isometric holds, in contrast to conventional dynamic motions, put your muscles to a special test, enhancing their stability, strength and endurance. You may target particular muscle groups and improve weak spots that might be causing your plateaus by including isometric holds into your workout.

In this high-intensity training method, an activity is performed until muscular failure is reached, and then the weight is swiftly decreased to resume the exercise. Drop sets are a great way to effectively push your muscles to their limits, boosting strength increases and muscular hypertrophy.

The subsequent sets of smaller weights allow you to continue exercising past the point of failure as you exhaust the muscle fibers with big weights. This intensity strategy is an effective tool against plateaus since it presents your muscles with a fresh challenge and encourages big development responses.

The entire amount of time that your muscles are loaded throughout an exercise session is known as time under tension. You may greatly lengthen the period of time your muscles are under strain by purposefully slowing down the pace of your repetitions and concentrating on both the eccentric lowering and concentric lifting phases.

Increased muscle fiber recruitment and metabolic stress, two important aspects in encouraging muscular development, are brought on by this extended load on the muscles. You may change up your training strategy, give your muscles new challenges and get beyond any plateaus that may have slowed your development by manipulating TUT.

You may increase the accommodating resistance in your workouts by using bands or chains into your lifts. When resistance is accommodating, it builds up as you travel through the range of motion, making the concentric portion of an exercise more difficult. Bands and chains offer varying resistance, assisting you in getting through roadblocks and promoting ongoing strength development.

For advanced lifters looking to improve their explosive power and overcome lifting performance plateaus, this approach is very helpful. By allowing your body to repair and regenerate muscle tissue, you may avoid burnout, lower your chance of injury, and improve your performance as a whole.

The basis for the best possible recuperation is sleep. Development hormones are released by the body during deep sleep, aiding in muscle development and repair. Give your body the nourishment it requires to heal and develop. Focus on eating a balanced diet with enough protein to assist muscle repair and carbs to maintain your glycogen reserves.

Drinking enough water is also necessary for optimum performance and recuperation [ 4 ]. To give your body a chance to recuperate from vigorous exercise, include deload weeks in your training plan. Deloading entails lowering your training load and intensity so that your muscles and nervous system have enough time to recuperate.

On days when you should be resting, perform quick, low-impact exercises to increase blood flow to your muscles and reduce pain. You may break through plateaus and reach your real strength potential by embracing these eight advanced weight lifting techniques and giving recovery tactics first priority.

Step into the field of advanced training, remain committed to your objectives and rise to the challenge as you reach the peak of your lifting abilities. Despite ongoing training and efforts, the lifter finds it difficult to improve their performance or lift greater weights during this time.

To break through a weight lifting plateau, you can employ several effective strategies. Firstly, consider incorporating advanced weight lifting techniques like eccentric training, supersets, and time under tension. Secondly, prioritize recovery by getting sufficient sleep, following a well-balanced diet, and including deload weeks in your training program.

The Ultimate NMN Guide Discover the groundbreaking secrets to longevity and vitality in our brand new NMN guide. Enter you email address Required. For this reason, we believe that female athletes who carry a large amount of skeletal muscle may find that they will have greater reductions in BM from AWM protocols.

Hormones and Menstrual Phases:. Females may be at higher risk of heat issues during dehydration during the Luteal Phase Resting and exercising body temperature set points increase by 0.

Extra care to ensure that the athlete is using sweating methods appropriately to prevent heat illness when using an AWM Practice.

It was once believed that women were at a higher risk of hyponatremia during exercise, though the evidence currently has this up for debate. It may still be wise to use slightly more careful procedures with AWM with a female athlete for the first attempt.

Current evidence suggests that body size and composition, fitness status, and exercise duration may be more important factors for hyponatremia than sex differences. Some Oral Contraceptive OC medications may lead to higher than usual mechanisms for fluid retention when the body recognizes a mild state of dehydration.

Additionally OC may have a higher thirst response through the same mechanisms. Despite this information, more research is needed on the subject before Menstrual Phase specific recommendations for AWM approaches can be made.

While sex hormones will interact with water retention, dehydration, temperature control, and rehydration. Biologically female athletes using oral contraceptives or not may want to start with a less aggressive AWM until familiar with how they react to the protocols, while also paying special attention to heat focused sweating methods when watching for signs of heat illness.

At this point we get to the nitty gritty of the AWM process. For the practical guide for athletes and coaches, please click HERE to skip ahead. An athlete hoping to make weight for a specific class can achieve this goal through either of two methods, or a combination; traditional weight loss and AWM.

Traditional weight loss includes calorie restriction over time to reduce body fat and to a smaller degree lean tissue.

Muscle loss is usually considered an undesirable outcome for athletes, but not always. We will be referring to the fat tissue loss primarily here. The most common approach for an athlete above a weight class is to use a traditional weight loss well in advance of their contest. They may take that weight loss all the way until their daily weight is underneath the weight limit for their contest or sport.

Alternatively they take this approach until they are within range of using an AWM the last week in order to finish the process off. This approach is less than ideal as it will result in a more difficult than expected AWM because the athlete is likely already partially glycogen depleted and carrying less total body water as a starting point.

When utilizing traditional weight loss plan to be finished at about 4 weeks out. This will allow enough time for the athlete or coach to gauge where their new body weight is when returned to a non-dieted state. At this point the cut can either continue if needed given the extra time remaining, or the athlete can spend time at this weight adjusting to new levers, feel of supportive equipment etc.

The main components of an AWM are: Gut Mass Reduction, Water Restriction, Sweating, and Recovery. Gut mass reduction is an often overlooked aspect of an AWM.

Those who are familiar with it usually understand it in the form of taking bowel prep formulas laxatives to clear out the body of gut mass. This approach is almost always unnecessary. The alternative approach is using a low residue diet also known as a low fiber diet for the days before a contest.

This is a passive process that reduces body mass but without recovery cost. Laxatives such as magnesium citrate are readily available and can be found at a local pharmacy. Some athletes also gain similar effects by consuming foods with very high sugar alcohol components in excess like sugar-free candies or MCT oil for those not acclimated to them.

We have no intention of going into detail of how to use latter methods as they are less reliable and should be avoided when there are reliable and safer methods. The main benefit athletes find when using laxatives to reduce gut mass is the process is fairly quick with results that can be seen in less than one day.

This allows the athlete or coach to avoid a week's worth of careful planning or food tapering, as well as having the potential of a quick result when a plan changes.

There are some drawbacks to bowel preparation formulas however. When the laxative is doing its work, it may be very difficult to do other tasks such as work, get things done, or leave the house.

The athlete will not be able to exercise or do any of the active sweating processes, and electrolyte balance and unintended water loss is also very likely to occur.

The key here is it is unintended, as all of the water manipulations during an AWM should be intentional and planned. With unreliable water loss we begin to lose control of the process and endanger the athlete. The transit times of foods vary between person to person but it is generally between days 7.

This process primarily works through reducing the fiber content of food significantly and shifting the diet towards foods that are highly digestible.

This usually takes the form of eating processed, simple foods while avoiding changes in sodium. A sample food list will be provided in the practical guide section but below are some commonly eaten favorites.

The primary advantage is that the athlete can maintain a neutral caloric state throughout the process. If the athlete can make weight without the need to deplete glycogen through caloric restriction they will have less recovery cost after weigh-in.

Unlike with a bowel preparation formula, the athlete will have adequate fuel and ability to leave the bathroom to continue to train, work, live, or do active sweating practices for dehydration. Some athletes find this method particularly enjoyable as the food selection usually tends toward very palatable foods rich in simple carbs and high in fat.

There are downsides to this method as well. The highly processed and easily digestible nature of the food selection means that satiety will be much lower. Lastly, the process is not very fast, for some people this can take up to a week, though results vary.

Regardless of the method taken to reduce gut mass, the process is an invaluable tool for an AWM since there is virtually no recovery cost.

Returning to a normal state afterwards is usually done by progressively re-introducing normal food items to the diet the following day. Athletes with chronically high fiber, high vegetable, and high fruit diets will benefit the most from this method.

If an athlete already consumes primarily highly processed foods they may get far less weight reduction. So it's important for the athlete and coach to understand daily habits or do trial runs during training before relying on any single method for weigh-in.

Water intake manipulation is the meat and potatoes of any AWM practice because body water can be manipulated to a great extent. Hydration status and dehydration have a fairly deep pool of research regarding their effect on power and strength expression, cardiovascular performance, and more.

We can draw from much of that research to make decisions about the recovery methods and priorities post weigh-in. This practice is widely used but poorly understood by most, which is unfortunate due to the potential danger of hyponatremia.

The green spheres represent ADH, since it has to bond to receptors, leading to a cascade of events that close aquaporins water channels , there is a lag time between when you stop drinking water, and your body stops draining as much out.

Kidney Intl. Water loading is the process of increasing fluid intake significantly over the course of a few days, before restricting water, hopefully resulting in a greater loss of body water than restriction alone. The mechanisms for which water loading works remains unclear, though some theorize an acute suppression in ADH Vasopressin hormone.

This hormone is released when water intake is low, telling your body to hold on to its water for conservation. When water intake is high this hormone is reduced in the body leading to increased water loss.

However, some water loading studies have found that when water is loaded vasopressin actually rebounded. One possible explanation is that aquaporins water channels may remain up or down regulated for several days following changes in ADH.

After several days of water loading, these aquaporins may be down regulated via low levels of ADH so once water is re-introduced, ADH spikes, but delayed re-opening of these channels results in less water re-absorption.

This is demonstrated only in rat models at this time, however, due to the the observations that ADH rebounds at the reintroduction of water, and that Reale et al did see an affect from water loading, there is little reason to expect this mechanism may not be applicable to humans as well 8,9.

Reale et al. Studied a group of male athletes who all had some experience with weight restriction for sport weigh-in 8. Those with experience using water loading were distributed evenly among the groups.

Each athlete was on a very mild caloric deficit, had a sodium intake of mg per calories, and g fiber for the study. The participants were divided into a water loading WL group and a control group. The water loading group had a 3 day loading period, after which all participants were under water restriction.

This water volume was divided equally across hour targets. On day 5 there was no water consumed until data collection. In the study, the water loading group lost 3. The magnitude is not particularly large, but it is a practical increase and every bit counts. The composition of the water should be predominantly plain water, bottled, tap, well, are all fine.

Trace minerals and ions will not effect the water loading, though the athlete should avoid sports drinks, electrolyte fortified beverages, and increased dietary sodium. Water manipulation can be accomplished via water restriction only, but we will also discuss some minor electrolyte sodium only manipulation.

Some athletes may find that the water loading process simply is not compatible with their lifestyle. The increased rate of urination can be extremely disruptive to athletes who do not have the luxury of that many trips to the bathroom.

For those athletes, you can simply just restrict water and sweat for similar though smaller, reliable results. Sodium manipulations should be minimal.

If you have a naturally high sodium intake due to having a lot of salty foods, such as prepared foods from restaurants or ready-to-eat foods from grocery stores, it might be prudent to make an intention to seek out foods with less salt during your last days of AWM.

Do not eliminate salt from your diet, but it can be a mistake to accidentally increase your sodium intake by selecting saltier foods when changing nutrition for the low residue diet portion of the AWM.

Small sips of water and sucking on ice cubes are a favorite way to help make fluid restriction bearable. Interestingly there is very little direct evidence that reductions in dietary sodium reduce body mass in healthy adults.

Most research on dietary sodium intakes don't take body mass measurements in a way that can be used directly for our purposes. Even though the research is mostly on individuals with high blood pressure we will be working under the assumption that it will generalize to healthy individuals, and therefore worth considering for an AWM process.

Nearly any nutrition coach for strength or physique athletes has seen an athlete make food selections extremely high in salt for a meal or day, and notice a significantly higher weight for a few days before the athlete has a period of frequent urination and then return to average body mass measures.

The restriction phase should only be as long as is needed in order to reach the BM goal desired. This time is usually one full day followed by the morning through weigh-in the next day. The safety of this process is the same as those within the water load portion, as the control group for the study was also within critical ranges and considered a safe process.

Much of the sweating and dehydration information comes from either heat acclimation research, or research on the performance effects of dehydration on athletes. Neither of which look directly at the relationship of how much body mass an athlete can lose safely to make weight. Processes for dehydration fall under two categories.

Active sweating , where the athlete is exercising in some manner to elicit a sweat response, or passive sweating , where sweating is a result of heat stress of some sort. Both of these methods are reliable and effective but come with their own considerations. For the sweating guide, click HERE. Heat acclimation refers to: sweat initiation at lower temperatures, increased sweat rate, and dilution of sweat to preserve electrolytes This is very likely a graded response of some sort, so the number of and length of exercise bouts with heat and humidity may determine the speed at which those adaptations arrive.

We advise that athletes who plan to partake in a significant amount of the sweating applications for an AWM take time during the week before their AWM protocols to develop some level of adaptation to heat in order to maximize the efficiency of their sweating practices.

Heat acclimation increases sweating rate and if fluid replacement is not proportionately increased, greater dehydration will occur, especially in humid environments. While the above quote is a warning for athletes, it's a good description of the intentional weight reductions for athletes regarding the adaptation where the sweat glands produce more dilute sweat in order to preserve electrolytes.

Athletes can leverage this adaptation in order to maximize their weight reduction through water loss, while also limiting the electrolyte loss sometimes seen. Athletes with higher levels of cardiovascular fitness seem to have a faster and greater adaptation to heat Heat acclimation is much more effective for athletes using active sweating methods than for those that will be using mostly passive sweating methods.

It is not a requirement for an athlete to intentionally adapt to heat in order to have a good AWM protocol, but it is recommended.

Active sweating is when an individual is sweating in response to heat and exercise. Active sweating methods include low-intensity exercise or light resistance training in warm clothes, a sauna suit, or simply a hot environment. This method is a little more effective for weight reduction due to the compartments from which it draws, as well as the magnitude of sweating being somewhat higher.

Active sweating tends to release water from extracellular compartments compared to passive sweating methods 9 possibly reducing recovery demand or performance loss from dehydration. It is important to use this method only if the athlete is already used to that particular mode of exercise.

We have seen athletes do excessive cycling as a sweating strategy, only to find their knees and quads to be sore for the contest since they had not normally been running. So any active sweating practices should either include adding heat to their existing workouts even a deload or prepare for active sweating by adding in LISS sessions several weeks earlier.

Active sweating can also be used at an actual weigh-in due to having missed weigh-in the first try. At this point the athlete must decide between an increased recovery demand in order to make weight, compared to performance in a higher weight class and cutting losses.

Passive sweating methods simply refer to sweating where exercise is not a primary or significant aspect of the sweating. Most often athletes use saunas, hot baths, or being outdoors in the summer as a passive sweating technique. One of the many negatives associated with dehydration is a reduction in temperature control.

Temperature regulation is one of the first systems that is affected by dehydration. Athletes that are using sweating methods using heat should pay special attention to heat illness signs.

More information can be found Here Production of and spitting of saliva is another common and worthwhile tool for those looking to lose a tiny amount of extra body mass for a weigh-in.

This is traditionally accomplished thought the use of a lozenge or chewing gum. When these are held in or chewed in the mouth, it elicits a salivary response.

The athlete then repeatedly spits the produced saliva out. This technique will only produce a small amount of weight loss, but can be the difference for some athletes. Depleting glycogen is the process by which the athlete reduces carbohydrate intake over the course of days.

The athlete should remain at maintenance calories, bring carbohydrates down to g, and make up the difference with calories from fat and from protein. Glycogen depletion will work best if the athlete is doing some light exercise sessions during depletion. Glycogen recovery takes about 24 hours, but it could take longer if it is fully depleted For this reason glycogen depletion should be a tertiary approach to AWM.

For athletes competing the same day as weigh-in, Glycogen depletion should be considered a last choice approach. Complete recovery from depletion would take nearly the entire contest. Partial recovery for the first few events is doable.

Most people may not be training to get onstage, but they do want to look great in a swimsuit. When you consider the principle of training specificity, you understand that always lifting more weight is not as high a priority for muscle building as it is for strength sports.

It's true that if you get stronger, you'll usually gain muscle as well. However, what you must understand is that lifting more is not the only way to gain muscle. The real secret to gaining muscle is using the progressive overload principle.

That leads us to the second problem: most people don't even know the difference between progressive resistance and progressive overload.

They are not the same thing! Progressive resistance is lifting more weight. Progressive overload is any kind of increase in workload that your body has not performed before. There are at least 8 types of progressive overload, and lifting more weight is only one of them.

The third problem, which leaves multitudes of muscle-seekers in perpetual disappointment with their lack of progress or inability to train around injuries, is that most people don't know about or properly use the other 7 progressive overload techniques.

These techniques are overlooked, under-appreciated or neglected. Finally, you're now about to learn how to use all these overload techniques to gain more muscle without lifting more weight.

But first, a let's do a quick recap of the progressive resistance technique. Increase the weight Progressive resistance. Make no mistake, progressive resistance is a vital strategy for building muscle. Increasing how much weight you lift is widely accepted as the most effective type of overload -- that's the goal you strive for first.

When you can't lift more weight, then you use the other overload methods to keep progressing in some other way. Progressive resistance simply means adding weight to the bar or lifting the next heavier set of dumbbells, using the next plate on the weight stack, and so on , whenever you are able to.

If you do the same number of reps you did before with a heavier weight, with the same good form, you have overloaded your muscles, and provided all the other factors necessary for growth are in place, your muscle development will increase. As we've discussed, you won't be able to increase the weight you lift at every workout, and the more years you've been training, the slower the increases happen.

That's when the other 7 progressive overload techniques are especially useful. All it takes is one more rep in perfect form with the same weight and you have increased the volume of the workout and successfully applied progressive overload.

For example, if you did 8 reps with pounds for 3 sets, the total amount lifted "tonnage" or volume is 4, pounds X 8 X 3. If you add a rep each workout and build up to 9, 10, 11 and then 12 reps, over those 5 workouts, you've increased the volume to 7, pounds. Is that an overload? You bet it is.

Two of the major benefits of increasing reps is that with a little effort, you can almost always do one more rep somewhere in your workout, and making progress at every workout keeps you highly motivated. Furthermore, working into higher rep ranges is more joint friendly than traditional heavy-load strength training which is typically done in the 4 to 6 rep range.

Sets of 5, for example, are well known as optimal for building strength, but what if your primary goal is building muscle, not strength? It's generally accepted that the ideal rep range for building muscle is 8 to 12 some say 6 to 12 reps and you should concentrate your training in this zone.

However, the most recent research suggests that using a variety of rep ranges is optimal for building muscle. This would include the strength zone low reps, heavy weight , the hypertrophy zone medium reps, medium weight and the metabolic zone high reps, light weight.

Anyone who struggles with joint pain when training in the low rep, heavy weight zone will be happy to hear that you can also get great muscle gains working in the hypertrophy and metabolic zones.

New studies published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that high repetitions in the 15 to 20 and even 25 to 30 range produced muscle growth when the sets were worked hard, to fatigue.

It would not be ideal to do high reps exclusively, unless absolutely necessary, but the important thing for making gains is progression, and increasing the reps at the same weight, regardless of the rep range, is a simple, proven way to do it. There is always the possibility that you won't be able to increase either the weight or the reps.

For advanced trainees, it gets harder to continue adding weight, adding reps and gaining more muscle than it is for beginners.

This is where the advanced lifter starts using other overload strategies to continue making more muscle gains. One of these methods is doing more sets. If you were doing 3 sets with pounds for 10 reps and you increase that to 4 sets with pounds for 10 reps, you have increased your volume from 6, pounds to 8, pounds.

You bet! Volume is directly correlated to muscle growth, up to a point, so any increase in volume whether that is more reps, more sets, more exercises, or a combination of the three, can potentially increase muscle growth if it's more than you were doing before.

A downside is that adding sets makes your workouts longer, so it's not ideal for busy people. You also can't increase sets indefinitely -- there's a point of diminishing returns, and ultimately a point of overtraining.

However, if your current program is only using a low or moderate volume and you're stuck on the weight and or reps, progressive overload is as simple as adding one more set. Adding more exercises is another way to increase the volume.

For example, 4 sets of 10 reps on the bench press with pounds is 8, pounds lifted. Suppose your bench press is stuck at pounds for 10 reps, but you add a second exercise, the incline dumbbell press.

If you use 60 pound dumbbells for 3 sets of 10 reps, that's another 1, pounds for a total of 9, pounds. It sure is. Of course, adding exercises has some of the same pros and cons of adding sets. You can't keep adding exercises forever, because you'll eventually reach an overtraining point.

Plus, your workouts will take longer, so if time-efficiency is a priority, you might want to use the other methods of overload down on this list. Based on the latest research, many bodybuilders have started increasing their weekly training frequency above the old popular method of once per week per muscle growth.

Some are training each muscle once every 4 to 6 days, some have jumped to working each muscle twice a week. Some of the studies which has prompted people to lift more often were based on the protein synthesis theory.

Yet it's also worth considering that increasing your training frequency is another method of progressive overload. Many lifters have focused so much on just increasing weight, they have completely overlooked this obvious option. If you leave your entire workout the same - same exercises, sets, reps and weight, but you change your split or your weekly training schedule so that each muscle is worked more often, you will usually see a substantial increase in muscle growth from that simple change alone.

As with increasing sets and exercises, this method has some limits. In most cases, it requires more workouts each week, yet being in the gym 6 days or even 5 days a week is not practical for everyone. The workouts can also get very long if you try to keep the same volume, and longer workouts may not be practical for some people.

An excessive focus on strength often creates an obsession with always lifting heavier, even when you're not ready, and that in turn leads to compromising form. You might think you've been successful in your training by adding more weight to the bar, but if you cheated on form, no true progression has taken place.

It's fake progression -- ego lifting. Cheating usually decreases tension on the target muscle and increases the risk of injury or joint pain. At a certain point, once a base of strength and muscle size has been built, many advanced bodybuilders put less emphasis on increasing the pounds lifted as their primary progression strategy and more attention on improving their form.

Their goal is to increase repetition quality and increase muscle tension through a stronger mind to muscle connection. Both psychologists and exercise physiologists have studied this subject in depth and demonstrated that "attentional focus" mind to muscle connection can increase muscle activation.

Although we may not be able to quantify repetition quality as easily as we can track the weights, sets, reps, volume and frequency, increasing your repetition quality can absolutely be considered another method of overload.

Moreover, this is a vitally important strategy for advanced physique athletes, older lifters and anyone with joint pain that prevents maximally heavy lifting because the focus goes more on quality of reps than quantity of weight.

In weight training, the word density means how much work you pack into a given span of time. Weight training can be progressed in density by doing the same work in less time, more work in the same time or more work in less time.

This allows the athlete or coach to avoid a week's worth of careful planning or food tapering, as well as having the potential of a quick result when a plan changes. There are some drawbacks to bowel preparation formulas however. When the laxative is doing its work, it may be very difficult to do other tasks such as work, get things done, or leave the house.

The athlete will not be able to exercise or do any of the active sweating processes, and electrolyte balance and unintended water loss is also very likely to occur.

The key here is it is unintended, as all of the water manipulations during an AWM should be intentional and planned. With unreliable water loss we begin to lose control of the process and endanger the athlete. The transit times of foods vary between person to person but it is generally between days 7.

This process primarily works through reducing the fiber content of food significantly and shifting the diet towards foods that are highly digestible.

This usually takes the form of eating processed, simple foods while avoiding changes in sodium. A sample food list will be provided in the practical guide section but below are some commonly eaten favorites.

The primary advantage is that the athlete can maintain a neutral caloric state throughout the process. If the athlete can make weight without the need to deplete glycogen through caloric restriction they will have less recovery cost after weigh-in.

Unlike with a bowel preparation formula, the athlete will have adequate fuel and ability to leave the bathroom to continue to train, work, live, or do active sweating practices for dehydration. Some athletes find this method particularly enjoyable as the food selection usually tends toward very palatable foods rich in simple carbs and high in fat.

There are downsides to this method as well. The highly processed and easily digestible nature of the food selection means that satiety will be much lower. Lastly, the process is not very fast, for some people this can take up to a week, though results vary.

Regardless of the method taken to reduce gut mass, the process is an invaluable tool for an AWM since there is virtually no recovery cost. Returning to a normal state afterwards is usually done by progressively re-introducing normal food items to the diet the following day.

Athletes with chronically high fiber, high vegetable, and high fruit diets will benefit the most from this method. If an athlete already consumes primarily highly processed foods they may get far less weight reduction. So it's important for the athlete and coach to understand daily habits or do trial runs during training before relying on any single method for weigh-in.

Water intake manipulation is the meat and potatoes of any AWM practice because body water can be manipulated to a great extent. Hydration status and dehydration have a fairly deep pool of research regarding their effect on power and strength expression, cardiovascular performance, and more.

We can draw from much of that research to make decisions about the recovery methods and priorities post weigh-in. This practice is widely used but poorly understood by most, which is unfortunate due to the potential danger of hyponatremia. The green spheres represent ADH, since it has to bond to receptors, leading to a cascade of events that close aquaporins water channels , there is a lag time between when you stop drinking water, and your body stops draining as much out.

Kidney Intl. Water loading is the process of increasing fluid intake significantly over the course of a few days, before restricting water, hopefully resulting in a greater loss of body water than restriction alone.

The mechanisms for which water loading works remains unclear, though some theorize an acute suppression in ADH Vasopressin hormone. This hormone is released when water intake is low, telling your body to hold on to its water for conservation.

When water intake is high this hormone is reduced in the body leading to increased water loss. However, some water loading studies have found that when water is loaded vasopressin actually rebounded.

One possible explanation is that aquaporins water channels may remain up or down regulated for several days following changes in ADH. After several days of water loading, these aquaporins may be down regulated via low levels of ADH so once water is re-introduced, ADH spikes, but delayed re-opening of these channels results in less water re-absorption.

This is demonstrated only in rat models at this time, however, due to the the observations that ADH rebounds at the reintroduction of water, and that Reale et al did see an affect from water loading, there is little reason to expect this mechanism may not be applicable to humans as well 8,9.

Reale et al. Studied a group of male athletes who all had some experience with weight restriction for sport weigh-in 8. Those with experience using water loading were distributed evenly among the groups. Each athlete was on a very mild caloric deficit, had a sodium intake of mg per calories, and g fiber for the study.

The participants were divided into a water loading WL group and a control group. The water loading group had a 3 day loading period, after which all participants were under water restriction.

This water volume was divided equally across hour targets. On day 5 there was no water consumed until data collection.

In the study, the water loading group lost 3. The magnitude is not particularly large, but it is a practical increase and every bit counts. The composition of the water should be predominantly plain water, bottled, tap, well, are all fine.

Trace minerals and ions will not effect the water loading, though the athlete should avoid sports drinks, electrolyte fortified beverages, and increased dietary sodium.

Water manipulation can be accomplished via water restriction only, but we will also discuss some minor electrolyte sodium only manipulation. Some athletes may find that the water loading process simply is not compatible with their lifestyle.

The increased rate of urination can be extremely disruptive to athletes who do not have the luxury of that many trips to the bathroom. For those athletes, you can simply just restrict water and sweat for similar though smaller, reliable results.

Sodium manipulations should be minimal. If you have a naturally high sodium intake due to having a lot of salty foods, such as prepared foods from restaurants or ready-to-eat foods from grocery stores, it might be prudent to make an intention to seek out foods with less salt during your last days of AWM.

Do not eliminate salt from your diet, but it can be a mistake to accidentally increase your sodium intake by selecting saltier foods when changing nutrition for the low residue diet portion of the AWM. Small sips of water and sucking on ice cubes are a favorite way to help make fluid restriction bearable.

Interestingly there is very little direct evidence that reductions in dietary sodium reduce body mass in healthy adults. Most research on dietary sodium intakes don't take body mass measurements in a way that can be used directly for our purposes.

Even though the research is mostly on individuals with high blood pressure we will be working under the assumption that it will generalize to healthy individuals, and therefore worth considering for an AWM process.

Nearly any nutrition coach for strength or physique athletes has seen an athlete make food selections extremely high in salt for a meal or day, and notice a significantly higher weight for a few days before the athlete has a period of frequent urination and then return to average body mass measures.

The restriction phase should only be as long as is needed in order to reach the BM goal desired. This time is usually one full day followed by the morning through weigh-in the next day.

The safety of this process is the same as those within the water load portion, as the control group for the study was also within critical ranges and considered a safe process.

Much of the sweating and dehydration information comes from either heat acclimation research, or research on the performance effects of dehydration on athletes. Neither of which look directly at the relationship of how much body mass an athlete can lose safely to make weight.

Processes for dehydration fall under two categories. Active sweating , where the athlete is exercising in some manner to elicit a sweat response, or passive sweating , where sweating is a result of heat stress of some sort. Both of these methods are reliable and effective but come with their own considerations.

For the sweating guide, click HERE. Heat acclimation refers to: sweat initiation at lower temperatures, increased sweat rate, and dilution of sweat to preserve electrolytes This is very likely a graded response of some sort, so the number of and length of exercise bouts with heat and humidity may determine the speed at which those adaptations arrive.

We advise that athletes who plan to partake in a significant amount of the sweating applications for an AWM take time during the week before their AWM protocols to develop some level of adaptation to heat in order to maximize the efficiency of their sweating practices.

Heat acclimation increases sweating rate and if fluid replacement is not proportionately increased, greater dehydration will occur, especially in humid environments.

While the above quote is a warning for athletes, it's a good description of the intentional weight reductions for athletes regarding the adaptation where the sweat glands produce more dilute sweat in order to preserve electrolytes. Athletes can leverage this adaptation in order to maximize their weight reduction through water loss, while also limiting the electrolyte loss sometimes seen.

Athletes with higher levels of cardiovascular fitness seem to have a faster and greater adaptation to heat Heat acclimation is much more effective for athletes using active sweating methods than for those that will be using mostly passive sweating methods. It is not a requirement for an athlete to intentionally adapt to heat in order to have a good AWM protocol, but it is recommended.

Active sweating is when an individual is sweating in response to heat and exercise. Active sweating methods include low-intensity exercise or light resistance training in warm clothes, a sauna suit, or simply a hot environment.

This method is a little more effective for weight reduction due to the compartments from which it draws, as well as the magnitude of sweating being somewhat higher. Active sweating tends to release water from extracellular compartments compared to passive sweating methods 9 possibly reducing recovery demand or performance loss from dehydration.

It is important to use this method only if the athlete is already used to that particular mode of exercise. We have seen athletes do excessive cycling as a sweating strategy, only to find their knees and quads to be sore for the contest since they had not normally been running. So any active sweating practices should either include adding heat to their existing workouts even a deload or prepare for active sweating by adding in LISS sessions several weeks earlier.

Active sweating can also be used at an actual weigh-in due to having missed weigh-in the first try. At this point the athlete must decide between an increased recovery demand in order to make weight, compared to performance in a higher weight class and cutting losses. Passive sweating methods simply refer to sweating where exercise is not a primary or significant aspect of the sweating.

Most often athletes use saunas, hot baths, or being outdoors in the summer as a passive sweating technique. One of the many negatives associated with dehydration is a reduction in temperature control. Temperature regulation is one of the first systems that is affected by dehydration.

Athletes that are using sweating methods using heat should pay special attention to heat illness signs. More information can be found Here Production of and spitting of saliva is another common and worthwhile tool for those looking to lose a tiny amount of extra body mass for a weigh-in.

This is traditionally accomplished thought the use of a lozenge or chewing gum. When these are held in or chewed in the mouth, it elicits a salivary response. The athlete then repeatedly spits the produced saliva out. This technique will only produce a small amount of weight loss, but can be the difference for some athletes.

Depleting glycogen is the process by which the athlete reduces carbohydrate intake over the course of days. The athlete should remain at maintenance calories, bring carbohydrates down to g, and make up the difference with calories from fat and from protein.

Glycogen depletion will work best if the athlete is doing some light exercise sessions during depletion.

Glycogen recovery takes about 24 hours, but it could take longer if it is fully depleted For this reason glycogen depletion should be a tertiary approach to AWM. For athletes competing the same day as weigh-in, Glycogen depletion should be considered a last choice approach.

Complete recovery from depletion would take nearly the entire contest. Partial recovery for the first few events is doable.

To understanding the role of recovery on an AWM, we must first recognize the levels of dehydration and what performance is affected. These understandings will help the coach or athlete determine how much to push, and how much recovery time is necessary for a particular weigh-in and contest design.

The table below will describe the potential effects on performance at specific ranges of dehydration. The figure to the left from data in 14 , 15 , 16 shows the observations of performance effects on various types of performance across dehydration levels.

As a side note, research suggests mild dehydration may result in some women feeling an increase in RPE and a perception of reduced recovery between events. This is the process from which the athlete recovers from their dehydrated state as rapidly as possible or as necessary to perform within reasonable expectations.

When the weigh-in for the athlete is more than 12 hours before competing, full recovery from dehydration protocols should be complete. Immediately after making weight, the athlete should consume a mixture of water and electrolytes.

While just water is fine, we do expect that some electrolyte loss happened during the sweating and water loading processes, so it might be wise to have an electrolyte drink available for the immediately post weight drink.

For ease, simply consuming a Pedialyte or equivalent , or a sports drink will be perfectly reasonable at this time. If the athlete is using a pedialyte powder, or similar product, always mix the powder to manufacturer directions. Concentrating the powder more may lead to osmotic diarrhea, a very unpleasant and counterproductive situation.

For those who are competing within a few hours of making weight, they should consume between oz mL of fluid as described above. The initial rehydration drink should be consumed about as quickly as possible without causing an upset stomach. The initial drink should also stretch the stomach slightly, meaning it should feel fairly filling, in order to signal for gastric emptying.

Methods such as IV rehydration are fully unnecessary for all but nearly lethal levels of dehydration or for unconscious individuals. Rehydration using intravenous IV fluids is also becoming increasingly common among athletes who participate in weight cuts. Though many assume this form of rehydration must be faster and more effective than oral rehydration, current evidence of this is lacking.

It is even suggested that oral rehydration may have benefits to performance over IVs, due to stimulation of downstream effects in the body that are bypassed when fluids are taken intravenously The human body is incredibly efficient with rehydration when presented with liquid and electrolytes.

The use of IV may be necessary for individuals who used pharmaceutical grade diuretics to achieve rapid dehydration but little evidence exists for this practice.

The goal should be to weigh the same as before AWM, and no more if possible. Complete recovery for glycogen and dehydration lands comfortably in less than 12 hours. For athletes who use non-pharma methods for AWM, the protocols are very simple.

This fluid can be in the form of electrolyte drinks such as Pedialyte or low carbohydrate sports drinks such as Gatorade , or simply in the form of water, sodas, etc.

with meals. Over-hydrating and loading too much sodium can cause a significant amount of water retention. Glycogen Recovery If Glycogen Depletion was utilized. While glycogen depletion is a tertiary approach, some athletes will find that they need to drop more weight than would be desired with water and gut manipulation alone.

Recovery from glycogen depletion is very important. Composition of those carbohydrates should be relatively low fiber as to prevent GI upset for competition, and should include relatively high sodium and potassium content foods such as potatoes, bananas, orange juice, tomatoes. Beyond the topics discussed for recovery above, we begin to delve into the realm of contest day nutrition.

We have an article written by Greg Here. The article provides a thorough discussion on that topic. Caloric Intake should remain at maintenance. For most instances there is not a need to cut calories during this week despite it being fairly common.

AWM should be based on reducing weight that can be immediately recovered and minimally impact performance. For this reason we suggest that any fat loss be accomplished several weeks prior to beginning an AWM protocol. Glycogen depletion is a tertiary approach that can be used by dropping carbohydrate intake to minimal levels similar to those of ketosis and replacing the calories from carbohydrates with calories from fat and protein.

Low Residue Diet LRD should begin days before the time of weigh-in. The wide range here is due to significant differences between individuals, so it is worth testing the athlete ahead of time.

During the LRD keep calories, electrolytes sodium and potassium , and water intake unchanged for up to 7 days. This number is largely determined by the baseline diet of the athlete, with higher normal fiber intake likely yielding greater results.

Bowel Preparation Formulas : These can be used in place of a LRD. Simply use an over-the-counter laxative as directed by a physician or by the instructions on the formula.

This can be utilized during the day before weigh-in. Be careful, as additional unintentional electrolyte and water loss can be lost during this method.

Water Loads Should begin 5 days out from weigh-in day, leaving 4 days for loading and 1 full day of restriction. Spread this water out evenly across the day, ending about hours before bed time to reduce waking up to urinate.

Sodium intake should be left at normal intakes for the athlete or bring that number to mg of Sodium per cal and no changes to average potassium intake.

Bottled water, tap water, etc is fine. Just avoid using sports drinks and electrolyte fortified drinks during this period. Trace minerals and ions will not affect the water load process.

Water Restriction when utilized alone or with a water load, water restriction should begin hours before your expected weigh-in time. Consume that evenly across the day and monitor weight.

Continue to keep sodium and potassium intake as they were during the water load. The water restriction should continue until weigh-in, or until the desired BM is achieved. Once desired BM is achieved, simply sip water to maintain weight until the athlete has made weight.

If it looks like goal weight will be accomplished without these practices, it is best to avoid them or do small amounts to allow for some wiggle room or small extra beverages.

Active sweating methods are preferable if the athlete is conditioned or used to them. If the athlete is not well heat acclimated or has poor cardiovascular adaptation, passive sweating methods may be preferable. Methods are described HERE.

Recovery begins the moment the athlete steps off the scale. Have a prepared mL oz recovery beverage ready immediately. Water is adequate, but a higher sodium sports drink or rehydration formula such as Pedialyte can be used.

The initial beverage should be low-moderate carbohydrate content, even if glycogen depletion was used, to prevent GI issues. This beverage should be consumed immediately at a rate that prevents stomach discomfort. The table will show some quick conversions for common numbers. Continue a relatively low residue diet to minimize discomfort during competition.

Caffeine should be tapered in order to prevent over stimulation for skill based events that may be early in the competition. IV fluid recovery: IV fluid recovery can be done using an isotonic saline by a qualified professional. Isotonic saline is a faster method of rehydration.

However, oral rehydration is considered preferred, equally effective, and should be encouraged over IV methods. There is little evidence to suggest that IV rehydration provides any additional benefit to performance and recovery within the time frames provided by any strength sport weigh-in procedures, including a 2-hour weigh-in Any nutritional suggestions beyond these will fall under the details covered in this article.

Water Loading Should begin 5 days out from weigh-in day, leaving 4 days for loading and 1 full day of restriction. For a 24 hour weigh-in, water restriction should begin hours before your expected weigh-In time. Continue to keep Sodium and Potassium intake as they were during the water load.

The water restriction should continue until weigh-in, or until the desired weight is achieved, then sip cold water if enough buffer exists until weigh-in. Restriction will continue for all waking hours until weigh-in, while using sweating methods and monitoring weight.

This allows for better sleep quality the days before competition. This should allow the athlete to go to sleep with only minor dehydration.

The overnight water and weight loss will give a better starting point for sweating methods utilized throughout the day. Active sweating methods are preferable if the athlete is conditioned well enough to find little recovery demand from light cardiovascular activity under some heated conditions.

If the athlete is not well heat acclimated or has poor cardiovascular adaptation, simply have the athlete use passive sweating methods.

See the table for some common numbers for a quick reference. This fluid should be consumed in the time between making weight and bed time before the competition. Use either a rehydration formula such as pedialyte, a sports drink, or electrolyte rich foods.

Any nutritional suggestions beyond will fall under the details covered HERE. It is helpful to pace yourself, have a small-moderate sized snack and drink immediately, wait ~ hours, and eat again. Overeating early can put you in a cycle of feeling overly stuffed and bloated, unable or unwilling to eat enough after.

Small meals every hour or two are the way to go if possible. It's best to always trial the AWM practice before using it in a contest so that the athlete knows how the protocol will work for them in some way.

Below are some suggestions for Improving the AWM. You might even notice as you are doing the water-load that is seems you are not drinking much more than usual. suggested that higher volume water loads may lead to higher magnitude of water loss but was hesitant to make a specific suggestion 3.

Another alteration to the protocol can be adding in an additional day of water loading, some research suggests that a longer loading period may have a larger effect on the water loss during the restriction phase 9.

On subsequent AWM practices, they could reduce their sodium during the last 2 days to a minimum of 1,mg per day and analyze results. If the athlete has a contest in mind that they will need to use sweating practices for, they may benefit from developing and maintaining some heat acclimation adaptations.

Athletes who are acclimated to exercising in heat will initiate the sweat response more quickly, sweat faster, and produce a more dilute sweat more electrolyte sparing when they participate in active sweating. The fastest and most efficient way to acclimate to heat is to:.

Have a decent level of cardiovascular fitness prior to heat acclimation training. Conduct frequent heat acclimation sessions during training or cardio for at least weeks prior to AWM. First, establish the athletes cardiovascular fitness level. If the athlete has low cardiovascular fitness, you will want to begin heat acclimation training a few weeks before the start of your AWM practice.

Higher levels of humidity also increase the rate of adaptation. Active sweating is simply exercise induced sweating.