
The techniques you use should be in line with your fitness goals. While factors such as increasing total volume will be important to a bodybuilder, decreasing the rest time between sets and increasing repetitions may be more beneficial for endurance athletes or individuals concerned with muscular endurance and cardiovascular fitness rather than gains in strength and power. Likewise, individuals interested in increasing muscle endurance may find that higher repetitions combined with increases in reps, not load, is better suited for their activities. If you're looking to focus on strength, increasing the load may be a more favorable option than simply doing more reps. Of course, this is all assuming you're interested in building muscle (staying with the 8- to 12-rep range, which is optimal for hypertrophy). As adaptation eventually occurs, and surely it will, it's good to know you have some options available, especially if simply putting more weight on the bar just doesn't seem to work any longer. You can include any of these methods in your training, but it's best to focus on just one at a time.

That's OK, because soon enough, you'll get stronger with that resistance and be able to repeat the cycle over again. If 75 pounds is too easy when curling, try putting 5 pounds on each side of the bar-that should be more challenging! Remember, there's an inverse relationship between load and reps, so when you increase the weight, your reps are going to fall to some degree. Probably the most obvious way to increase the demands you place on your muscles is to increase the load, or weight. The Overload Principle: Concept and Uses in Tactical Fitness Lift heavier: Increase speed of repetitions: Rest less: Do more sets and repetitions: Run or. Here are five important ways you can do just that.

However, your biceps will become bigger and stronger if you place even greater demands on them. There's no reason for your biceps to grow larger or stronger they're already capable of handling the overload. If you continue performing that single set of 75 pounds for 8 repetitions, don't expect any further gains. As your biceps have adapted to the initial overload you introduced, where do you go now? Do you continue using the same load for the same number of repetitions, or are there changes you should consider making?
