Weight training

Weight training can be the most effective technique for developing the strength and size of skeletal muscles. It provides functional benefits and may improve overall health and well-being.

Advanced techniques

A number of techniques have been developed to make weight training exercises more intense, and thereby potentially increase the rate of progress:

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• Drop sets do not end at the point of momentary muscular failure, but continue with progressively lighter weights.
• Pyramiding involves increasing weights and lowering reps. The first set is performed with a weight that would seem challenging for a higher number of reps, in subsequent sets this weight is increased and the reps decreased so that the new weight seems challenging for the smaller number of reps.
• Forced reps also occur after momentary muscular failure. An assistant provides just enough help to allow further repetitions to be completed.
• Supersets combine two or more exercises for different muscle groups. The exercises are performed back to back, with no rest period between them.
• Partial reps are performed with heavier weights. Only the easiest part of the repetition is attempted.
• Negatives are performed with much heavier weights. Assistants lift the weight, and then the weight trainer attempts to resist its downward progress. Alternatively, an individual can use an exercise machine for negatives by lifting the weight with both arms or legs, and then lowering it with only one.
• Super slow repetitions are performed with lighter weights. The lifting and lowering phases of each repetition take 10 seconds or more.
• Pre-exhaustion combines an isolation exercise with a compound exercise for the same muscle group. The isolation exercise first exhausts the muscle group, and then the compound exercise uses the muscle groups's supporting muscles to push it further than would otherwise be possible.
• Wrist straps (lifting straps) are sometimes used to assist in gripping very heavy weights. They are particularly useful for the deadlift. Most lifters, however, should refuse to use wrist straps in most situations, because development of the grip is especially important in many strength applications.