Wave Loading

Strength training is obviously an essential component of any effective muscle building program. Here is why: when you get stronger you are able to use greater loads (i.e. heavier weights) and, as you should all be aware of now after reading parts 1-4, putting greater loads on the muscle will force that muscle to grow. Boom, pretty simple.

One of the things you need to be cognizant of though is that doing strength training week in and week out is only going to put unneeded wear and tear on your joints. I know I said to ditch the heavy weights and put ego aside, but we have a focused purpose here for using heavy weights and we are only doing it for a short time period. No longer that a month. Even though you are going to be using heavy weights you still use proper form and complete range of motion.

No offense to the strongmen and weightlifters out there, but even though we are going to be using heavier weights for this training we are still going to train like bodybuilders with full range of motion and maintaining that mind to muscle connection. We are not going to train like weightlifters whose main goal is to get the weight from point A to point B no matter how sloppy it looks, without any regard for control and using momentum to do three quarters of the lift! (Hopefully I didn't offend too many of my weightlifter brothers out there but you have to agree with me that using momentum to your advantage is huge component of the lift) As I have said before, if the muscles are not in control, the stress shifts to the surrounding tissues such as joints, ligaments and tendons – and your joints will end up feeling sorer than your muscles.

So how can you use heavy weights and still train like bodybuilders. The concept we will use to achieve this is called Wave Loading. This obviously isn’t my idea but I wanted to introduce it to you so you can investigate it further and incorporate it into your training. It is all over the internet, so google it and you will get all kinds of examples. It will make a difference in your physique so at least try it.

Here is the idea behind Wave Loading. It is used to maximize your strength and to maximize something else known as MUA, motor unit activation. Greater MUA means your body will be more efficient at using a greater overall percentage of muscle fibers per contraction which alas, will make you stronger and when you are stronger you will get bigger when you resume your normal hypertrophy training. So now, the biggest benefits of wave loading are accelerated strength gains, increased explosiveness and an overall increase in your work capacity. Keep in mind that Wave loading should only be used for the compound movements and the main strength building exercises. Doing this for isolation exercises is a waste of time, so focus on the big muscle compound movements like bench press, bent-over rows, squats, deadlifts etc.

Here is an example of my chest routine doing wave loading:

Barbell Bench Press
6 sets 3010 tempo - (3sec eccentric, 0 sec pause at the bottom, 1 sec concentric and zero pause at the top)
(120 seconds rest between sets)

Set 1: 7 reps@225 lbs
Set 2: 5 reps@ 240 lbs
Set 3: 3 reps@ 260 lbs
Set 4: 7 reps@ 235 lbs
Set 5: 5 reps@ 250 lbs
Set 6: 3 reps@ 270 lbs

Incline Dumbbell Press
6 Sets 4010 tempo
(60 seconds rest between sets)

Set 1: 10 reps@60 lbs
Set 2: 8 reps@65 lbs
Set 3: 6 reps@70 lbs
Set 4: 10 reps@65 lbs
Set 5: 8 reps@70 lbs
Set 6: 6 reps@75 lbs

I'll usually throw in some isolation exercises at the end like DB flyes to get a good burn going and then call it quits.

You probably noticed the pattern here. this is the key to wave loading. The Pattern involves moving the weight up and/or down within subsequent sets of the same exercises. Use this pattern for squats, bent-over rows or whatever compound exercise you use for the particular body part you are training.

One other thing to keep in mind here is that there are NO forced reps in this type of strength training. The reason is that forced reps tend to cause lapses in form and increasethe potential for injury. You need to focus on keeping your form perfect (you already know this, right) and reaching the exact number of prescribed reps each set. I always work out alone but in this case it might be prudent to have a spotter or at least someone nearby in case they need to save you.

We have come full circle now. By getting stronger you will be able to lift heavier weights when you go back to your normal hypertrophy training which will increase the load on the muscles which translates into bigger muscles. So, take a month out of your normal routine and incorporate some wave loading training for that month. You will be stronger when you get back to your normal routine and growth will continue. If you have reached a plateau in your training, this is a great time to switch it and bust through that plateau.

Grow Big
Makwa