The bottom line is this. Regardless of how you perform first repetition of barbell curl, you will still only be involving a very small percentage of muscle fibers available. This is due to following three reasons. (1) When muscle is not in a fully contracted position, only a limited number of muscle fibers are involved. (2) During first repetition biceps muscle fibers are at their strongest and most rested. (3) The majority of exercise equipment on market provides practically no resistance to a muscle in a fully contracted position.

Zero resistance can become an issue during almost all basic exercises. For example, during bench press, a totally contracted position is reached when arms are completely extended. Because your arms also reach a point of total “lockout” of elbow joints at this point, there is basically zero resistance in this position. The way this problem can be resolved is by performing all of your exercises in a series of repetitions. You can then make sure that you achieve maximum stimulation of muscles involved.

Let’s look barbell curl example again. If you are using a weight that allows you to perform about ten repetitions, then first repetition will only involve about five percent of total number of muscle fibers available. The remaining ninety-five percent of fibers are not involved at all.

When you perform second repetition however, things start to change. And change fast! The previous five percent are no longer as strong or as rested as they were during first repetition. The strength levels of these fibers have been challenged, and so they now need help of additional fibers to perform second repetition. These additional fibers are at their strongest and most rested. However, they too will only be used to extent that they are actually needed.

As you continue to perform exercise, more and more muscle fibers become involved. Finally, by tenth repetition you will be using as much as twenty percent of total muscle fibers available. By this stage of exercise your breathing should be coming thick and be fast. And, intensity level will be high.

In this example, exercise is being performed with a weight that you knew you could only perform ten repetitions with. It is at this point that most “skinny” guys stop exercise. This is a big mistake. Doing so with result in almost no muscle gains at all.

By stopping exercise at this point, you are not pushing through your comfort zone. You are just nudging up to it. Also, various muscles involved are not being pushed enough to cause them to GROW. If you are “stupid” enough to train in this manner, your muscle gains will be slow and in many cases, totally non-existent. In short. If you are going to go for it. Then, make sure you go all way... and then some!

Sometimes, an increase of poundage is not safe, due to current level of weight already being used. In such cases, adding extra weight can pose a threat to your safety. So instead. Replace exercise with an alternative. The change of exercise need not be drastic. For example. If you have reached a plateau in bench press, you could replace it with incline dumbbell press. Or, parallel dips. The alternative exercise should be included in routine for three to four weeks. After this period, regular bench press can used once again. You should notice significant gains very quickly after doing so.

If you are still unable to increase your muscle gains after applying these strategies and taking a brief layoff, overtraining is usually cause. Instead of having another layoff, number of sets you perform and frequency of your workouts should be reduced. Overtraining results from amount of exercise performed. Level of intensity is never cause.

To compensate for overtraining, amount of exercise performed should be reduced by approximately thirty percent. If you are currently exercising three times a week, your frequency should be reduced to two times a week. If you are currently training with ten total sets in a workout, that number should be reduced to a total of seven. Look. I have never seen or heard of anyone who after applying these strategies failed to make further muscle gains. Any exceptions are usually due to poor nutritional habits or not training with enough intensity of effort. Period.