Do you look the same today as you did a year ago? Are you using the same weights in the same exercises? If you can answer yes to these questions, then pay close attention. This article is speaking directly to you, the advanced trainer stuck in a rut.
It's quite an honor to be what is called an "advanced" bodybuilder. This status is bestowed only to the rare few who have had the discipline and patience to train regularly for a period of five years or more. Advanced bodybuilders are usually the best-built and most knowledgeable members of any gym or fitness facility.

However, there is also a flip side to this honorable station - most bodybuilders at this point cease to make meaningful improvements to their physiques ever again. Many theories/excuses are given to justify this: he or she has reached their genetic limit, they are happy with the way they look, they have tried everything possible, etc.

It is true that the longer you have been training, the harder it is to coax growth out of stubborn muscles that have had everything and the kitchen sink thrown at them over the years. Harder, to be sure, but impossible? Impossible is a word that does not belong in our vocabularies as athletes striving to be their absolute best!

Often what we think of as impossible is something that is already within our grasp, if only we thought of a creative solution to the problem. Ask yourself, is this exactly the way you wanted to look? I didn't think so. Don't worry. I'm not going to leave you hanging. All you really need to get growing again is the desire to do so.
Everything Else Is Really Secondary


I have been at this over thirteen years now, and the one thing I am happy to report is that I am still learning all the time. It is a challenge to try and find new techniques and strategies that will get my physique just a little bigger and better. It is also my privilege to share what I learn with you all as I discover it. If you look objectively at your progress over the past months or even years, are you satisfied? Do you look the same today as you did a year ago?

Are you using the same weights in the same exercises? If you can answer yes to these questions, then pay close attention. This article is speaking directly to you, the advanced trainer stuck in a rut. Let's get you out of that rut and growing again, shall we? We'll break it down into the basic three factors of bodybuilding; training, nutrition and supplementation, and rest and recovery.


Training


However you happen to be training now, it's quite safe to assume that your muscles have totally adapted to what you're doing. Hopefully you haven't been using the same exact exercises for each bodypart over and over again. This is a very easy trap to fall into because we all have favorite exercises. For someone who loves to bench press, it's only natural that this exercise almost always forms the core of their chest workout. But because our bodies are so incredibly efficient at adapting to specific types of stress, the same exercises will only produce results for so long.

You may be able to use heavy weights and still get a great pump, but if your body has done it a thousand times before, odds are heavily against any new muscle growing. It's time to get radical and do only exercises that you never, ever do for a while. This should actually be very exciting, given the inevitable monotony of long-term training.


The Internet is a great place to get some ideas. Start surfing the net and you'll be amazed at how many useful websites there are for bodybuilders. I recently read of a new method of performing incline side laterals for delts from Charles Poliquin that resulted in a friend of mine experiencing the first soreness (and, most likely, growth) in that area in years.