3 plateau busters

Bench press‘At the end of every other bench press session, do lockouts as a partial rep,’ says personal trainer Shaun Stafford. ‘This means you just do the top third of the lift. Use a heavy weight – at least your one-rep max – and do a couple of sets of three or four reps to hit the chest muscles hard while strengthening your tendons and ligaments to deal with a heavier weight next time.’ Just make sure you recruit a good spotter.
Squat‘A great way to boost your squat is cluster training,’ says Stafford. ‘Set the bar with your five-rep max but aim for ten reps – first do five, then rest for 15 seconds before cranking out three more. Take another brief rest, then fire off another couple before resting for a couple of minutes and repeating.’ The logic of this method is that it allows you to lift more weight over more reps that you’d otherwise do, and so stimulates greater gains in both size and strength.
Biceps curlBlitz your biceps with negative lifts because the eccentric, or lowering, phase of the biceps curl can deal with more weight. ‘You’ll need a partner for this but it is the best way of forcing your biceps to cope with heavier weights,’ says Stafford. ‘Load up a barbell with 20 to 40 per cent more weight that you’re used to. With help from your partner, curl the bar up until the bar is at the peak of the lift. Pause, then lower it, taking about four seconds, while in full control.’ Aim for four sets of around six reps once a week.