Motor Unit Recruitment
Research has shown that motor unit recruitment is changed depending on changes in movement like grip or stance. Simply moving your hands out a finger width on the bar during a pressing movement will recruit different muscle fibers during the exercise. This creates a neurological stimulus causing increased muscle fiber contraction. A simple change in grip or stance will leave you feeling the exact same exercise in a different portion of the muscle due to more muscle fibers contracting.
Mechanical Advantage
When performing an exercise, start your first set with a more narrow stance or grip. This will prove to make the exercise more challenging and incorporate other muscle recruitment not used in a wider stance or grip. As you progress through your sets and the muscles involved become fatigued, gradually widen your stance or grip slightly. This will compensate for the muscular fatigue by increasing the mechanical advantage and incorporate a neurological and muscular stimulus that will shock the muscles and provide a stimulus for growth.
Execution of Movement
It is important to remember, I am talking about slight modifications in the stance or grip on each exercise. The intention is increase the mechanical advantage without changing the form of the exercise. I am talking a modification of inches while performing an exercise such as bench press or barbell curl. The intention is not to change the foot placement on a squat or leg press to change the exercise from a narrow, to a hip width and finally sumo or plie squat or press. This type of adjustment changes the exercise and original muscle recruitment. Instead, slightly move the position of your hands or feet slightly so as to work the same muscles without incorporating other muscle as stabilizers.
This technique works with most any exercise. I prefer to use them on basic compound exercises tho. I have spoken about basic compound exercises in a previous blog. As a quick reference... A basic compound exercise is an exercise that incorporates multiple joints and larger muscles to perform the lift and is generally a power movement as apposed to an isolation movement.
Exercises I have found this principle most effective with are;
Legs
Barbell Squat
Leg Press
Plie Squat
Dead Lifts
Chest
Barbell Bench Press (decline, flat, incline)
Push Ups
Back
Lat Pulldown
Barbell Row
Pull Ups
Barbell Shrugs
Shoulders
Barbell Military Press
Smith Machine Overhead Press
Upright Rows
Triceps
Narrow Bench Press
French Press or Skull Crushers
Straight or V Bar Pressdowns
Biceps
Barbell Curl
EZ Bar Preacher Curl
Machine Biceps Curl
Next time you hit a plateau or are frustrated with your progress, try this principle and see if you won't feel a difference in strength and reps. The bottom line here is, just a slight change in grip or stance will change the feel of the exercise and add a new dynamic which will create a change in muscular and nervous system recruitment.
*As always... consult with your physician and a CERTIFIED PERSONAL TRAINER before beginning this or any other fitness program. Feel free to contact me to receive a demonstration on this and/or any other principle I've discussed.