Hacking your nervous system, how?

With one trick, you could squat or work your chest on a bench with a weight you have never lifted before and hack your nervous system.

After years of battling the weights, personal records become harder to reach. There comes a point when you cannot simply go to the gym every day and set a new personal record; that is not how progress works, and even less so could you hack your nervous system.

If you are an advanced bodybuilder, you will need a better strategy and perhaps a “trick” or two to keep increasing your strength and, of course, the weight you lift, although there are mistakes and reasons that will determine whether or not you achieve what you are looking for.

If you are struggling to reach a new personal record in your squat or bench press, try using post-activation potentiation (PAP), which will not only break through your plateaus but also help you better envision the future ahead.

But what is PAP?

The PAP method is the increase in muscular strength and the rate of force development that occurs as a result of prior muscle activation, according to a study published in the Journal of Sports Physical Therapy in 2011, called “Postactivation Potentiation.”

When using this method to set a new personal record, you are essentially hacking your central nervous system to achieve a stronger contraction.

PAP works best with exercises that begin with an eccentric or lowering phase, such as the squat or bench press, which is why we use them as examples in this article.

How to hack your nervous system

The next time you are going to do a new squat, load approximately 110% of the weight you want to lift onto the bar and perform a heavy pause.

For example, if your goal is to squat 200 kg, you would put around 220 kg on the bar… it doesn't matter, don't ask yourself, “Can I lift that?”… now let's get to the point about this method.

• After this, start with that weight and stabilize the bar for about 10 seconds, but do not attempt to squat; just stay there.
• Now rerack the weight.
• Wait 2 to 5 minutes before attempting to squat 200 kg.

In the case of the bench press, if your goal is to lift 150 kg, add around 165 kg to the bar, but this time work with a partner to help you with the initial push.

• Hold the weight above you for approximately 10 seconds before reracking the bar.
• Wait 2 to 5 minutes and then work hard to lift those 150 kg.

Here's how it works: when you unrack a weight that is heavier than what you are about to lift, you are preparing or “tricking” your body into thinking it has to lift that weight.

Once you have rested sufficiently, your actual personal record will feel light by comparison to a conventional method in which you have to start from “zero.”

Between hacking your nervous system and seriously increasing your confidence, your chances of successfully completing your new personal-record attempt increase.