With strength training the standard exercises do work. But don’t fall into the trap of feeling like you have to keep doing the same thing over and over. If your progress has stalled, trying something new, like oscillatory training, can be a great way to break through your training plateaus or improve you current training split.

What is Mechanical Advantage and Mechanical Disadvantage?

Mechanical advantage and disadvantage are technical terms for easy and hard. Different exercises are easier or harder on different muscles and different portions of a lift are easier and harder on different muscles. To increase muscle hypertrophy, we want to train at high intensities in the harder portions of the lift. One way we can increase this intensity is by increasing the time under tension, which can be done with repeated oscillations in and out of the most difficult part of the lift.

For instance, in the bench press, we might look to increase time under tension in the bottom position, where we are under a lot of mechanical disadvantage, by moving in and out of the bottom quarter of the movement.

Who Should Use Oscillatory Training?

Like any training method, Oscillatory Training is not exclusive to one demographic, however, it may yield more benefit to those for whom the following goals are key -

• Hypertrophy gains.

• Improved mobility – for lifts like squats, the oscillations can be a great way to improve mobility because squats are harder the deeper your go and focusing on the lower part of the squat will improve your mobility.

• Improved technique – for beginners, the oscillations can be a great way to improve technique by getting lots of mini reps in.

Oscillatory Strength Training Example Exercises

Overhead barbell press

Equipment - Power rack, Barbell, and weight plates.

Key Muscles Worked - Deltoids and triceps.

Dumbbell Row

Equipment - Weight bench, dumbbells, and optional wrist straps.

Key Muscles Worked - Lats, traps, and biceps.

Barbell Back Squat

Equipment - Squat rack, barbell, and Weight Plates.

Key Muscles Worked - Glutes, quads, and erectors.

Dumbbell Bench Press

Equipment - Weight bench and dumbbells.

Key Muscles Worked - Pecs, front delts, and triceps.

Stiff Leg Deadlift

Equipment - Barbell, weight plates, and optional Wrist Straps.

Key Muscles Worked - Hamstrings and erectors.

If you are looking to bulk up with a hypertrophy block, make sure to try adding some oscillation training into your split to make your sessions extra spicy. Remember, the goal is to overload the hardest parts of the lift, so start with lighter weights.

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Tags: Exercise Type > Strength