A 30-year-old member at your fitness center has been weight training for 4 months and claims to have made significant gains in strength. Twice a week, he performs 1 set of 12-15 repetitions using 8 weight machines. Over the last 6 weeks, he's noticed that he isn’t achieving the strength gains that he’s used to. How would you modify his training routine to optimize gains in muscular strength?


First of all, he’s been performing the same routine over the last 4 months, which means his body may have adapted to the specific sets, repetition ranges, and types of exercises he performs, leading to less strength gains. I would recommend him to switch up his routine! He can consider doing more sets per exercise e.g. 3 sets with lower repetitions e.g. 8 repetitions. He can also consider switching weight machines to free weights, which can help target more muscles and larger muscle groups. He can also increase the number of days he trains a week, from two to three. He can also do well to remember to properly warm up, cool down, stretch, and order his exercises properly (from larger muscle groups to smaller).