Curated By Ebenezer Samuel, C.S.C.S.
You’ve lifted weights before. But never like this. When the world’s best athletes head to the weight room, instead of simply pounding out reps and sets with heavy weights, they’ll often employ a next-gen training technique called “contrast training.”
What is contrast training? Essentially, you’ll do a few reps of a heavy-weight exercise. You’ll immediately follow that with a few reps of a lighter exercise that lets your body move explosively. The heavy first exercise “tricks” your body into moving more quickly when you do the second move, helping you tap more muscle fibers and supercharging your athleticism.
It’s an approach that’s often employed by top 100-meter dash runners and ultra-athletic soccer and basketball players. But no, it doesn’t require fancy equipment. You can take on these two contrast exercise pairings with just your SMRTFT Dumbbells. Insert them into your workouts once or twice a week:
LOWER-BODY CONTRAST WORK (3-4 sets)
MOVE 1: Romanian Deadlift
The classic RDL blasts your hamstrings and glutes, and it also teaches your body how to hinge, pushing your butt backwards, then exploding forward. That motion generates the lower-body power that allows you to run fast and jump high. Do 4 to 6 reps with a heavy weight.
MOVE 2: Broad Jump
Start standing, then throw your arms back and leap forward as far as you can. Sparked by the deadlift reps that came before, your broad jump will be extra-powerful. Land with both feet square, knees bent. Do 3 reps, focusing on leaping as far as possible each time.
UPPER-BODY CONTRAST WORK (3-4 sets)
MOVE 1: Dumbbell Press
This classic pressing move sets athletes up to do everything from pushing into handstands to pushing away defenders on a soccer pitch, basketball court, or football field. Do 6-8 reps, focusing on being explosive as you drive your arms straight.
MOVE 2: Plyo Pushup
In order to generate maximum speed, you’ll want to do the easiest pushup variation possible, and that’ll be the hands-elevated plyo pushup. Set up with your hands on a bench, then lower into pushup position. Push off the bench as hard as possible, aiming to get our hands to fly off the bench. Land and do the next rep. Do 4 to 6 reps.
Ebenezer Samuel, C.S.C.S.
Ebenezer Samuel, C.S.C.S., is a certified trainer with more than 10 years of training experience. He’s logged training time with NFL athletes and track athletes.
His current training regimen includes weight training, HIIT conditioning, and yoga.
Ebenezer has had multiple prestigious positions including serving as a sports and tech columnist for the New York Daily News.