Sticking points are annoying. There’s nothing worse than when lifts get stopped in their tracks, or stopped before they even really start. It’s especially annoying when you miss lifts at the same point day-after-day. Luckily, a few programming changes can help you overcome your sticking points and push toward new PR’s!
Before you check out the 4 training tips to overcome sticking points below, check out my article on the science of sticking points. Knowing why sticking points happen can give you context as to why these tips work.
1. Target Muscle Strengthening
As mentioned, your sticking point occurs when you are no longer able to push the barbell, dumbbell or your own bodyweight past a certain point. This could happen at any point in a lift’s range of motion. Understanding what muscle groups are most ‘active’ at that point can give insights into what muscles to target specifically.
For instance, if your sticking point in the bench press is just off your chest, you are probably missing some strength through your pecs and anterior deltoids. If you miss bench press reps close to lock out, your triceps might be holding you back.
If you’re looking to improve your strength – check out my scientifically-backed article on the optimal frequency, intensity and volume to efficiently target strength gains.
The simple way to get past this is to add in some isolation work for the muscle groups that are most likely holding you back. Simply add 3-5 sets, twice a week of extra accessory work on those areas for four weeks or so and you should see improvements. I would suggest one day in a higher rep range (12-20), and one day in a lower rep range 5-10. This way you hit some additional strength and hypertrophy.
Exercise order is also a key. Recent research has shown that you have the biggest strength gains in exercises you perform early in your training session. So make sure the lifts you experience sticking points in are early in your training sessions to maximize strength gains.
2. ROM-Specific Training
Piggybacking off of targeting specific muscles, you should also add in some extra work around the range of motion where you usually get stuck. This can be done with partial reps or through isometrics. It makes sense that if you get stronger and more confident in the range of motion where you usually get stuck, you’ll be better able to power through it in the future.
ROM-specific training also lends itself to the specificity of adaptation that we see in the body. I wrote a full article outlining what is called the SAID Principle that you can check out here. Basically, the body gets better at the things that stress it. So, if you put in work at a certain range of motion, the body gets better in that range of motion. That’s why isometrics and partial reps can be a huge factor in overcoming sticking points.
Partial Reps to Overcome Deadlift Lockout Sticking Point
For instance, there are a couple of ways to attack a sticking point near lock out of the deadlift. Assuming that you are in good body positions, this sticking point probably means you struggle at squeezing your hips through.
You may consider adding some heavy rack pulls from mid-thigh to your training. With these, you can make sure you are set up in an optimal position and just focus on driving the hips forward and staying solid.
Isometrics to Overcome Squat Sticking Point
If you are missing squats at the midpoint of the upward phase, you may want to add in isometrics at/around that point. To do this you would determine what height the bar would be at when you’re at your sticking point. Then in your squat rack place the safety bars at that height. If you have a second set of safety bars, you would rest the bar on the initial safeties, then put your second set of safeties one level higher.
Then you would get in position under the bar and maximally drive the bar into the top safeties. You should maximally contract for about 3-8 seconds for a total of 3-5 reps and use a 1:10 work:rest ratio.
If you only have one set of safeties, you can still perform isometrics! Just load up the bar to a load that you can’t lift and push as hard as you can.
An extra tip for isometrics: One big thing with isometrics is maintaining a good body position! The key is to use these exercises to transfer over to get past your sticking point. So be sure to keep your body position/technique the same as it usually would be. This means the same foot and hand set up, and most importantly maintain solid back and trunk positioning.
3. Increasing Bar Speed
As I highlighted in the science of sticking points article I wrote a bit ago, the sticking point is the part of the range of motion in a resistance exercise where you experience a disproportionately large increase in the difficulty to continue the lift. And this usually presents itself as a dramatic slowing (or stopping) of the bar/dumbbell/bodyweight.
Therefore, it makes sense that if the bar is moving faster as it approaches the sticking point, it has a better chance of getting past it. So, a great way to overcome sticking points is to work on increasing the velocity of your movements.
My favourite method to do this is by implementing a dynamic effort day into my weekly training. For instance, if I am struggling with a sticking point in my squat, I will put a dynamic effort squat workout early in the week. Then later in the week will do a more traditional heavy (max effort) day.
This is a method that comes from Westside Barbell and Louie Simmons.
Louie suggests: “On speed day, use sub-maximal weights with maximal speed. This method is used to increase the rate of force development and explosive strength, not to build absolute strength.
- Squatting: 10-12 sets of 2 reps
- Benching: 8-9 sets of 3 reps
- Deadlifting: 6-10 sets of 1 rep after squatting.”
This quote comes from Louie’s article on Training Methods, which is a quick but must-read.
Basically, on these days you want to think about moving the bar AS FAST AS POSSIBLE.
You can also play with momentum and bar speed by changing the tempo of your lifts. Typically, I like to keep my eccentric (lowering) phase very controlled and then explode out of the bottom position of the lift. However, in the squat or bench press having a very fast eccentric phase and quick turnaround to the concentric phase can draw on the stretch-shortening cycle. This can lead to an increased speed of movement and power, which can help you get through the sticking point.
Extra Tip: In every lift, you should be trying to move the bar as fast as possible in the concentric motion of the lift. (except if you are specifically lifting slowly for a training adaptation). The intent to do so will increase muscle activation and fiber recruitment – leading to better performance and maximal gains. INTENT IS EVERYTHING.
4. Accommodating Resistance
This is another Louie Simmons special. Accommodating resistance is used to decrease the load experienced during hard parts (sticking points) of a lift. But it also keeps the load heavy at easier points of the lift.
The best way to talk about this is through an example. So, let’s use my deadlift as an example. If I can get the bar to mid-shin height during a deadlift, I’m pretty confident that I can complete the lift.
However, getting to the mid-shin is very hard for me. I don’t have a lot of strength off the floor. This is where accommodating resistance could be beneficial for me. In this example, I would use either bands or chains to change the resistance throughout the movement.
Using Chains When Lifting
You can add chains to the ends of barbells. If you think of the setup of a deadlift, the bar starts on the ground. The chains rest on the floor when the barbell is on the floor.
As the bar is lifted, the chains uncoil and their weight is added to the weight of the bar. Therefore, the bar+chain complex weighs more at the top of the lift than at the start of the lift.
This allows for you to continue to get a hard stimulus at the easier part of the lift (for me, the top of the deadlift), while still getting a good, but manageable stimulus at the hard part of the lift (just off the ground).
As long as you have chains long enough to rest on the floor at the bottom part of the lift, the same principles can be applied to squatting and bench pressing.
Using Bands When Lifting
Bands can act similar to chains by changing the resistance at the top and bottom of the lift.
For instance, in the squat, you may have a tough time getting out of the bottom position. If so, consider attaching bands to the top of your squat rack and looping them to the barbell. The bands will stretch as you go from the standing position of a squat to the bottom position. This elastic tension and energy will then help you power out of the bottom position. As you move towards the standing position, the help from the bands will disappear and you will have to lift the entire load yourself.
This is a great way to get past your sticking point without having to ‘lift less’. And using bands this way can help you feel what it is like to have the bar move fast.
The Take-Away
Based on where your sticking point lies and what is causing it, the above tips should give you some guidance on how to change up your training to overcome your sticking points. You may always have a range of motion in a lift that slows your progression down, but smart training can help overcome it. At the end of the day, we’re all just trying to be better than we were yesterday so continuing to attack our weaknesses is the name of the game.
I hope these tips can help you continue to push yourself and attain your goals. If you have any other tips to share, please don’t hesitate to leave them in a comment below!