Do muscles only grow from increasingly heavier resistance? In short, no. Doing more reps is among many contributing factors. Two-time Figure Olympia champ Erin Stern swears by four intensifier techniques for strength gains without increasing the loads.
Stern programs these techniques to blast through plateaus. Additionally, they are doable with limited equipment. Check out these four methods below:
Erin Stern’s Top Techniques
- Pause reps
- Partial reps
- One and a half reps
- Slow negatives
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Pause Reps
Pausing during a repetition helps build strength isometrically while increasing time under tension (TUT) and reinforcing form control. Stern employs pause reps at the top of lateral raises, holding for one to two seconds.
Isometric pauses have been shown to lead to greater training volume (sets and reps) than traditional reps. Research shows muscle growth scales with increasing volumes. Moreover, longer TUT can increase muscle gains via protein synthesis pathways. (1)(2)(3)(4)
Pause reps give time to reset and really feel the muscles working.
—Erin Stern
Partial Reps
Stern performs lateral raises in a shortened range of motion to increase TUT, keeping the movement in the top half of the rep, dipping the arms a quarter to halfway below the shoulders and back up.
Some research suggests partials in the stretched position (with the arms adducted across the body during lateral raises) are more growth-promoting. Using machines or adjusting body angles with dumbbells achieves a better stretch.
Partials result in greater hypertrophy than using a full range of motion via intramuscular hypoxia or an imbalance of oxygen supply and demand in the muscles. (5) This can result in:
- Increased Metabolic Demand – Aids the formation of metabolic byproducts like lactate, which is linked to muscle growth.
- Greater Fast-Twitch Fiber Activation – Low muscle oxygen engages more fast-twitch muscle fibers, which have bigger growth potential than slow-twitch fibers.
- Enhanced Muscle Protein Synthesis – Activates anabolic pathways (e.g., mTOR) and muscle-building mechanisms.
- Blood Flow Restriction (BFR) – Intramuscular hypoxia replicates the effects of BFR by inducing a low-oxygen environment, which could elicit new gains.
Partial reps, slow negatives, and high-rep sets to failure encourage intramuscular hypoxia through constant muscle tension and limited oxygen.
Other literature showed similar muscle and strength progress from partials and full range of motion, suggesting partials are an effective alternative.
Keep more tension on the muscle, leading to better gains.
—Erin Stern
One and a Half Reps
Stern incorporates 1.5 reps, alternating partial and full reps in a single set, to enhance her mind-muscle connection and prolong the stimuli. The same potential benefits of intramuscular hypoxia apply.
One-and-a-half reps can also isolate strength gains to help break through sticking points — aim for 10 to 15 reps.
Slow Negatives
Stern slows the negative (lowering) phase and explodes through the concentric, aligning with research on optimizing rep tempo for hypertrophy. (6) According to the data, rep speeds of half a second to eight seconds seem to be the sweet spot.
Eccentrics are equally, if not more important, than contractions for building muscle, so always control the descent. While load or mechanical tension is important for making gains, metabolic fatigue also drives muscle growth.
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