Want
to gain strength rapidly? Negative training
is by far one of the best ways to dramatically
increase your strength levels as quickly as
possible. And the standard ways to do negative
training can certainly be effective...but who
wants standard results!
What Is Negative Training?
The
term "negative" refers to the lowering
portion of a repetition. For example, when you
do a bench press, pushing up the bar is the
"positive" phase (also known as the
concentric phase), lowering the bar down to
your chest is the "negative" phase
(also known as the eccentric phase).
When
we talk about negative training, we're referring
to training that focuses specifically on working
only in that lowering phase of each rep. Because
your muscles can handle heavier weight when
you're lowering a weight in a controlled manner
than when you're actually lifting it up, we
use a heavier amount of weight for negative
training.
The
heavier weight helps build muscular strength
and develops the connective tissue (tendons
and ligaments), conditioning your body to then
train with heavier weights than it would normally
be used to training with. Negative training
holds the potential for building TREMENDOUS
strength.
Typically,
negative training is done with a training partner.
The partner helps lift the weight to the top
position, then the partner releases the weight
and you lower it to the bottom solely on your
own power.
The
real key to effective negative training is in
HOW you lower the weight. Don't just lower the
weight as you would in a typical rep, letting
it come down on its own. You must ACTIVELY FIGHT
GRAVITY by pushing (or pulling, depending on
the exercise) as hard as you can against the
weight. It's heavier than you can actively lift,
so all you will be able to do is slow it down.
If
you don't fight the weight, your results will
not be optimal. If you've done negative training
before and didn't feel extremely sore the next
day, you probably weren't fighting the weight
during the negative phase. Try it and you'll
feel the difference!
It's
not an easy training technique and it shouldn't
be done very often (because it causes a lot
of muscle damage) but it is EXTREMELY effective
for building strength quickly. It should also
be done only AFTER you've had at least 6 months
of training experience.
So What Are These Secrets Of Negative Training?
Now
we come to the juicy stuff...the stuff that
you won't learn anywhere else. This information
will help you make full use of negative training
and truly maximize the results you get from
it.
Because
if you're doing negative training the standard
way, you are simply NOT getting everything out
of it that you could be.
1. Dropping Points
If
you've been lifting weights for any length of
time, you're intimately familiar with sticking
points. The sticking point is the point in a
range of motion of a given exercise where, as
you fatigue, the weight just stops.
For
example, on the bench press, the sticking point
is just below the halfway point of the press.
At this exact point, the structure of your body
causes a change in leverage, making it the weakest
point in the range of motion (every exercise
has a unique strength curve with a unique sticking
point).
So
naturally, when you're doing negative training,
this weakest point in the range of motion still
exists. Picture it this way...you have a weight
that is greater than what you can normally press
- in the top, strong range of motion, you can
lower it under control very easily. But when
you get to what I call the "dropping point"
(which is the equivalent to the sticking point),
your leverage changes and your strength suddenly
drops (as does the weight, hench the name "dropping
point").
Here's
the problem...with standard negative training,
you can only use enough weight that you can
control through the WHOLE range of motion (if
you use more, the weight will just crash down
when you hit that dropping point). But if you
can control 250 lbs at the dropping point, you
can control FAR more than that up until the
bar gets to that point, possibly 300 lbs or
more.
This
means you're NOT fully overloading your muscles
and NOT getting the most results possible with
your negative training. You're only overloading
the weakest point in the entire range of motion
of the exercise and the rest is just wasted.
The reason you're doing negative training is
to build strength - why use only what you can
control in the very weakest point in the range
of motion?
Which
brings us to the solution...
2. Partial Negative Training
Standard
partial training is basically doing an exercise
in a shortened range of motion. Using the bench
press example, it could be doing only the top
few inches of the exercise, locking out with
the weight. The primary benefit of partial training
is the ability to use MUCH more weight than
would with a full range of motion.
The
concept of partial training can very easily
be carried over to negative training and applied
with great effect. To do partial negative training
for the bench press, we're going to set the
safety rails in the power rack just ABOVE the
dropping point of the exercise. That way, you
can use FAR more weight - you won't have to
base the weight that you're using on what you
can control through the weakest range of motion.
You'll base it on what you can do in the top,
strongest range of motion.
The
result: much greater strength gains and MUCH
greater effects on the connective tissue, helping
pave the way for even better gains in the future
(stronger connective tissue gives the muscles
greater potential for strength gains).
This
partial technique can applied to almost any
exercise that has a dropping point/sticking
point and that can be done with free weight
in a power rack, e.g. squats, presses, curls,
barbell rows, etc., or even using machines that
can be adjusted in terms of range of motion.
With the rack, all you need to do is determine
where your dropping point is and set the rails
just above it.
But
partial negatives are only ONE way to get around
the dropping point problem. What is the other?
That's our next juicy secret...
3. 2 Up/1 Down Negatives
But
what do you do if you don't have a partner or
a power rack? How can you even do negative training
at all, much less avoid the pitfalls of the
dropping point?
The
answer is simple: do the positive phase of the
exercise with BOTH limbs and do the negative
phase with ONE!
This
solution is elegant in its simplicity - a weight
that is enough to challenge one side of the
body will be fairly easy to lift into position
with both.
Dumbells
and machines are most appropriate for this type
of training. Machines are especially useful
because a machine that is designed for two arms
can generally be very easily done with just
one with no changes at all in body position
or technique.
Take,
for example, a shoulder press machine. To do
a 2 up/1 down negative, place a little more
weight on the machine than you could do for
a regular rep with 1 arm. Press it up to the
top position with both arms then take your left
hand off the handle. Lower it to the bottom
with just your right arm.
If
you're using a dumbell (for example, on a preacher
curl bench), hold onto only one dumbell and
use your other hand to help move the dumbell
back up to the top position after each negative
rep.
This
2 up/1 down approach has three main benefits:
First,
the uneven tension on the body forces the stabilizing
muscles of the core to work overtime. You'll
develop great core stability even while using
machines, but especially when you're using a
dumbell.
Second,
if one side of your body is stronger than the
other, the stronger side won't be able to compensate
for the weaker side, ensuring more even development.
Third,
and this relates most to the dropping point,
your non-working limb can be used to spot yourself
on the negative phase of the rep. If you're
doing a dumbell preacher curl negative, you
can use your other hand to apply some additional
pull (gripping on your forearm or hand) and
help take up some of the resistance when you
get close to the dropping point. This means
you'll be able to use maximum resistance in
the strongest ranges of motion and get some
help in the weakest range of motion so that
the weight doesn't drop and you lose the tension.
For
more information on how to do negative training
by yourself, check out the following article:
Secret
Training Tip #342 - Dancing With Yourself -
How to Do Negative Training Without A Training
Partner
http://www.fitstep.com/Misc/Newsletter-archives/issue15.htm
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Conclusion:
Negative
training is one of the best techniques you can
do for increasing strength quickly and powering
up your connective tissue. When doing negative
training, because of the way it damages muscle
tissue, it's a good idea to increase your intake
of Vitamin C to help reduce muscle soreness
and rebuild damaged muscles (take 500 mg before
and 500 mg after your workout).
Negatives
are not for the beginning trainer, but can be
extremely valuable for the intermediate to advanced.
They should be performed a maximum of only once
in a week for any given muscle group and for
no more than 3 to 4 sets of 4 to 6 reps (if
you can do more than 6 reps, you're not using
enough weight).
Give
negative training a try using the partial technique
or the 2 up/1 down technique. It'll take your
strength to a whole new level!
