Speed Up and Slow Down
January 31st 2007 11:29
The simplest element of weight training is the repetition (or the doing of what it is you are doing!). If you are to get the most benefit from your time in the gym you cannot ignore this most basic element. In fact by concentrating on the repetitions in every exercise set you can assure yourself of more productive workouts.
In the simplest terms a repetition has a working phase and a return to the beginning phase. Exercise experts have terms for each: the working portion is called the eccentric phase of the movement and the return is called the concentric phase.When you engage in the eccentric phase of an exercise you are working against gravity- moving the weight up. In the concentric phase gravity is your ally,helping you to reach the starting point with less exertion than was required in leaving it.
It is no surprise then that the average trainer works hard on the eccentric phase of his/her movements and then relaxed on the concentric. He grabs a curling bar and hauls it up to his shoulders with a grunt: it slips back to his thighs and he steels himself to haul it up again. When he cannot haul it up anymore the set is over and he moves on.
This is pretty much in keeping with how the body performs its normal tasks. It works when it has to but lets gravity assist it whenever possible
You are,however,engaged in something that is not altogether natural-high intensity lifting for relatively short bursts. The whole purpose of your workout is to put the muscles through something that will transcend the everyday activity in which they are employed. This manipulating of the norm can be done in a very great number of ways. These include how you approach the eccentric and concentric aspect of each repetition. You are right to assume that Ms Average Trainer is not doing this.
You can make real progress in muscle growth by practicing the following axiom: speed up and slow down. You can guess what this means. When you are performing the eccentric(hard) phase of a movement you should be focusing on speed -to move the weight from nadir to apex as fast as you can without sacrificing strict form(i.e. no rock and roll). When you have reached the top of any movement, your focus should shift to resisting gravity as it pulls your weight back to its original resting position.
That's right. You will be working on both ends of the movement, instead of relaxing on the down phase. As the muscle labors in the concentric phase there is tissue stimulation that does not take place in the eccentric phase. That means more stimulation on a rep by rep basis. That is training with weights!
You can easily begin to incorporate this technique into your workouts. Just do you regular eccentric movement and then slow the concentric movement down and fight Mr. Gravity all the way back to the start. Thus you will be trying to make the second half of the movement as slow as the first is fast. Yes,some movements are more suited to this than others, but give them all a try. Again its "speed up and slow down." Your servant as always.
Like this guy on the way up!
It is no surprise then that the average trainer works hard on the eccentric phase of his/her movements and then relaxed on the concentric. He grabs a curling bar and hauls it up to his shoulders with a grunt: it slips back to his thighs and he steels himself to haul it up again. When he cannot haul it up anymore the set is over and he moves on.
This is pretty much in keeping with how the body performs its normal tasks. It works when it has to but lets gravity assist it whenever possible
You are,however,engaged in something that is not altogether natural-high intensity lifting for relatively short bursts. The whole purpose of your workout is to put the muscles through something that will transcend the everyday activity in which they are employed. This manipulating of the norm can be done in a very great number of ways. These include how you approach the eccentric and concentric aspect of each repetition. You are right to assume that Ms Average Trainer is not doing this.
You can make real progress in muscle growth by practicing the following axiom: speed up and slow down. You can guess what this means. When you are performing the eccentric(hard) phase of a movement you should be focusing on speed -to move the weight from nadir to apex as fast as you can without sacrificing strict form(i.e. no rock and roll). When you have reached the top of any movement, your focus should shift to resisting gravity as it pulls your weight back to its original resting position.
Like this guy on the way down!
That's right. You will be working on both ends of the movement, instead of relaxing on the down phase. As the muscle labors in the concentric phase there is tissue stimulation that does not take place in the eccentric phase. That means more stimulation on a rep by rep basis. That is training with weights!
You can easily begin to incorporate this technique into your workouts. Just do you regular eccentric movement and then slow the concentric movement down and fight Mr. Gravity all the way back to the start. Thus you will be trying to make the second half of the movement as slow as the first is fast. Yes,some movements are more suited to this than others, but give them all a try. Again its "speed up and slow down." Your servant as always.
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