Control the Negative!

The Negative

If you are in our gym at any point in time, you will often here me yelling, “control the negative” again…and again…and again thoughout  a typical training session. Typically this session involves 8-10 young males that are 14-17 years of age. Why do I yell this? Because the lowering or “negative” (eccentric to you Mr. Fancypants) portion of the lift is the most crucial component, if you are interested in actually getting bigger and stronger. If you are concerned with just “completing a lift” then dive bomb, bounce, twist, and squirm away in order to achieve “greatness.”

 Legendary strength pioneer Arthur Jones, the godfather of HIT and founder of Nautilus, had a saying, “it’s not how much weight you can lift, but how much weight you can lower.” Think about that for a second. Let it marinate.  How many times do you see someone in the gym “complete a lift” by concentrically lifting the weight, with little or no concern for the negative? Often times, sadly, this load was far too heavy for this individual. I am sure you see this phenomenon all the time! Now how many times have you seen someone lift a weight, under control, that is “too heavy”? Sure, this person may hit muscular failure, but at least he is in control of the weight!

Often times, the load used by most gym goers is far too heavy, and is being lifted in an unsafe manner that is certain to cause undue strain on the connective tissue surrounding the various joints on his body. You may be able to get away with that when you are 19, but if you plan on lifting for life, try doing that in your 30’s and 40’s…not fun! Better yet, spare yourself the joint pain when you are older, and lift with proper form NOW. Here are some tips, along with some reasons why you should emphasize the negative in training.

1.)    Initial movement. I see this a lot with younger clients, but many people have no idea how to lower a weight.  They will often spastically “drop” the weight, realize what they are doing, and then slow it down. You can hear the weight plates moving when this is occurring on a barbell exercise. You should be resisting the load as you lower it. Hence the term resistance training. Squeeze it down, and then unleash the gates of hell as you begin to press it back up.

2.)    Rep speed. We have all read about the magical “4 second negative” in training. I have never seen anyone use a full 4 second negative, not even HIT guys. Try counting to 3 in your head as you lower the resistance smoothly. This usually amounts to about a full 2 second descent. Don’t look like an elevator stopping at 3 different floors as you count to 3. Also, do not count to 3 at the top, and then plummet to the bottom. Be smart, and lower the resistance evenly throughout a full range of motion. Check out the video below of pro bodybuilder Shawn Bellon squatting 675x3 with only a belt and knee wraps. Do you think he is going to plummet to the ground faster than a meteor falling from the sky with 700 lbs on his back? Hell no! If it is good enough for a pro bodybuilder, it is good enough for you!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cy1H2ReyCOI

3.)    Training Efficiency. When you perform proper repetitions that emphasize the negative, you have to perform far less work to induce size and strength gains, because the QUALITY of the set is much higher. Clients are often amazed at how sore they get from 1-2 sets of properly performed strength training with accentuated negatives. Go ahead and perform 4-5 sets of 10 with essentially concentric only reps, but I would hardly say that this is the most efficient, safe, and effective way to train.

4.)    Joint Health. It is a known fact that the eccentric portion of the lift improves tendon strength. We know that when we train using a proper negative, we can’t use as much weight. We also know that training in this fashion will eliminate ballistic, “bouncing” movements at the bottom of the lift, preventing unnecessary joint strain. Stronger tendons and joints that feel better? Count me in!

5.)    Increased Type II muscle fiber recruitment. Contrary to popular belief, by slowing down the negative you will actually recruit and develop MORE fast twitch muscle fiber than you would without emphasizing the negative. Without going to in depth into the physiology of this, you are capable of producing more force eccentrically than you are concentrically (the “lifting” portion). If you only focus on speed of movement through the concentric portion, you are certainly using your Type IIs, but you are not developing them optimally. By focusing on the negative, and in some cases, performing negative only repetitions, you will maximize the development of your type II muscle fibers, which will in turn allow you to produce more force concentrically.

To learn more about this phenomenon, read up on the Henneman Size Principle.

Lastly, it just looks cooler when you control a heavy weight and dominate it. Slow down your negatives, get stronger, and start growing!

Run and Tell That!

Today we have a guest blog from Jeff Moyer, a Strength Coach in Skaneateles, NY. Jeff is an extremely passionate coach, gifted athlete, and a genuine student to anything related to the field of improving athletic performance. In this blog, Jeff addresses the topic of knee drive during running mechanics, and also introduces many of us to Dr. Michael Yessis, a man who has been in this field for many, many years, and who has a greater comprehension of the topic of human movement than anyone I have ever heard of. Enjoy!

Run and tell that!

                Google running mechanics and you will find a plethora of video’s and web pages teaching and showing “how to properly run” and various exercises that are supposed to improve technique.  If taken at face value, they appear as great exercises that will certainly help you.  But when critically and scientifically analyzed, all of those exercises are just a big fart in the wind.

I will be the first to tell anyone that I am NOT an expert by any means.  I am just a coach who reads, studies, listens to and corresponds with people who are considered experts  throughout the world, that have forgotten more information on physical preparation than I know. 

When it comes to teaching proper running biomechanics, NO ONE in this country is more educated on this than Dr. Michael Yessis.  Dr. Yessis has a PhD in Kinesiology and was also a University Professor in Biomechanics and Kinesiology.  Doc was the first to report on what the Soviets were doing for training back in the 60’s.  Dr. Yessis has written and translated many books that you can find on his website www.doctoryessis.com , and I have been fortunate to have a close working correspondence with him.  So when it comes to learning about how to properly run, there is no one better in the field.

“Running form” and “form running drills” are mostly modeled. (To imitate someone, NOT trying to be really, really good looking in order to sell something)

Coaches model running techniques based off of something they saw a successful coach or an athlete do. 

For example: leaning against the wall with your arms extended, and then picking your knee up and holding it.  This is technical drill is supposed to emulate what occurs during the acceleration phase during sprinting trying to replicate body position and knee-drive.  Someone had to have watched someone running and saw how high their thigh got during sprinting and created this drill based on what they saw. 

                In actuality what this drill is doing is teaching the athlete to pick their knees up instead of driving the knees forward.   If one was to pick their knees up during running, it would shorten up their stride length and create a vertical force rather than a horizontal force.  This technique also implies to the athlete that the hip flexors are used to bring the knee forward from the under the hips.  When scientifically according to Dr. Yessis, it is momentum that brings the thigh forward once the thigh passes from under the hips.   The forward lean against the wall is often embellished since you don’t run with such a lean.  The forward body lean changes based on the athlete’s strength capabilities and they are sprinting increases. 

                If the athlete has a powerful knee-drive and sufficient flexibility, then what is seen by coaches when viewing an athlete sprinting is an angle between the thighs of about 150-165 degrees, with the knee-drive bringing the thigh close to parallel. 

                For anyone looking to learn more on how to improve their running mechanics, I would highly recommend that they check out Dr. Yessis website as well as his book Explosive Running.  The greatest Olympic coach/athlete of all-time Dr. Anatoly Bondarchuk said this about Explosive Running:

“The book by Dr. Michael Yessis appears as an exceptional display in the theory and methods of physical (sports) education in general and more specifically in the sport of track and field. I recommend giving careful consideration to the study of the theoretical and practical aspects of this book. This will allow specialists to rise up to yet a higher level of theoretical and practical knowledge.”

Rep Range Confusion!

Lately, it seems as though common sense has evaded a larger percentage of strength and conditioning professionals out there.  Is it just me, or are there too many guys out there telling athletes to use 91.46% of their 1RM training load for 6X2 on “heavy days,” but to use 75.76% of that load on for 5X5 on“light days”, and oh yeah, don’t perform two CNS intensive days back to back, so I guess you should skip your skill development workout today, because we are going heavy tomorrow! Huh? Why does training need to be so complicated? One thing I know, if your athletes have to do math, your program sucks. Get stronger, recover, get better at the skills of your sport, sprint, do it again. Yes, it is that simple. Among many other issues, I have always found it to be very puzzling that rep ranges are assigned to training goals; I am sure you have heard them all. Training in the 1-5 rep range is for “strength”, the 6-12 rep range is for “size”, and anything over 12 reps is for “endurance.” Seems nice and neat on a piece of paper, but are these parameters practical? While I do think that training in every rep range has its place in an annual training cycle, for our intents and purposes I am going to discuss how one can “transcend” rep ranges to achieve desired training results, and maximize the safety and well being of the athlete in the process.

"Let's see, what will my working set be tomorrow?"

Mobility: Your Friend in Athletic Success

Scene: Joe Blogs Gym, Anytown USA

The Players:  Tony Triceps, resident meathead extraordinaire and Mikey Mobility supporter of all things ROM (range of motion) related.

Mikey:  Hey Tone looks like you are getting nice and swole for the upcoming football season

Tony: Cha bra, these guns are gonna do some damage on the field!

Mikey:  Impressive indeed, but let me get your ear for a second. What if I told you that you can get faster, more agile and prevent injury in a mere 10-15 min a day. Would you be interested?

Tony: (puts down his EZ curl bar) Yea brudda what do I gotta do? More curls?

Mikey:  Mobility work and stretching

Tony: What’s a mobility?

FIN

Obviously exaggerated for dramatic effect but sadly this is a scenario I see all too often.  A lot of athletes  just forget or completely ignore mobility.  Many athletes go to great lengths to increase their strength.  Toiling for hours with iron like a modern day blacksmith.  Gains are great, benches go up, plates get slapped on the bar and limbs thicken like weeds.  These guys look the part and cast a long and wide shadow of intimidation over the opposition.  But when Tony Triceps in his form fitting Under Armour onesy tries to chase down a ball carrier he gets as much knee drive as a kick line of 90 year olds.  Of course those tight hips get shook from a cutback and if his ego isn’t torn chances are a part of his posterior chain is from being introduced to an unfamiliar ROM.

Sigh, oh what could poor muscle-bound Tony T have done differently that would have prevented this unenviable position. Did someone say mobility work? Tell him what he’s won Ed.

Let’s consider the basic summer training period for most football players.  Ballpark a time extending from May 15^th to August 15^th disregarding differences in age, level etc.  Put the basic training block at 6hrs/week (1.5 hr session 4 times a week) for a grand total of 72 hours the entire summer.  If we set aside 10 min a day for mobility we are looking at 40 a week which translates into 8 hours total for the entire summer.  This comes to a mere 11% of your total training, to aid in injury prevention, balance, speed and agility.  But here’s the great part about mobility enhancement…..you don’t even need to be in the gym.  Crazy idea right?  Becoming a better athlete from the comfort of your own home, watching TV, listening to young jeezy weezy, even eating a sandwich (at your own risk).  If you have free time (and everyone has some don’t give me the no free time excuse, when in doubt do it before bed) take advantage and get yourself better. 

An important feature to remember:  like strength training mobility is something you have to constantly work at.  And we’re not doing maintenance work here people, step outside your comfort zone, improve and increase your worth as an athlete.

Here is a sample mobility circuit you, like Shakira can do where ever, when ever. We’re going to go with the number 4 a lot to avoid thinking too much.

On Your Hands:

-4 Spidermen each

-4 Grasshoppers each

On Your Feet:

4 Body Weight Squats/ 4 Quad Stretches each

4 Toe Touches each/ 4 Figure Fours each

On Your Back:

 -4 Dynamic Kicks with :15 hold each

-4 Single Leg Thrusts each

-4 Iron Crosses each

-4 Back Rolls to V-sit reaches

-4 Dynamic Shoulder Touches each

On Your Stomach:

-4 Scorpions each

-4 Knee to Armpits each

On Your Knees:

- 4 Cat Camels

- 4 Fire Hydrants each

-4 Frog Hip Stretches

- 4 Dynamic Shoulder flings each

-4 Shoulder Stretches each

Static  Stretches: 

-Foot on Box Hip Flexor Stretch (Facing Box) 2x:30each

-Foot on Box Hip Flexor Stretch (Back Foot on Box ala Bulgarian Split Squats) 2 X:30 each

-Calf Stretch :15 each

-Chest Wall stretch :15 sec each

I just did this, it took a whopping 8 min and 37.67 seconds.  Invariably I forgot something but you pretty much have hit every major joint and muscle in under ten min.  Throw some foam rolling in there prior to the stretching and mobility and you are looking at 15 min tops.  And the best part? You don’t need any fancy (or standard) piece of equipment.  No bar, sandbag, wobble board or intense music necessary, this can be done anywhere.

Sink your hips and change direction on the run, move fluidly on the field and stay injury free in 15 extra min a day-for my money it’s a bargain.  Killing yourself in the weight room is only part of the athletic process, tie it all together and become a complete player with mobility work. 

Brian Matthews

The Angry Lifter