Bored with your training? Maybe you’re not getting the results you want or expected. Negative resistance training could be your answer!
Most people in the weight training field have heard of Negative Resistance Training (NRT) or as it’s commonly called negative reps. NRT works for me and it can work for you too! I incorporate NRT for pre-contest training and I use it on and off during off-season training. Simply put, NRT stimulates muscle growth. Anyone can use NRT in their workout. I have found it really motivates my workout and I get an exciting rush to do more sets.
Negative resistance training is simply the lowering of weight. Instead of lifting it (positive exercise) you lower it slowly so that you are resisting it all the way down. So what is so great about this? Well, basically you can lower more weight than you can lift. You can achieve that athlete’s age-old dream of greater than 100% effort.
A unique feature of negative training is that it requires less energy than positive exercise. Studies have shown that the body uses less oxygen consumption during negative workout than positive workout. Here we have the ingredients of a superlative training method: a significant increase in training intensity and a significant decrease in overall body stress. The results are faster progress. Moreover, since negative exercise requires that you lower the weight slowly, resisting all the way, the muscles are stimulated through the whole range of motion. This factor alone may be responsible for considerable progress with those of us who habitually train in a sloppy manner.
Now if the whole idea of negative training is to lower more weight than you can lift, how do you raise the weight in the first place?
I strongly suggest having a training partner. Benefits of a training partner include:
1. safety reasons,
2. you can always go heavier with a spotter,
3. you get a full, strict range of motion where you work the muscle fully,
4. as your muscles start to get used to the workout you can take it further; and,
5. your partner can push down on the weight while you are lowering it – causing a greater negative force even before you reach the failure point in your positive reps.
When a partner isn’t available, I recommend using machines. To get NRT results, use two arms or legs in the lift and lower with only one. You must use extreme caution, as you are using only one limb to bring down the same weight you used two to bring up! Use this method slowly and start out light until you get the feel of the weight and the correct balance.
THE EXERCISES
Good examples of exercises for when you’re training alone are:
1. Pull ups
2. Parallel Dips where you raise your body weight with your legs.
a. Stand on a box or stepstool under the bar; grasp the bar, lift your feet off the footstool and lower yourself with your arms. I strongly endorse this method of assisting one set of limbs with another.
b. Another method consists of assisting one limb with the opposite limb so the weight being used is lifted with two arms or legs and lowered with one. Let us take the standing lateral raise, you reach the point of total failure, you then curl the weight to your shoulder level, extend your arms straight out to the sides and lower the weight in negative fashion.
When you start a negative exercise program I recommend that you work to a point of failure before you start negative reps this way you can measure your progress every workout by counting the positive reps. After 6 to 8 weeks, progress will slow down to a normal pace. At this point, go back to the basic routine for a few weeks to let your body stabilize with its new strength and weight. Then return to the negative program with this difference: do negatives with all positive reps. This will cause a substantial drop in reps. At this point tell yourself I am not getting weaker, I am just doing the exercise harder. The benefit of this method is a high level of intensity with less energy output. Remember: less energy output equals better recovery ability.
I have seen other bodybuilders go even further and cut out the positive workout entirely except every third or fourth workout to measure the progress. This is even harder to do because most of us want to know every workout if we are getting stronger or not. Even the most enthusiastic disciple of negative training will probably do only part of his workout in negative style because of this irresistible curiosity. Personally, I get better results using both positive and negative training.
In my workouts, all negative reps are sustained for a period of five or six seconds measured by counting to myself 1001, 1002, 1003, etc… Reps are continued until the weight is falling faster despite my most determined efforts. As always, I recommend fully stretching the muscle and warming up the area you are going to work for that day. Start out slow and increase reps, sets and weights accordingly.
