Explosive fitness= good for fighters?

[GhostFighter]

I recon that during the postive motion of the weight you should do it fast but what about the negative part? Wouldnt a slow motion make u used to slow recoil after eg. punching and jabbing?

Take Bench Press: at the top u slow down and slowly bring it back to the start postion to maximize the mucsle tension but for someone who want to be a fast fighter i dont this would be such a great excercise then.

What do u think?

[bushido_man96]

By lowering the weight back down slowly, it recruits more muscle fibers, thus working the muscles more. The more fibers you recruit, the more explosion that you can develop. Doing the motion slow is not going to make you slow.

However, supplementing this kind of weight training with other explosive exercise training can help you get the results that you are looking for.

[Jay]

Interesting bushido man do you have something to back that up for me as you are doing the same movement im confused that you would use more fibers.

Thanks

[bushido_man96]

Interesting bushido man do you have something to back that up for me as you are doing the same movement im confused that you would use more fibers.

Thanks

If you lower the weight fast or let it drop, then you aren't working any of the muslce fibers in the negative part of the lift, and your muscles don't get worked in the full range of motion. It would be like doing push-ups, but just doing the up part, and then dropping back to the floor.

I have talked with a few weight trainer and active lifters, and they have told me this as well. As for exact information, you would have to look it up on the web to find it.

[AikiGuy]

Interesting bushido man do you have something to back that up for me as you are doing the same movement im confused that you would use more fibers.

Thanks

I can back that up. I've done weight training for over 20 years and this method does work. When you do slow reps, it's more of an endurance exercise than a power movement. When you do a lift that does not require much strain, you don't need to use every fiber of a muscle. If you do a variation that requires sustained tension for a longer time (slower reps or pause and hold), the fibers that are working will get tired. As they fatigue, other fibers around them will activate to help out. So it forces more of the muscle to be involved.

To see the difference, pick an exercise and do all your sets in slow motion (10 to 20 seconds per rep). If you work out with a good level of intensity, you should notice some extra soreness in the next few days.

[Daisho]

i workout at a mainly boxing oriented gym. I've heardd people voice a very similar question.

I forget the name of the actual move, but i think it's called negative force lifts (or maybe i just made that name up). ANyway, the bench press requires the person to explode upward with power, and then the spotter takes control of most of the weight for the downward motion, allowing more reps of a more explosive nature.

While there are some people who do this (and i believe arnold schwarzeneger had something in his fitness encyclopedia about it), you are cutting down the amount of muscle stimulation you're recieving, not to mention localizing you're growth over a very specific part of the muscle. This could lead to poor function in full range of motion excersizes.

[bushido_man96]

I forget the name of the actual move, but i think it's called negative force lifts (or maybe i just made that name up). ANyway, the bench press requires the person to explode upward with power, and then the spotter takes control of most of the weight for the downward motion, allowing more reps of a more explosive nature.

I have heard of the lifts called negative lifts before, but in my experience they were done with the spotter controlling the weight on the way down, but still making the lifter resist the weight as it comes down, making it a slow and painful experience. I have even heard of doing an overload negative where the spotters will put on more the lifter's 1-rep max, and then do the negative reps that way. It makes it kind of a plateau breaker.

[Daisho]

have heard of the lifts called negative lifts before, but in my experience they were done with the spotter controlling the weight on the way down, but still making the lifter resist the weight as it comes down, making it a slow and painful experience. I have even heard of doing an overload negative where the spotters will put on more the lifter's 1-rep max, and then do the negative reps that way. It makes it kind of a plateau breaker.

your description does sound like a much more efficient lift, but when i see them doing it, they're definitely taking the negative part of the lift away, and allowing the guy benching to explode upward. however, it seems i can't find any online resources to corroborate that assumption.

actually closest in concept i can find is ballistic training (wiki), but i can't find anything on the actual mechanics of the power-lift.

[AikiGuy]

I forget the name of the actual move, but i think it's called negative force lifts (or maybe i just made that name up). ANyway, the bench press requires the person to explode upward with power, and then the spotter takes control of most of the weight for the downward motion, allowing more reps of a more explosive nature...

...you are cutting down the amount of muscle stimulation you're recieving, not to mention localizing you're growth over a very specific part of the muscle. This could lead to poor function in full range of motion excersizes.

That's not a negative. People make up their own exercise variation so I'm sure some do these as you have described. But, you are correct in saying they are cutting down the effectiveness but it changes more of the power and endurance you get from it. Not so much the range of motion.

A proper negative rep is done after a full set of normal reps until failure. Then you no longer have the strength to lift the weight but you have enough to slow it down as it descends. You will be straining against gravity and failing to hold the weight the whole time until it hits bottom. This increased strain is what gives you faster strength gains. Then your spotter helps you lift the weight all the way up so you can do another negative rep by yourself. You get weaker with each rep so it will drop faster every time. But continue to resist as hard as you can for as many reps as you desire.

Of course this is an advanced technique that should not be attempted by beginners. You can cause injury by going all out if your body is not accustomed to it. If you haven't already worked up to doing "failure" sets regularly, I would not recommend negatives yet. Even if you do not injure something, you can still cause an extreme amount of painful soreness for days after.

[bushido_man96]

A proper negative rep is done after a full set of normal reps until failure. Then you no longer have the strength to lift the weight but you have enough to slow it down as it descends. You will be straining against gravity and failing to hold the weight the whole time until it hits bottom. This increased strain is what gives you faster strength gains. Then your spotter helps you lift the weight all the way up so you can do another negative rep by yourself. You get weaker with each rep so it will drop faster every time. But continue to resist as hard as you can for as many reps as you desire.

This is exactly what I was thinking of.