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negative speed has been something i've been giving a lot of thought to recently. I have been reading a lot about low-volume high-intensity routines, such as Big_A's article here, and all of Doggcrapps writings from the original cycles for pennies, as well as some of mentzers stuff.
apart from all of them being low-volume, another recurring theme is slow negatives. anywhere between 3-5 seconds. not a 3-5 count, but 3-5 whole seconds... when you've got 275lbs on the incline, this seems like an eternity. (doggcrapp went as far as reccommending an 8 second negative, which he didn't mean literally, but an 8 counts, which translates to about 3 true seconds.)
now, I also watch a lot of pro training videos. and from what it seems, the pros put NO emphasis on the eccentric portion of the rep. I've got videos of ronnie levrone and king kamali these guys just seem to let gravity drop the weight, a negative of less than 1 second. then videos of guys like cutler, preist, these guys control the weight on the way down, but have about a 1 second negative. THe only pro with a true slow concentric i've seen (in video) is dorian who has a 2 or more second negative on most reps.
now, is this just another example of the pros astounding genetics and how they can pretty much lift any way they want and get the same results, OR is there something else at play.
for example, by not concentrating on the negative some pros can use much heavier weights, with a much more explosive motion, which requirts a far greater portion of the fast twitch type fibers, and thus equals more growth?
this has me scratching my head
apart from all of them being low-volume, another recurring theme is slow negatives. anywhere between 3-5 seconds. not a 3-5 count, but 3-5 whole seconds... when you've got 275lbs on the incline, this seems like an eternity. (doggcrapp went as far as reccommending an 8 second negative, which he didn't mean literally, but an 8 counts, which translates to about 3 true seconds.)
now, I also watch a lot of pro training videos. and from what it seems, the pros put NO emphasis on the eccentric portion of the rep. I've got videos of ronnie levrone and king kamali these guys just seem to let gravity drop the weight, a negative of less than 1 second. then videos of guys like cutler, preist, these guys control the weight on the way down, but have about a 1 second negative. THe only pro with a true slow concentric i've seen (in video) is dorian who has a 2 or more second negative on most reps.
now, is this just another example of the pros astounding genetics and how they can pretty much lift any way they want and get the same results, OR is there something else at play.
for example, by not concentrating on the negative some pros can use much heavier weights, with a much more explosive motion, which requirts a far greater portion of the fast twitch type fibers, and thus equals more growth?
this has me scratching my head
