So You Think You Can Bench? Part 3

This Past Week (3/6-3/12)

This past week was my sixes week for SMS^2.3. Work was pretty hectic and didn't allow for the two-hour block between sessions that works best for my lifts. The most I had most days was 90 minutes, which allowed me to warm up and get my core lift in before having to shower. This happened on Monday, squat day, so I went back in the evening and finished my accessory lifts. Tuesday I was able to get everything in fine, but Thursday was cut short as well as I had to leave out ab work and my SMF for the day. Friday was supposed to be my Day 4 circuits, but after waking up sick on Wednesday and still not feeling better on Friday, I changed this week to an arm day/recovery day. I definitely needed that and felt a lot better on Saturday for an all-day basketball tournament.

I didn't do plyos at all this week because of how poorly I felt. I was supposed to do them Wednesday, but I stopped after ten minutes because I could tell my nervous system was seriously fatigued. My ground contact time (amortization phase) was too long and I was taking a lot longer than normal to recover between sets. Friday I didn't do plyos either.

I sent out the March issue of The Source on Monday. If you want to subscribe to my mailing list to receive my newsletter, you can do so by filling out the form here. On Wednesday I did an interview for Men's Fitness magazine. The interview is scheduled to come out in their June/July double issue, which is released in late May.

Aside from that, not much else went on this past week. I've been getting a lot busier at work, which is awesome, and when I'm not at the gym I'm usually reading in my apartment.

That's all for this past week. Now it's time to go live this one.

Get big or die tryin'.

So You Think You Can Bench? Part 2

Negative Work for Positive Mass Gains

If you are trying to put on muscle mass, one thing that needs to be considered for each exercise is the tempo at which you are performing it. I know NASM and many other certifying agencies and textbooks want you to believe that 1 to 5 reps builds power, 3 to 7 reps build strength, 8 to 15 reps is for hypertrophy, and more than 15 reps in one set is for muscle endurance, but this is just not true. What these sources are actually trying to provide is a recommended "time under tension" for each training goal. However, because most people don't carry a stopwatch to gauge how long they have been lifting during a particular set, a rep count is used instead.

With this in mind, you can see why popping out a quick set of 12 reps isn't letting you pack on the pounds you are desiring. Next time you lift, instead of repping out sets as fast as you can with as much weight as possible, try adhering to a 3-second eccentric contraction (or negative) and then move the weight up (or down) as fast as possible during the concentric contraction. You will have to use less weight, probably anywhere from 20 to 40% less than you would normally use, but you will experience just as much fatigue as you would with greater weight and your muscles will have a greater time under tension, which will lead to greater growth.

Be warned, the eccentric contraction is what causes the most damage to a muscle fiber, so even though you are using less weight, with an emphasized eccentric like this you could experience significantly more muscle soreness a day or two post-workout than you normally would.

Get big or die tryin'.

So You Think You Can Bench? Part 1