So I had bit of a conversation with regards to form recently and heres my thoughts on it. I was recently performing some smith machine chest press recently. the movement was slow, controlled on the negative part of the repetition but I left it short by about 3 cm short of my chest. Some guy sees the video and says half reps to which I responded with ok but heres the thing it wasnt a half rep at all. Infact ill put any of those reps with 20 of this dude and see which ones were better in building muscle. Lets for instance say you are doing some leg extensions and you bring it down on the negative, do you feel obliged to let the weights clatter at the bottom?...of course you dont. You control that movement in order to keep that muscle under tension. I believe the same theory with regards to bench pressing. If I was a bench press competitor I would be looking to take the weight, control it to the bar hitting my chest and pushing through to reach full extension. Thats how a lift is judged. Bottom line is though im not a bench press competitor so why would I have the urgency to perform like one. My goal is to traumatise my pectoral muscles in order to stimulate growth.I believe that this is achieved my training under tension. The moment that bar hits my chest there is a loss of stimulus in the chest region even if its for a split second. that second might be the difference between attaining your objective or not achieving it and thats why I always stop just short of the bar hitting my chest in order to keep those affected muscles under tension at all times during the full range of the repetition. Im sure there are people who may believe my theory to be incorrect and they are welcome to that opinion. I can only tell you what I know works for me through quite a bit of trial and error. What works for me may not work for you but if you get the opportunity to try it out then id welcome all your feedback. KC
Posted on: Mon, 10 Mar 2014 15:29:03 +0000
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