woman shoulder press

Here are a couple of more ways to use negative rep training when you are training by yourself.

The first one you can only use if you are using dumbbells. You have to have one hand free and you simply use your free hand to help on the positive part of the exercise.

Then let go with the free hand and do the negative rep by itself. Then use your free hand to help with the positive again. Do this for 4-5 reps.

Another way is to decrease the weight and take even longer to lower the weight. Instead of 6 seconds, take 12-15 seconds to lower the weight. This one really burns.

Another way is to do what I call pulsing. When you are finished with your normal reps, then do 1/2 reps until you can’t do them any longer.

Then do 1/4 reps, 1/8th reps, 1/16th reps. Do this until you can’t budge the weights at all.

This really increases the time under tension both on the positive and negative sides. This will really amp up the muscle trauma.

And remember, more muscle trauma = more muscle fiber tears which means more muscle repair activity which takes more energy which burns more fat.

Try this negative rep training techniques and watch your muscles grow and your fat burning increase. Just don’t over do them, otherwise you will get in an overtrained condition and you won’t get any positive benefits out of the negative training.

woman shoulder press

How can you do negative rep training by yourself? Last post we talked about negative rep training with a partner.

While that will help you to use heavier weights, sometimes it can create a safety issue.

You can avoid the safety issues and still get the benefits of negative reps.

Remember that part of the benefits of using negative reps comes from the increased time under tension.

So let’s see how we can use this info.

Start out with the normal weight you would use. Again, let’s use the example of bicep curls with dumbbells.

Do your normal amount of sets less 1 set. On this last set, decrease the weight 10%. Then curl the weight quickly – but under control – for the positive portion. For the negative try to take 6-7 seconds on the way down.

Now here is a little trick to get even more from the exercise.

Most people would just stop the weight and then do the next rep.

That is okay, but there is a better way that will explode your results even more.

When you get almost to the bottom of the negative portion, stop for just a split second. Then go all the way to the bottom and start your positive motion again.

It is almost like a twitch at the bottom. You stop just before the bottom, lower to the bottom and immediately come back up again for the next positive rep. (I promise I will do a video of this soon.)

This little action activates what is called the myotatic reflex. This has been shown to activate even more growth and more muscle fibers being activated.

More activated muscle fibers equals more damage equals more strength, more repair and more fat burning.

Just remember that you are keeping the weight under your control during this whole process.

Do 4-5 of these negative reps to finish off the set. Do not try to do more even if you feel that you can.

Negative reps take more out of you even if it doesn’t feel like it at first. So don’t overdo it and only use them every few workouts at the most.

One more negative rep training technique in the next post.

woman cable pull

Negative rep training is great for building strength and keeping the metabolic forces in high gear. That means more fat burning.

What is a negative rep. It is the return to the starting position.

For example, with biceps curls, when you lift the weight that is the positive part of the rep.

When you lower the weight or return it back to the starting position, that is the negative part of the rep.

Most people don’t pay much attention to the negative part, but they are missing out on a real power house.

In order to do a negative rep correctly, you need to lower the rep as slowly as possible. So if it takes you 2 seconds to raise the weight you should lower it in 6 seconds.

Another way to do negative reps is to increase the weight and have someone help you lift the weight. Then you lower it on your own – again as slowly as you can.

This really helps build strength. Part of the reason is because the time you have the muscle under tension is increased dramatically which equals more strength.

But, it also tears down your muscle fibers more than just accentuating the positive portion of the rep.

And this does two things. As with any weight bearing exercise, the recovery process includes repairing the tearing of the muscle fibers from the exercise. The more damage, the more the muscle is rebuilt and the stronger it becomes.

And negatives cause more tearing, therefore more rebuilding.

This rebuilding brings up the other thing that negatives do. That is burn more body fat. This repairing takes a lot of energy and it continues for quite a while after the exercising is done.

The more repair needed, the longer time it takes and the more energy used.

Now there are several ways to incorporate negative rep training into your routine. I don’t really recommend the use a partner and heavier weight and I’ll tell you why in the next post. Stay tuned.