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QUESTION:
Charles, "Lower it slow
and under control" is a mantra among experienced trainers
in the gym. So I was surprised at a seminar last weekend to
hear Dr. Fred Hatfield say he would de-emphasize the eccentric
portion of his squats in preparation for personal records.
Is that really effective?
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ANSWER:
Unlike many old axioms, this one
has a certain logic. The conventional wisdom is that we possess
more eccentric strength than concentric strength. In
other words, we can lower more weight down than we can lift.
Thus, we can sometimes get more "bang
for the buck" during the eccentric phase by
extending it’s duration during any given repetition. So why
is Dr. Hatfield talking about lifting at speeds that are commonly
considered ineffective?
Here’s why: whether your primary
training objective is mass or strength, you should spend time devoted
to each respective quality, since each depends upon the other.
During periods devoted to hypertrophy
development, a certain duration, or time under tension, is necessary
to force metabolic adaptations. This duration varies from person
to person, but generally is between twenty seconds to a minute per
set.
When strength is
the quality you wish to target with your training, heavy loads must
be employed which are more taxing on the nervous system than the
musculoskeletal system.
With this type of training (heavy
weights and low reps), the goal is to take advantage of the stretch-shortening
cycle (the elastic component of the musculo-tendinous system) through
a controlled, but rather fast decent, and then to accelerate through
the sticking point of the lift on the concentric phase.
Slow descents tend to dissipate
the kinetic energy which becomes stored in the tendons during the
eccentric phase.
Incidentally, Fred Hatfield practices
what he preaches. Watch a video of his 1014 pound squat. He lowers
this almost unimaginable load with little visible caution (current
powerlifting star Shane Hammond, the youngest athlete ever to squat
1000 pounds, also employs the "dive bomb" technique).
For a strength athlete there are two
distinct benefits of learning to implement a faster eccentric —
allowing a greater training load increases the amount of available
motor units as mentioned above. Also, the athlete can develop a
greater stretch-shortening cycle which I alluded to above.
Though this outwardly sounds deleterious,
we have to remember that the tendons also need to be exposed to
tension in order for them to adapt to training in conjunction with
muscle.
There is a time for slower lifts
and a time for faster lifts.
Bodybuilders and weightlifters alike
should use both, deciding where to spend the majority of their time
based on their sport. A bodybuilder may spend two weeks lifting
heavier loads with a fast tempos for every four weeks of using lesser
intensity with a slower tempo. A weightlifter might benefit more
from two weeks of lower intensity with faster tempo for every four
weeks of greater intensity with a faster tempo.
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