Negatives

sloth

I was watching a guy do negatives in the gym the other day while training biceps.

Just wondered what the real point of using negatives is and how beneficial they are to training!??

razg

Most damage to muscle fibers occurs during the eccentric (negative) phase of the movement. The logic is that more negative -> more fiber damage -> more hypertrophy. Although it's a good technique, in practice it is obviously not that simple.

Bodyworks

negatives are classed as an advanced technique used to fatigue the muscle once said muscle can no longer perform a full rep. think of negatives along the same lines as partials, drop sets, assisted reps and rest pause sets. basically, when you can no longer complete a full rep, you have two choices, either put the weight down or use one of the advanced techniques to work the muscle harder and break down more fibres. obviously, negatives don't lend themselves to every exercise, so choose your workout routine wisely.

cellaratt

I'll throw my two cents in strickly from a practical and personnal view. My work-out partner coming from a power-lifters point of view always stated a negative is just what it called negative. I believe his point to be is that it will negatively affect the ability to gain strenghth. I enjoy using negative reps during bicep exercises because I like the feeling it produces in my muscle. From personnal experiance I believe it helps make the muscle look more defined ( addition in peak height ).

Boarder

i might add these to my bicep workouts. thanks for info. what other muscles can they be applied to?