Optimizing how you do Reps for Gaining Strength
The most basic thing to any weight training program is the exercise and the most basic thing about doing an exercise is doing a rep. Reps can be done in lots of ways. They can be done slow or fast, they can be done in a reactive manner at the bottom or they can be done with a pause at the top or the bottom, they can be done with sloppy form or with perfect technique, and they can be done using a full range of motion or a partial range of motion. Giving thought to how to perform a rep can save you from injury, add years to your training career, and can make your workouts much more productive.
I want to begin this discussion on how to do a rep by saying that using correct technique is very important. In some ways, correct technique depends on the goal. If the goal is to lift a lot of weight in a competitive setting, then the lifter will have to abide by the standards of legal competitive lift. However, my main emphasis when referring to correct technique is for a lifter to make sure that their body is in an anatomically sound position throughout the performance of a rep for any variation of any exercise. This article isn’t designed to explain the proper way to do individual exercises, but there are some common principles that can apply to almost any exercise in reference to using correct technique.
Principles for Sound Lifting Technique
To begin a repetition of an exercise, the initial setup at the start of an exercise is important. Before a repetition is actually initiated, the weight and the body should be stabilized by being under control and on balance. If a lifter isn’t in control of their body and the weight at the start of a rep, it will be difficult to control the weight during the rest of the rep. In general, the back and head should be straight and properly aligned for just about any exercise. Power lifters often times like to arch their back when doing the bench press, but if this bugs your back or starts to mess up your back at some point, I would stop arching. The body should be in a stable or safe posture throughout the lift. Twisting and jerking during a rep is a good way to get hurt and can lead to strength imbalances that can make you very vulnerable to injury. When doing upper body exercises, both arms should push or pull with equal force, and when doing a leg exercise, both legs should push with equal force. Be careful not to lift the bar or the weight so that it is more to the left side or the right side, but keep the weight centered throughout the rep. If a machine is being used, the machine will obviously not get off-center or out of balance, but the body can still get out of balance, so be sure that your arms, shoulders, hips and legs are positioned the same on both sides. Having one arm or leg flare out more than the other will put uneven stresses on your body that are not healthy, and having your hips or shoulders twisting or tilted can spell trouble. Do not allow your back to be rounded for any lift as this is a recipe for disaster. These common principles for lifting technique will help with almost any lift.
Factors to Consider When Lowering the Weight
How the bar is lowered and raised is another important factor in regard to the technique used for a rep of an exercise. Once a lifter has set up in their starting position, the bar should be lowered with control so that both the body and the weight are on balance throughout the entire lowering phase. Control also means that the bar or body will come to a stop right on target by stopping in the desired location at the very bottom of the lift. The speed at which the bar or body are lowered will very according to a person’s goals. Lowering the bar at a very slow speed will create fatigue and a loss of speed and power when lifting the weight back up. Pausing too long at the bottom of rep can also cause strength to dissipate, making it hard to lift the weight back up in a forceful manner The general population that just wants to gain strength for their own personal satisfaction can lower the bar in the space of one to two seconds with a slight pause at the bottom of the lift before lifting the weight back up.
Techniques used by Competitive lifters and Athletes
When it comes to the lowering phase of a rep, competitive weight lifters, power lifters, speed athletes and jumpers who are trying to develop maximum speed and power, are often exceptions in regard to how fast they lower the bar. Competitive weight lifters will almost always pull the bar up and drop into a squatting position under the bar at a fast speed to catch the weight. They will end up bouncing out of the bottom of the squat position. There are power lifters who often use reactive training and practice lowering the weight at a fast speed and reflexively blasting the weight back up. This is usually done with medium weights rather than heavy weights. Sprinters and jumpers are another group that may lower the bar (or their body) very quickly and immediately spring back up with as much force as possible to train their stretch reflex and reactive ability. These techniques are often necessary for maximum performance in competition. However, if you are not in competition, lowering the weight at a very fast speed and reflexively pushing it back up can be a risky practice that is not the best way to insure physical well-being and training longevity.
Raising the Weight and Lifting Speed
At this point, I am going to transition into discussing what is often referred to as “positive portion of a rep” where the weight is lifted upward. I believe that anyone who wants to get stronger will benefit from lifting the weight upward with maximum force and exertion within the context of using correct form and good anatomical position. Pushing or pulling with maximum force will produce a faster rep than not pushing or pulling with maximum force. This means I believe in lifting a weight upwards as fast, or nearly as fast as possible. Of course lighter weights can be lifted faster because they offer less resistance, and heavier weights will be lifter slower the because the added resistance slows your rep speed, but the point is to lift whatever weight is being used as fast as possible. This goes in the opposite direction that many health clubs, gyms, and fitness trainers advocate, so I will explain why I believe a faster rep speed is better for building strength.
Pushing or Pulling with Maximum Force
There is a law of physics that states,“For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” In the world of weight training, this simply means that the harder you push or pull against a weight, the harder it will push back against you. For example, you may be squatting with only 120 pounds but you have the ability to use 250 pounds. If you push as hard as you can into the 120 pounds of weight that you are using, you will be exerting 250 pounds of force into the bar and it will push back against you to a greater degree than if you only exert 150 pounds of force into the weight. What happens when you exert a greater force into the bar? It will go up faster so that rep speed will be faster. Remember that the greater lifting force will also produce a greater force that will push back against you during the rep. As a result, your muscles will have to recruit more muscle fibers to lift the bar with greater speed. The same would be true for someone who is slowly getting up out of a sitting position as compared to exerting maximum force into the floor and springing up into the air as high as possible from a sitting or squat position. Jumping as high as possible will recruit a higher percentage of muscle fibers compared to rising slowly from a sitting position. In addition, exerting maximum force will especially stimulate the use of fast twitch muscle fibers, which can contract with more force than slow twitch muscle fibers.
Safety and Fast Reps vs. Slow Reps
I know the advice to use fast reps seems contrary to the advice that is often given by a great number of gyms, fitness clubs and trainers who advocate the use slower reps. Perhaps the biggest reason they advise people to use slow reps is that they are safer. Faster reps put the muscles under a greater stress load which makes the muscles being used more vulnerable to injury. This being said, proper exercise technique and thoughtful training progression will generally mean that fast reps can be performed safely. When caution is not used, faster reps can be harder to control and can make it more difficult to lift with proper lifting technique. In addition, people who use fast reps often lower the weight quickly (as previously discussed) and may end up “bouncing the weight” at the bottom of the lift. Bouncing the bar off of your chest in the bench press, or bouncing out of the bottom of a squat or bent over row will drive many trainers and weight room supervisors nuts because of the increased risk of injury that may occur. However, we have already discussed how to lower the bar safely and properly, so we will assume that a fast rep will not be done with sloppy, injurious form.
How to Compensate for Momentum When Using Fast Reps
Another reason that is often given for using slow reps as opposed to fast reps is that it is thought that using slow reps requires more effort from your muscles. The reasoning behind this is that slow reps remove any help that could be gained through generating momentum at the start of the lift, which will decrease the amount of force needed to complete the lift. This can certainly be true, especially with lighter weights. A person can push or pull the weight with great force at the start of the lift, and then let the momentum generated at the start of the lift, be used to help carry the bar the rest of the way up without using much effort. However, there have been power lifters who for many years now, have averted this problem by using a method that is often referred to as CAT, which stands for compensatory acceleration training. It simply means that even though momentum may be used at the start of the lift, a lifter should attempt to continue accelerating the bar speed until the completion of the rep. Doing this will require that a lifter must make a conscious effort to push with maximum force all the way through from the beginning to the end of a lift. In addition to exerting force all the way through a lift, another technique is to combine band tension with the use of the barbells. The subject of how to use bands is a whole topic unto itself (you can look at the video below for an example), but it will also effectively reduce the effect of generating momentum to decrease the effort needed to perform a lift.
Using Bands for the Squat
Using Bands for the Bench Press
Which is Harder, a Fast rep or a Slow rep?
Trainers and lifters who use slow reps also believe that slow reps are more effective because a slow rep feels harder to perform than doing a rep at a faster speed. The truth is that slower reps do feel harder than fast reps, but the problem is that they don’t feel harder because they are creating more resistance to push against, rather they feel harder because they create more fatigue. A fast rep actually creates a much greater stress on the muscle during the time the weight is being lifted. The greater stress of a faster rep does make the lift harder during the actual time that it is being lifted, but the greater stress of a fast rep takes place over a shorter amount of time before fatigue has a chance to build up. The absence of fatigue is what makes a fast rep feel easier than a slow rep. What needs to be understood is that fatigue is not the best type of stimulation for improving strength. The increased resistance caused by lifting with maximum force during a fast rep is what stimulates strength.
When to Use Slow Reps
After all the discussion on why I believe fast reps are better for building strength, I still believe in making room for slow reps. Anyone who has a sore or vulnerable muscle or joint, would be better off using slow reps and light weights when doing exercises that affect the vulnerable area. Likewise, anyone who is recovering from an injury would be better off using slow reps with light weights to regain strength and avoid reinjuring themselves. When doing warm up sets, some people prefer to start out with reps that are done at a slower speed to make sure their muscles are prepared to handle the increased resistance that faster reps present. There are also people who just like slow reps better than fast reps which I think is perfectly ok. Not everyone who is trying to improve their strength is interested in gaining maximum strength, and they may be more comfortable with slow reps.
There are several other factors that can be discussed in regard to how a rep is performed such as whether or not a full range of motion is used and how long a person should pause at the top of the lift between repetitions. Much of this is a matter of personal preference and can also be a matter of a person’s goals. Power lifters often use a power rack with a shortened range of motion to train the top portion of their lift. Bodybuilders may do just the opposite by stopping short of the top of the lift with no pause in between reps in order to keep the tension on a muscle that they are targeting. If any of these ideas are beneficial for your goals, you can use them.
Summary
The most important aspects that were discussed in regard to performing a strength producing rep, were that the rep needs to be done with sound body position while maintaining control of the weight throughout the entire repetition. Exactly how the bar should be lowered may vary according to one’s goals as discussed, but lifting the bar should generally be done by exerting maximum force into the bar throughout the range of motion that is used. This produces a faster rep, but it also places a greater load on the muscle, which results in greater strength than a slower rep. Keep these things in mind when you are working out and keep on lifting.