Adam Knowlden
05-09-2004, 09:11 PM
Concentric Rest-Pause Power-rack training
http://nicbri.addr.com/Bodybuilder203792.jpg
As Jacob described so eloquently in his article, Concentric Super Overload, the positive portion of any lift, can have a vital impact in the role of muscular hypertrophy.
Concentric Rest-Pause Power-rack training is an excellent way to increase an exercises positive range of motion explosiveness and power.
The concept is straightforward yet highly effective. I lightly touched on this idea in the 8 weeks to Battering Ram Pushing Power series.
You will be using a power-rack and a barbell for this training method. These two pieces of equipment are literally the ball and bat of body building!
There are a few basic rules to apply to get the most out of this concept:
1. Set the power rack safety bars just out of reach of the barbell from the bottom of your range of motion.
2. Explode up on the concentric portion of the movement and proceed with the same speed on the eccentric portion of the movement as you did with the concentric portion of the range of motion.
In other words, if it took me one second to perform the positive portion of the movement, it should only take me one second to perform the negative portion as well(as opposed to the typical 2 seconds that is generally taken). However, the weight is always under control. We are emphasizing the concentric, but don’t get sloppy on the eccentric. That can promote injury.
3. Of course the advantage with this principle is using heavier weights for more reps and longer durations!
To better illustrate this technique let’s use the forearm behind the back wrist curl.
Begin by picking up the bar and doing a behind the back curl with no weight. Always use this time as a focal point to adjust the power rack accordingly. Fine-tune the power rack safety bars so that at the bottom of your range of motion the power rack safety bars are as close as possible to the barbell but are not actually touching the bar.
The most basic way to perform this shock is to start by carrying through a set of forearm behind the back wrist curls like normal.
Upon failure of the set, “rest” the barbell on the power-rack for one second and immediately power the weight back up through the concentric portion of the exercise.
From here use rest-pause to continue the set to utter failure.
You should increase the rest-pause time by a few seconds as the “beyond failure” portion of the set continues. Carry on in this manner until you have reached your endurance point with this particular weight.
So a time scale of this set could look like this:
Begin set: normal set for 30 seconds.
Failure: rest-pause for one to two seconds until exhausted with this time frame.
Beyond failure: Continue upping rest-pause time until total exhaustion occurs. I wouldn’t recommend a rest-pause time of over 30 seconds. If you are going heavy enough and truly going beyond failure, you shouldn’t be able to go past this time anyway.
Remember the main goal of each of these reps is to power up and explode on the concentric portion of the rep. Concentrate heavily on this form even as the severe pain sets in during the beyond failure portion of the set.
Try this technique with the following exercises for giant gains in strength and explosion!
Dead lift-
This is one of the best all-star mass builders for the back. Apply the Concentric Rest-pause principle and see a whole new side to this already insanely hardcore exercise.
This exercise is commonly called the Rack Dead lift or Pin-Pull lift.
Good Mornings-
Barbell good mornings are perhaps the most brutal of all erector exercises.
Concentric Rest-pause power rack Good Mornings will enhance your lower back explosiveness and power like never before. Use these and watch your dead lift, squat, and bench press maxes sky rocket. I wouldn’t advise going too heavy with this one without proper warming up and plenty of stretching, and remember to stay in total control.
Barbell Shrugs- If a bull size neck is your goal, then this is your exercise. Nothing will blast this area, like the power-rack principle!
http://home.comcast.net/~cdelmonico/Priest_side_chest.jpg
Try them forward and behind-the-back for optimal development!
Standing press- As I described in the “8 weeks to bigger delts part 2”, this is an excellent way to increase your shoulder power. Another great thing about this particular exercise is that as you rest pause you can use your feet to push off and help cheat the weight up. I like to begin using this when I get deep into the rest-pause portion of the set.
Squats- Get ready for a burn baby! These will fry your legs. However, like the good mornings, really be careful if you decide to go heavy. This can really strain your lower back if you’re not warmed up. So wear a thick belt and stretch heavily. However, I don’t want to scare you off, this is an excellent exercise.
Static Barbell Hold- OUCH! Lee Priest would be jealous if he knew about this exercise. This will singe the deepest forearm fibers! I recommend picking a weight that you can hold for 15-30 seconds, then begin rest-pausing!
Barbell Calf raises- An outstanding way to increase both power and size in the calves. These are also a great exercise for increasing your vertical leap.
Of course there are alternatives to any shock technique and this one is no different!
Partial Reps- You can use this principle to attack particular areas of a range of motion of an exercise. For example if you are having problems with the bottom portion of a standing shoulder press apply this shock to the partial reps principle.
Set the safety racks at the bottom of the range of motion of your standing shoulder press. As you begin the exercise, push off the power rack and perform a partial rep, stopping about half way up through the full range of motion. Now come back down, rest-pause on the safety rack, and press up again!
This is a superb means of conquering concentric weak points and increasing explosiveness in a range of motion of any given exercise.
One excellent exercise for partial-rep power rack rest-pause concentric training(whew) is the barbell curl. Let’s say ,for example, the top of the range of motion is your problem area in this exercise.
I would have you adjust the power rack safety bars to the mid point of the range of motion for a standard barbell curl. Now curl the weight off the power-rack and complete the half-rep, accenting the concentric aspect of the lift, then lowering the barbell back down on the safety-rack.
Rest-pause and proceed again, gradually increasing the time of the rest-pause from one too two seconds until total failure occurs.
You can also use the partial-reps principle here to bust plateaus in strength as well! Let me explain using the above barbell curl example.
In the above sample, we focused on the upper portion of the range of motion. I would recommend two sets in the same manner for the top of the range of motion. Next we would want to focus on the lower portion of the barbell curl. Simply adjust the power-rack so that it is just out of reach of the bottom of the range of motion. Now use the principle to rest-pause out concentric partial reps focusing on the bottom of the range of motion!
By centering on both parts of the barbell curls range of motion, you will gradually be able to add more weight to your normal barbell curls, and bust through plateaus like never before!
Can it get more hardcore Old School?
Oh ye of little faith! Now that you have decimated the upper and lower portions of the barbell curls range of motion, strip some of the weight off, and perform 7 complete reps! Seven reps? That seems familiar? It should! I call this (get ready) Concentric Power-rack rest-pause partial rep 21’s! In other words get 7 concentric rest-pause reps at the top of the range of motion, 7 at the bottom, then strip some weight, and do 7 regular barbell curls!
Talk about a pump! You’ll love that one!
Try this same principle with reverse barbell curl as well as triceps extensions and calf raises.
http://nicbri.addr.com/Bodybuilder203792.jpg
As Jacob described so eloquently in his article, Concentric Super Overload, the positive portion of any lift, can have a vital impact in the role of muscular hypertrophy.
Concentric Rest-Pause Power-rack training is an excellent way to increase an exercises positive range of motion explosiveness and power.
The concept is straightforward yet highly effective. I lightly touched on this idea in the 8 weeks to Battering Ram Pushing Power series.
You will be using a power-rack and a barbell for this training method. These two pieces of equipment are literally the ball and bat of body building!
There are a few basic rules to apply to get the most out of this concept:
1. Set the power rack safety bars just out of reach of the barbell from the bottom of your range of motion.
2. Explode up on the concentric portion of the movement and proceed with the same speed on the eccentric portion of the movement as you did with the concentric portion of the range of motion.
In other words, if it took me one second to perform the positive portion of the movement, it should only take me one second to perform the negative portion as well(as opposed to the typical 2 seconds that is generally taken). However, the weight is always under control. We are emphasizing the concentric, but don’t get sloppy on the eccentric. That can promote injury.
3. Of course the advantage with this principle is using heavier weights for more reps and longer durations!
To better illustrate this technique let’s use the forearm behind the back wrist curl.
Begin by picking up the bar and doing a behind the back curl with no weight. Always use this time as a focal point to adjust the power rack accordingly. Fine-tune the power rack safety bars so that at the bottom of your range of motion the power rack safety bars are as close as possible to the barbell but are not actually touching the bar.
The most basic way to perform this shock is to start by carrying through a set of forearm behind the back wrist curls like normal.
Upon failure of the set, “rest” the barbell on the power-rack for one second and immediately power the weight back up through the concentric portion of the exercise.
From here use rest-pause to continue the set to utter failure.
You should increase the rest-pause time by a few seconds as the “beyond failure” portion of the set continues. Carry on in this manner until you have reached your endurance point with this particular weight.
So a time scale of this set could look like this:
Begin set: normal set for 30 seconds.
Failure: rest-pause for one to two seconds until exhausted with this time frame.
Beyond failure: Continue upping rest-pause time until total exhaustion occurs. I wouldn’t recommend a rest-pause time of over 30 seconds. If you are going heavy enough and truly going beyond failure, you shouldn’t be able to go past this time anyway.
Remember the main goal of each of these reps is to power up and explode on the concentric portion of the rep. Concentrate heavily on this form even as the severe pain sets in during the beyond failure portion of the set.
Try this technique with the following exercises for giant gains in strength and explosion!
Dead lift-
This is one of the best all-star mass builders for the back. Apply the Concentric Rest-pause principle and see a whole new side to this already insanely hardcore exercise.
This exercise is commonly called the Rack Dead lift or Pin-Pull lift.
Good Mornings-
Barbell good mornings are perhaps the most brutal of all erector exercises.
Concentric Rest-pause power rack Good Mornings will enhance your lower back explosiveness and power like never before. Use these and watch your dead lift, squat, and bench press maxes sky rocket. I wouldn’t advise going too heavy with this one without proper warming up and plenty of stretching, and remember to stay in total control.
Barbell Shrugs- If a bull size neck is your goal, then this is your exercise. Nothing will blast this area, like the power-rack principle!
http://home.comcast.net/~cdelmonico/Priest_side_chest.jpg
Try them forward and behind-the-back for optimal development!
Standing press- As I described in the “8 weeks to bigger delts part 2”, this is an excellent way to increase your shoulder power. Another great thing about this particular exercise is that as you rest pause you can use your feet to push off and help cheat the weight up. I like to begin using this when I get deep into the rest-pause portion of the set.
Squats- Get ready for a burn baby! These will fry your legs. However, like the good mornings, really be careful if you decide to go heavy. This can really strain your lower back if you’re not warmed up. So wear a thick belt and stretch heavily. However, I don’t want to scare you off, this is an excellent exercise.
Static Barbell Hold- OUCH! Lee Priest would be jealous if he knew about this exercise. This will singe the deepest forearm fibers! I recommend picking a weight that you can hold for 15-30 seconds, then begin rest-pausing!
Barbell Calf raises- An outstanding way to increase both power and size in the calves. These are also a great exercise for increasing your vertical leap.
Of course there are alternatives to any shock technique and this one is no different!
Partial Reps- You can use this principle to attack particular areas of a range of motion of an exercise. For example if you are having problems with the bottom portion of a standing shoulder press apply this shock to the partial reps principle.
Set the safety racks at the bottom of the range of motion of your standing shoulder press. As you begin the exercise, push off the power rack and perform a partial rep, stopping about half way up through the full range of motion. Now come back down, rest-pause on the safety rack, and press up again!
This is a superb means of conquering concentric weak points and increasing explosiveness in a range of motion of any given exercise.
One excellent exercise for partial-rep power rack rest-pause concentric training(whew) is the barbell curl. Let’s say ,for example, the top of the range of motion is your problem area in this exercise.
I would have you adjust the power rack safety bars to the mid point of the range of motion for a standard barbell curl. Now curl the weight off the power-rack and complete the half-rep, accenting the concentric aspect of the lift, then lowering the barbell back down on the safety-rack.
Rest-pause and proceed again, gradually increasing the time of the rest-pause from one too two seconds until total failure occurs.
You can also use the partial-reps principle here to bust plateaus in strength as well! Let me explain using the above barbell curl example.
In the above sample, we focused on the upper portion of the range of motion. I would recommend two sets in the same manner for the top of the range of motion. Next we would want to focus on the lower portion of the barbell curl. Simply adjust the power-rack so that it is just out of reach of the bottom of the range of motion. Now use the principle to rest-pause out concentric partial reps focusing on the bottom of the range of motion!
By centering on both parts of the barbell curls range of motion, you will gradually be able to add more weight to your normal barbell curls, and bust through plateaus like never before!
Can it get more hardcore Old School?
Oh ye of little faith! Now that you have decimated the upper and lower portions of the barbell curls range of motion, strip some of the weight off, and perform 7 complete reps! Seven reps? That seems familiar? It should! I call this (get ready) Concentric Power-rack rest-pause partial rep 21’s! In other words get 7 concentric rest-pause reps at the top of the range of motion, 7 at the bottom, then strip some weight, and do 7 regular barbell curls!
Talk about a pump! You’ll love that one!
Try this same principle with reverse barbell curl as well as triceps extensions and calf raises.