Here’s a quote from Paul Carter, hypertrophy researcher Chris Beardley’s colleague, that relates to the past few newsletters on rep speed (Paul is on Instagram: @liftrunbang1):
Almost all of your muscle hypertrophy is from radial growth—an increase in fiber and physiological cross-sectional areas…. That occurs because of CONCENTRIC contractions. The idea that you’re going to grow a lot of muscle from slow eccentrics is nonsense. You’re not going to grow “a bunch of muscle” by doing slow [negatives]. And in some data, very slow eccentrics were counterproductive to fast-twitch hypertrophy.
In a previous newsletter I outlined why you should do slow eccentrics, or negative strokes, on your first primer set in the STX series; however…
After that, Speed Sets, with 1.5-second reps, can be significantly less damaging, less recovery draining and more hypertrophic. See the ebooks below for how and why to use them.
Note: Avoid 1.5-second Speed Sets on the stretch-position add-on exercises. A semi-speed tempo of 2 or 2.5 seconds is safer.
Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
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