Ok, so I have been playing around with this technique for a long time now but never thought to share it.... This is a great intensity technique for you all to try...
Pulse negative tension (PNT from now on) is the name I have come up with for a technique that I have come up with.... There may be people out there doing it already but I have never seen it done...
Why is PNT such a good technique to use?
I find PNT the best technique to add intensity to the end of a set.... There are many intensity techniques such as forced reps, negatives, statics etc... However none IMO are as effective as PNT... Simply because PNT gives you the best from all of them...
PNT consists of both statics, forced reps and negatives.... All within each additional rep performed at the end of a set... And it is an extremely easy technique to use off you have a spotter....
Before I explain how I use PNT it's best for me to point out some of the short falls to the most comonly used intensity techniques....
Forced reps - The main proble with this technique is that unless your spotter knows you very well he/she will have a hard time giving you exactly the amount of support you need.... Some give too much and ruin the set and the same can be said for this that don't give enough.... This is not the case with PNT
Negatives - negatives are good but people often have a strong range of movement and a weak range... With negatives they tend to only be able to controll the strong phase and just forget the weaker phase and drop back to the starting position.... PNT trains the negative throughout the full ROM...
Statics - The downfall of static holds is similar to that of negatives... People will choose to perform the static in the strongest phase of the movement.... Again statics are good... But PNT is better
"Shut the fuk up base.... WTF is PNT you tw*t?"
Ok it really isn't that complicated.... Let's take close grip pull ups for example....
So you perform your set to complete failure... This is the point where you would normally incorperate your usual intensity techniques.... Let's take force reps for example.... Your spotter would decrease you weight to help you up by pushing you up in a continuous controlled manner... The difference with PNT is that you partner doesn't push you up continuously, he/she nudges you up in a jerking type manner.... Simple... Instead of a continuously forcing the rep for you they push and release, push and release.... Some of you will get by now how this is working but I will explain...
In a forced rep the trainee has already exhausted the target muscle group in the concentric phase and the goal is to extend the set and take it to full eccentric failure also... They don't have contentric power left so they need help.... They still have static power and eccentric power however, PNT utilises both with the push/release technique...
The spotter pushed to get the trainee through the concentric part and then drops them.... The trainee then fights the sudden drop by using a massive amout of the eccentric power that is left in the tank.... The trainee then has to hold a static before being pushed back up again... Each time moving closer and closer to the fully contracted position....
Your exerting the muscle to negatives and statics throughout the full ROM and man it fukin kills!!!
Please experiment with this technique and post feed back in here.... It works great with pull ups, barbell curls, scull crushers etc.... Just have a go and I promise you will like it.....
Videos to come ASAP