November 2002

The question-of-the-month for November comes from Jared in North Carolina, a 20 year old who wants to put on mass.  He wants to know if the muscle being trained should be squeezed during the entire exercise or just at the top.  His question is:

Dear Mike:

Should I be squeezing the muscle all the way to the top and keep it tight on the negative phase, or should I just be isolating the muscle by only lifting it and then squeezing it at the top.  For  example, for standing bicep curls, should I be flexing the bar up to my peak contraction or should I lift it with good form and then flex at the top?

Dear Jared:

Great question!  Too many people just go through the motions and don't know what they are supposed to feel or how to focus on the muscle.  The trite phrase, "Put your mind in the muscle" really does hold true.  Rather than emphasizing the contraction or the negative portion of an exercise, try instead to focus your mind only on the muscle(s) being worked.  This will automatically force you to contract the muscle throughout the whole range of motion while performing an exercise.

In general, this should be the method used when lifting weights.  Of course, utilizing negatives and other methods are good to incorporate into your training program once in a while.  But, using the method I described above will help you make the most progress.

Thanks again for the great question.  Good luck and keep training hard.

As always, don't forget to visit the Past Qs & As and my Training Tips section for more great tips and training info.

Until next month, train hard and stay healthy.

Mike Francois

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Note: Before embarking on any nutrition, supplementation, and/or training program, consult with your physician or other licensed health-care professional.