The FASTEST Way to Build Muscle (Says Mike Mentzer)

Summary

このビデオでは筋肉増強に関する議論が展開されています。重量挙げは筋肉成長を最大化するのに無駄だという主張に反論し、逆に静止的なホールドや遅い下降が筋肉成長を促進するというアプローチが紹介されています。Mike MinerとArthur Jonesは負の動作（下降）が筋肉成長において最も重要であると主張していますが、科学研究表明、重量挙げも筋肉成長に重要な役割を果たします。さらに、筋肉の成長は引き上げと下ろしの両方の動作に寄与すると最近の研究が示しており、特定のトレーニング方法がより効果的であると主張する一方で、通常のトレーニングも同様に有効であると結論づけています。

Takeaways

• 🏋️‍♂️ 重量挙げは筋肉成長を最大限に引き出すための時間の無駄ではない。
• 📉 Arthur Jonesは、筋肉の成長を刺激する最も重要な部分は重量を下ろす動作（負の動作）だと主張している。
• 🔁 Mike Mainerは筋肉を最大限に引き出すために、筋肉を強く引き締めた後の静止保持と、重量を遅くコントロールしながら下ろすことを提案している。
• 🤔 筋肉を引き締めた状態での静止保持は筋肉肥大を刺激するが、特に特別な効果はないことが研究から示されている。
• 💪 筋肉が最も力を発揮するのは、引き伸ばされた状態の時であり、中枢神経系が引き伸ばされた状態で筋肉繊維の力をより良く引き出せる可能性がある。
• 🚫 筋肉が完全に引き締まった状態では、筋肉繊維が最大限に力を発揮できないことが筋肉の構造と中枢神経系の特性から分かっている。
• 📊 科学的研究によると、通常のトレーニングと引き下ろしのみのトレーニングでは筋肉成長はほぼ同じレベルであることが示されている。
• 🎯 トレーニングメソッドとしては、通常のトレーニングと引き下ろしを超载するトレーニングは効果的であるが、どちらも特別優越しているとは言えない。
• 🌟 引き下ろし超载トレーニングは初期段階では非常に疲れるが、繰り返しトレーニングをすることで疲労感は減少する。
• 🔄 トレーニングのリピートスピードは筋肉成長に大きな影響を与えないことが示されている。個人の好みに合わせてリピートスピードを選択することができる。
• 🔄 引き下ろしのスピードを変えることで筋肉成長に違いは生じるが、研究からは明確な優れた引き下ろしスピードが特定されていない。

Q & A

重量挙げは筋肉成長を最大限に引き出すのに無駄な時間遣いだと主張するMike MinerとArthur Jonesの主張は何ですか？

Mike MinerとArthur Jonesは、筋肉の正しい刺激と増加を促すためには、重量挙げのプラス部分よりもはるかに負の部分、つまり筋肉を伸ばす動作の方が最も生産的で重要な部分だと主張しています。彼らは筋肉を挙げない訓練を取り除くと、訓練のほとんどの利点を失うと言っています。

Mike Minerはクライアントとのトレーニングでどのようなアプローチを取っていますか？

Mike Minerは、通常以上の重いウェイトを使ってレッグエクステンションマシンなどのトレーニングに取り組み、彼らが6〜10回の失敗まで持てるよりも重いウェイトを積み、直立体位で長時間保ち、その後をコントロールしながらゆっくりと下ろすというアプローチを取っています。

筋肉を挙げないトレーニングと通常のトレーニングでは筋肉成長の違いは何ですか？

筋肉を挙げないトレーニングでは、主に筋肉を伸ばす負の部分に焦点を当て、筋肉の成長を促進する一方で、通常のトレーニングでは、筋肉を挙げることのプラス部分も筋肉成長に貢献するという違いがあります。

21メソッドとは何で、どのようなトレーニングに適用できますか？

21メソッドは、両方の腕や脚を使って荷物を持ち上げた後、片方の腕や脚だけを使って下ろすことで、その腕や脚の負の部分に大きな挑戦を与えるトレーニング方法です。レッグエクステンション、スクワットロー、チェストプレス、ランマインローなどが適用できます。

特殊なマシンを使わない場合に、どのようにしてトレーニングの負の部分に挑戦することができますか？

特殊なマシンを使わない場合でも、ノルディックコアースや逆ノルディックコアース、プルアップ、チンアップなどのトレーニングでは、筋肉を挙げない部分に焦点を当てることができます。また、ウェイトを加えたプルアップやチンアップも、負の部分に挑戦する方法です。

筋肉が挙げない時のトレーニングと筋肉が強くなる理由にはどのような違いがありますか？

筋肉が挙げない時のトレーニングでは、主に筋肉を伸ばす負の部分に焦点を当ててトレーニングを行いますが、筋肉が強くなる理由は、筋肉が短縮している時にはマイオシンとアクチンの相互作用による力生成のみではなく、タンパク質のストレッチによる受容力も大きな役割を果たします。

筋肉が最も力を発揮する場所は常に最も縮まっている場所であると錯覚する理由は何ですか？

筋肉が縮まっていると感じるだけでは、筋肉繊維が実際に生成する力の指標とはならないためです。筋肉は、筋肉繊維のマイオシンがアクチンに引き寄せられ、力が生成されるという仕組みで動作しますが、筋肉が完全に縮まっている時には、多くのマイオシンヘッドがアクチンに接することができないため、力が発揮されないことがあります。

筋肉の成長を促進するトレーニング方法として、静的なホールドとコントロールされた下ろしのトレーニングは効果的ですか？

静的なホールドは筋肉の肥大を刺激する効果がありますが、最も効くトレーニング方法とは言えません。一方、コントロールされた下ろしは筋肉成長に重要な役割を果たしており、特に筋肉を強くするためのトレーニングでは有効です。

通常のトレーニングとローリングのみのオーバーロードトレーニングでは筋肉成長の違いは何ですか？

ローリングのみのオーバーロードトレーニングは、筋肉を強くすることに特化しており、筋肉成長にも効果的ですが、通常のトレーニングは挙げることと下ろすことの両方を含み、よりバランスのとれた筋肉成長を促進する可能性があります。

トレーニングの負の部分が筋肉成長に重要な役割を果たしているとされている理由は何ですか？

トレーニングの負の部分は、筋肉を伸ばすことでタンパク質のストレッチを起こし、受容力が高まり、筋肉成長を促進する効果があります。また、筋肉が伸びる時には、筋肉繊維への刺激が大きくなり、筋肉成長に寄与することが言われています。

トレーニングの負の部分を強化する際に使用される特殊なマシンとはどのようなものか？

特殊なマシンには、フリュイホイールデバイスなどがありますが、これらのマシンは通常のトレーニングとは異なり、下ろしの部分に大きな重みをかけることで筋肉をより強力にトレーニングすることができます。

トレーニングの負の部分を強化するトレーニング方法として、どのような方法が挙げられますか？

トレーニングの負の部分を強化する方法には、ノルディックコアースや逆ノルディックコアースのローリングのみのトレーニング、21メソッド、チートメソッドなどがあります。これらの方法は、負の部分に重点を置いたトレーニングを通じて筋肉成長を促進することができます。

トレーニングの負の部分を強化するトレーニング方法は、どのような効果を持っていますか？

トレーニングの負の部分を強化するトレーニング方法は、筋肉をより強くし、筋肉成長を促進する効果があります。また、筋肉の下側の部分にも刺激を与えることから、筋肉の均一な成長を助けることができます。

トレーニングの負の部分を強化するトレーニング方法は、どのような種類がありますか？

トレーニングの負の部分を強化するトレーニング方法には、ノルディックコアースや逆ノルディックコアースのローリングのみのトレーニング、21メソッド、チートメソッドなどがあります。これらは、負の部分に重点を置いたトレーニングを通じて筋肉成長を促進するものです。

トレーニングの負の部分を強化するトレーニング方法は、通常のトレーニングと比べてどのような利点がありますか？

トレーニングの負の部分を強化するトレーニング方法は、筋肉をより強くし、筋肉成長を促進する利点があります。また、筋肉の下側の部分にも刺激を与えることから、筋肉の均一な成長を助けることができます。

トレーニングの負の部分を強化するトレーニング方法は、どのような注意点がありますか？

トレーニングの負の部分を強化するトレーニング方法は、筋肉を強くする効果がありますが、トレーニングに慣れていない場合は、過度の疲労や損傷のリスクがあるため、注意が必要です。また、適切な指導とサポートが必要な場合もあります。

トレーニングの負の部分を強化するトレーニング方法は、どのようなトレーニング機器を使用することができますか？

トレーニングの負の部分を強化するトレーニング方法では、フリュイホイールデバイスなどの特殊なトレーニング機器を使用することができますが、通常のジムのトレーニング機器でも同じようなトレーニングは可能です。

Outlines

00:00

🏋️‍♂️ 重量トレーニングの重要性と説得力のある主張

この段落では、重量を挙げることが筋肉成長を最大化するのに無駄だと主張するMike MinerとArthur Jonesの意見が紹介されています。彼らは筋肉の正しい位置での静的なホールドと重量をゆっくりと下げることで筋肉成長を促すことができると述べています。Mikeは顧客に対して通常6～10回のリピートで扱えないほど重いウェイトを使い、筋肉が完全に収縮した状態でホールドさせた後、コントロールしてゆっくりと下げるトレーニング方法を提唱しています。また、レッグエクステンションやラットプルダウン、プルアップ、チナップ、ラテラルレイズ、バイセップスエクステンションなど、この方法が適用できるトレーニングエクササイズも紹介されています。

05:02

🧐 筋肉成長の科学とトレーニング方法の分析

この段落では、MenaとJonesの個人的な体験談に加えて、筋肉成長に関する科学的リサーチが紹介されています。筋肉の最大収縮位置での静的ホールドが筋肉成長を促すことは確かですが、特に優れているわけではないと述べています。さらに、筋肉が伸びている位置での部分的なレンジオブモーションは、収縮位置でのトレーニングよりも筋肉成長を促すことがより効果的であると報告されています。また、筋肉の力を生成する過程や筋肉繊維への電気的なシグナルの伝達についても説明されています。

10:04

💪 筋肉の強さとトレーニングの科学

ここでは筋肉が長さを変える際の強さに関する科学が解説されています。筋肉は長さを変える際に約40％強くなると言われており、これは筋肉内にあるタンパク質であるTitinが引き締められることで筋力を増加させるためです。また、トレーニング方法として、通常のトレーニングと比べて、リフティングのみやローリングのみ、またはその両方を組み合わせたトレーニングが筋肉成長にどのように影響を与えるかについても議論されています。

15:05

📊 トレーニング方法の比較と筋肉成長の効果

この段落では、通常のトレーニングとローリングのみのトレーニング、そしてローリングを超载したトレーニングを比較しています。科学的研究に基づいて、これらのトレーニング方法が筋肉成長にどのように影響を与えるかが分析されています。通常のトレーニングはローリングのみのトレーニングと比べて、筋肉成長において同様に効果的であることが示されています。また、ローリングを超载したトレーニングは筋肉成長に効果的であるが、通常のトレーニングと比べて優位性はないとされています。

20:05

🔬 筋肉成長の種類と細胞レベルでの変化

ここでは、リフティングのみとローリングのみのトレーニングが筋肉成長に与える影響の違いについて考察されています。リフティングのみは筋肉の中間部位を主に成長させることができ、ローリングのみは筋肉の下側を成長させるとされています。さらに、細胞レベルでの筋肉成長の違いも議論されており、リフティングのみは筋肉繊維を並べて増加させる（並列増加）を促し、ローリングのみは筋肉繊維を積み重ねて増加させる（系列増加）を促すとされています。

25:06

🛠️ トレーニング方法の選択と効果

最後の段落では、トレーニング方法の選択とその効果について話されています。メンターの方法やローリング超载トレーニングは筋肉成長に効果的であるとされていますが、通常のトレーニングと比べて特に優れているわけではないと同時に述べています。また、ローリング超载トレーニングは最初は疲労や損傷を引き起こす可能性があるが、繰り返しトレーニングを続けることで身体は適応し、疲労感が減少するという点も触れられています。

Keywords

💡ハイパートロフィー

筋肉の成長を促すトレーニング方法です。ビデオでは、重量挙げが筋肉成長に必要なものではないという主張に対処し、筋肉成長を最大化するトレーニング方法について議論しています。特に、重量を持ち上げることよりも、筋肉を最大限に収縮させた状態での静止保持や、重量をゆっくりと下ろすことが重要なポイントとされています。

💡重量挙げ

筋肉を強化するためのトレーニングの一つで、筋肉を収縮させるために重りを持ち上げる運動です。ビデオでは重量挙げが筋肉成長に効果的でないという主張が紹介されており、その代わりに、筋肉を収縮させた状態での静止保持や重量をゆっくりと下ろすことが効果的であるとされています。

💡静的保持

筋肉を一定の位置に固定し、力を維持するトレーニング方法です。ビデオでは、筋肉を最大限に収縮させた状態での静的保持が筋肉成長に有効であると紹介されていますが、最も縮まっている位置でのトレーニングは最も効果的ではないとされています。

💡負の動作

筋肉を伸ばして重量を下ろす動作を指し、ビデオでは筋肉成長において最も重要な部分とされています。特に、重量をゆっくりと下ろすことで筋肉への刺激が大きくなり、筋肉成長を促すとされています。

💡正の動作

筋肉を収縮させて重量を持ち上げる動作です。ビデオでは、負の動作に比べて正の動作は筋肉成長にあまり寄与しないとされていますが、近接失敗状態でのトレーニングでは正の動作も重要な刺激を提供する可能性があると指摘されています。

💡過負荷トレーニング

筋肉への負荷を増やすことによって筋肉成長を促すトレーニング方法です。ビデオでは、負荷を増やすことで筋肉をより強くするメカニズムが説明されており、特に重量を下ろす部分に過負荷をかけることの効果が議論されています。

💡21メソッド

トレーニング中の一方の運動で、両方の腕を使って重量を持ち上げ、片方の腕だけを使って下ろす方法です。ビデオでは、この方法が重量を下ろす際の負荷を増やすことで筋肉成長に効果的であると紹介されています。

💡チートメソッド

運動機構を利用して重量を持ち上げ、コントロールしながら下ろすトレーニング方法です。ビデオでは、この方法が危険であると警告されており、より安全かつ効果的な方法を選ぶべきだと述べています。

💡フェイズトレーニング

トレーニングプログラムを異なるフェイズに分け、それぞれのフェイズで異なるトレーニング方法を適用するトレーニング戦略です。ビデオでは、フェイズトレーニングがトレーニング効果を高めるために有効であるとされています。

💡リピート次数

1セットのトレーニングで行う反復回数です。ビデオでは、リピート次数が筋肉成長に与える影響について説明されており、近接失敗状態でのトレーニングは筋肉成長に重要な刺激を与えるとされています。

💡筋肉疲劳

筋肉が過度に疲れ、さらにはダメージを受けることを指します。ビデオでは、過負荷トレーニングによる筋肉疲劳が筋肉成長に必要な刺激であると説明されていますが、長期的には繰り返しの効果によって疲労感が軽減されると述べています。

💡アクセントuatedローリング

トレーニング中のローリングフェーズに重点を置くトレーニング方法です。ビデオでは、アクセントuatedローリングがローリングフェーズを強化することで筋肉成長に効果的であると紹介されています。

💡トレーニングテンポ

1回のリピートにおける上げ下げのスピードを指します。ビデオでは、トレーニングテンポが筋肉成長に与える影響について議論されており、様々なテンポでのトレーニングが効果的であることが示されています。

Highlights

Lifting weights may not be as crucial for muscle growth as previously thought, with more emphasis on the lowering phase.

Static holds in the contracted position followed by slow lowering of the weight could be a more effective method for muscle stimulation.

Mike Menezes and Arthur Jones advocate for the importance of the negative (lowering) part of the exercise for muscle growth.

Leg extensions, lat pull-downs, pull-ups, chin-ups, lateral raises, and bicep curls are exercises suitable for the described method.

Slowing down the lowering phase of an exercise can be more challenging due to muscles being approximately 40% stronger during this phase.

Methods such as Nordic curls, reverse Nordic curls, weighted pull-ups, and the 21 method can challenge the lowering part of exercises effectively.

The 'cheat' method involves using momentum to lift the weight and controlling the lowering portion, which can be risky.

Flywheel devices are special machines that can provide a greater challenge during the lowering part of exercises.

Anecdotal evidence from trainers suggests significant improvements in muscle strength and size using the lowering emphasis method.

Scientific research has begun to explore the effects of lifting vs. lowering on muscle growth and force generation.

Static holds at the most contracted position are not necessarily superior for muscle activation compared to more lengthened positions.

Research indicates that partial range of motions at lengthened positions can build more muscle than those at contracted positions.

The role of the central nervous system and passive forces like titin in muscle contraction and the effectiveness of training methods.

A study from Japan suggests that the lowering part of exercises may be more responsible for muscle growth compared to lifting.

The potential limitations of the Japanese study, such as the subjects' proximity to failure during training, could affect the results.

Overloaded lowering training can be effective for building muscle but may not be superior to normal training methods.

Accentuated lowering training, which challenges both the lifting and lowering phases, has shown similar hypertrophy results to normal training.

Recovery and fatigue considerations when incorporating overloaded lowering training into a workout regimen.

The role of tempo during normal training and its impact on muscle hypertrophy.

Combining faster lifting tempo with slower lowering tempo has shown mixed results in studies, suggesting individual preference is key.

The overall conclusion that normal training, including both lifting and lowering phases, is effective and not necessarily inferior to specialized methods.

Transcripts

[Music]

welcome to the house of hypertrophy is

it true that lifting weights is a waste

of time for maximizing muscle growth and

that instead static holds in the

contracted position followed by slowly

lowering the weight is the secret no

doubt it's a bold claim and it's one

made by Mike Miner as well as indirectly

by Arthur Jones who was the founder of

the hit training system Mena States I

have come to discover that lifting

weight is is a waste of time the

positive portion of any exercise the

lifting of the weight is the least for

Ive in terms of stimulating and increase

author Jones States the negative part of

work Steve is by far the most productive

and the most important part of exercise

and when you leave the negative work out

of exercise you have little or nothing

of benefit left you may be wondering how

on Earth you would use this information

to help your training there are a few

ways Mike menes describes his approach

with my clients I have been putting a

heavier weight than normal on the leg

extension machine a weight considerably

heavier than they can handle for 6 to 10

reps to failure I help them into the

straight L contracted position and they

hold it there for as long as they can

literally and then I emphasize now start

to lower it very slowly under control

reset psychologically and let's do one

more besides leg extensions leg Coes lat

pull Downs pull-ups chinups lateral

raises and biceps Coes are exercises

where this method can be done this

method May sometimes require a partner

to assist you with lifting the load into

the static hold position but if we

forget about performing The static hold

all together there are some creative

ways you can challenge yourself more in

the lowering part of an exercise without

a partner before quickly describing

these some of you may be wondering about

just slowing down the lowering part of

normal training the thing is your

muscles are approximately 40% stronger

during the lowering phase so although

slowing down the lowering part of normal

training provides a greater challenge

throughout the lowering you're still

going to be held back by your lifting

strength so it's not quite optimally

challenging the lowering part even so we

will discuss if you should slow down the

lowering part with normal training later

on in this video nonetheless here are

the methods that more effectively

challenge the lowering parts starting

with lowering only many people are not

strong enough to perform the lifting

part of Nordic cods and reverse Nordic

CS so just training the lowering part is

highly challenging the same applies to

pull-ups and chin-ups if you're not

strong enough to lift yourself up yet

just training the lowering of the

movement can be challenging you can even

use weighted pull-ups or chin-ups with a

load you're not strong enough to lift so

that you're just challenging yourself on

the lowering portion we also have the

two1 method where you lift the load with

two limbs but then switch to lowering

with only one limb thereby providing a

greater challenge in the lowering pot

for that limb this can be done with a

range of exercises leg extensions leg HS

seated rows chest presses landmine rows

and landmine presses

finally there's the more risky cheat

method where you use momentum and cheat

to lift the load and then you control

the lowering portion there are also

special machines that provide a greater

challenge in the lowering part such as

flywheel devices but I'm assuming the

majority of people don't have access to

this but the information in this video

certainly applies to these special

machines too so should you be

implementing any of these methods into

your program can it unlock a new level

of gains and elevate your physique to

new heights well both Mena and Jones

provide their anecdotes I had one client

start up with Me 3 and 1/2 months ago he

couldn't do the whole stack on the leg

extension for even one rep but after two

months he was up to the whole stack for

14 reps then he hit a sticking point he

couldn't go beyond 14 Reps for three

workouts this was when I started working

with the idea of static contracted holes

and lowering for two or three workouts

in a row all he did was hold a very

heavy weight in the straight leg

position and lowered it doing it two

times in that fashion as I described the

next workout we went back to see if

there was a carry over to the positive

strength and his his leg extensions went

up to 20 reps that's a phenomenal

Improvement Mena goes on to say and I'm

I'm not exaggerating when I say that

this is literally one of the most

stunning discoveries in recent

bodybuilding science author Jones States

uh in We did an experiment at the

military academy at Westport in

1975 the Bengals a professional football

team from Cincinnati had

hired a football player uh they' signed

him up to a contract had given him an

$80,000 bonus the man weighed 286 lb and

one of his tests in order to be accepted

was he had to Chin himself a certain

number of times you know do a pull up on

a bar this man couldn't begin to Chin

himself 12 days prior to his reporting

for the training camp they sent him to

us in in desperation and said make this

man capable of chinning himself

otherwise we're going to blow our

880,000 we've given him the 80,000 he

spent it it's gone if he can't chin

himself we're going to have to drop him

so do something please you got 12 days

to do it well you know we take him to a

chinning bar he reaches up he grabs a

hold of the bar he tries to pull and

nothing happens so what do you do well

you can't train him in a positive manner

he's incapable of pulling himself up so

we put him on a bench

in the top position and then we removed

the bench and told him to lower himself

the first time we did it he went zaap to

the floor he just about yanked his arms

out by the roots he couldn't even do a

negative chin he couldn't lower

himself so we held him up we stood under

him held him by the Bucks and gave him

assistance so that he could do part of

the negative work 12 days later he was

tested he did 4 and 3/4 's chins in a

normal fashion pulling himself up and

lowering himself down pulling himself

back up he didn't quite get five but

that was more than enough to pass his

test although these anecdotes from Mena

and Jones are highly fascinating by no

means do they sincerely prove the

superiority of the methodology these are

just two individual anecdotes no

comparisons with other training were

made and muscle growth wasn't measured

fortunately the scientific research has

come a long way since Mena and Jones

made statements and the literature Can

Shed light onto whether Mena and Jones

were on to something sit back and relax

as we dissect the science on this

fascinating topic we'll get to the

bottom of how muscle growth Compares

between the lifting and lowering

portions if any of the methods outlined

are superior and we'll also learn about

some underrated facts about how muscles

generate force and adapt to

[Music]

training before deconstructing how

growth May compare between the lifting

and lowering portions I would like to

dissect the first part of men's

recommendation specifically which

involves a static hold at the most

contracted position in other words an

isometric at the contracted position

Mena believe this to be powerful

obviously the only place that you can

achieve a maximum contraction would be

in the fully contracted position that is

the only position of the exercise where

100% of the muscular bulk can be

activated we have research verifying

that static holds near the contracted

position indeed stimulate hypertrophy

however there is nothing Superior about

this in fact the same research finds

that holding static contractions at more

lengthened muscle positions generates

more muscle hypertrophy the research on

partial range of motions further

supports this notion that is partial

range of motions at lengthened muscle

positions tend to build more muscle than

partial range of motions at contracted

positions for example this 2014 paper

compared leg extensions with a partial

at lengthen positions to contracted

positions and vastest lateralis growth

was better with the lengthened partials

another 2021 Japanese paper compared

preach chos with a partial at lengthened

positions to contracted positions and

combined biceps and brachialis growth

was better with the lengthened partials

in fact regular viewers of the House of

hypertrophy will know that emerging

research specifically three Studies have

found that a partial range of motion at

lengthened muscle positions built more

muscle overall compared to a full range

of motion more research is required to

verify if partials at lengthened

positions are always more Superior to a

full range of motion regardless all of

this data would indicate that although

static holes at the contracted position

do evoke muscle hypertrophy there's

nothing special about it why could this

be after all Mensa said the contracted

position was the only position of the

exercise where 100% of the muscle bolt

can be activated well Mena wasn't quite

correct when the muscle is fully

contracted and you're squeezing it you

shouldn't confuse the feeling as an

indicator of the actual forces being

generated by the muscle fibers muscles

generate Force thanks to their sarom

which are the force generating units of

muscles here's how a sarom looks force

is generated when things called the me

heads extend from the me filament and

pull on the actin filament towards the

mline these forces are transmitted to

the tendon causing the muscle to pull on

the bone when the muscle is shortened

fully sometimes the sarcomas can be

excessively shortened to the point where

many M and heads cannot extend and

attach to the acting filaments to

generate Force another Factor we need to

consider is your central nervous system

that's the CNS which is your brain and

spinal cord remember muscles produce

force in the first place thanks to the

electrical signals they receive from the

CNS it may come as a surprise to some

but most people CNS cannot fully access

100% of a muscle Force produced reducing

potential there is some degree of

deficit for example this study found

subjects could only access 84.5% of the

quadriceps maximum Force producing

potential whereas it was 95% for the

elbow flexes and carves these are called

your voluntary activation levels quite

interestingly a couple of studies

indicate voluntary activation may be

higher at more lengthened positions in

other words your CNS has an easier time

accessing the force producing potential

of your muscle fibers at lengthened

positions a final Factor we need to

consider is passive forces besides the

myosin and active interactions that

generate force your muscles have

structures that can generate Force when

they are stretched such as Titan which

is within the sarcomere itself this is a

passive force and rubber bands can help

you conceptualize this when you stretch

a rubber band it produces passive Force

to resist the stretch and when you let

go of it that passive Force snaps it

back into its original shape Titan

operates in the same way generating

passive forces when stretched all these

three reasons tell us why the most

contracted position isn't necessarily

the position where the muscle produces

the most force or where 100% of the

muscle bulk is

activated now although all this research

outlined indicates that static holes in

the most contracted position aren't

special this doesn't discount men's

method yet because remember the static

hold is just one part the second part is

controlling the lowering parts of the

movement this raises the question are

Mena and Jones correct is the lowering

part the most productive with lifting

being a waste of time and providing

little

benefits a paper from Japan provides a

fascinating insight into how growth May

compare between the lifting and lowering

of an exercise 53 previously untrained

individuals were assigned to a lifting

only lowering only normal group or

control group The control group did

nothing and expectedly made no gains so

we'll ignore them all the other groups

train the preach Ur with a partial range

of motion at the lengthened position two

times per week for 5 weeks the lifting

only group just performed the lifting

motion with an investigator placing the

weight back to the

start the lowering only group just

performed the lowering motion with an

investigator placing the weight back at

the

top a normal group performed both the

lifting and lowering portions as you

normally would all three three groups

perform three sets of 10 repetitions

with the same dumbbell load the dumbbell

load was progressed from 30 to 100% of

their maximum isometric strength it was

found elbow flexor growth consisting of

the biceps and brachialis increased the

most in the normal and lowering only

groups with minimal gain seen from the

lifting group at face value these

results indicate the lowering part of

the exercises are overwhelmingly

responsible for the growth seen from

normal training with lifting adding very

little this exactly supports what Arthur

Jones stated when you leave the negative

work out of exercise you have little or

nothing of benefit left however there is

a potentially crucial limitation in the

Japanese paper we don't know how close

the failure subjects got all we know is

the groups use the same Dumbo load which

was progressed throughout the study but

based on the numbers I speculate it's

quite likely the subjects were trading

quite far from failure for a fair chunk

of the study why does this matter with

the lifting phase of an exercise taking

reps in close proximity to failure

ensures we achieve High muscle fiber

Recruitment and forces in this portion

which is essential for optimizing the

stimulus for growth you probably don't

have to go all the way to failure

getting three to two reps away from

failure could

suffice we have a range of studies that

have had subjects train harder with

lifting only repetitions and much better

hypertrophy is achieved in these studies

special machines were largely used that

unload Ed the lowering phase so that

only the lifting was resisted based on

this data if we return to the paper from

Japan it's likely if subjects went

sufficiently close to failure we'd see

lifting only to produce better

hypertrophy moreover perhaps the normal

group thanks to the addition of the

lifting phase getting closer to failure

would see even better growth surpassing

the lowering only group accordingly i'

speculate normal training is probably

Superior to lowering

only however we've just been talking

talking about lowering only training

with the same load that you'd use with

normal training as alluded to near the

start of the video when muscles are

producing force during the lowering of

an exercise you're a lot stronger

approximately 40% stronger before going

any further an interesting question is

why are muscles stronger while

lengthening Titan might be the answer

recall Titan is a structure found within

the sarcomas providing passive tension

when the sarom stretches there's

speculation that when your muscles

generate Force while lengthening Titan

Alters its structure such that it can

generate even greater passive forces

therefore the combination of these

greater passive forces from Titan with

the forces generated from myin and actin

attachments may be the main reason why

muscles are stronger while lengthening

during muscle shortening when lifting

it's only the mein and actin attachments

that are really contributing to force

production near the start of the video

we also mentioned a range of methods you

can use to more optimally challenge the

lowering part of exercises I would

describe these as overloaded lowering

training the key with these is you're

lowering away under control that you

can't lift or at least would struggle to

lift with the two1 method though you're

lifting the load with both limbs you're

then switching to only one limb to

perform the lowering and presumably this

one limb would struggle to lift the load

with some exercises like Nordic Coes

reverse Nordic Coes pull-ups and chinups

assuming you're not strong enough to

perform the lifting part yet just

performing controlled Low Reps means

you're overloading this part as for

men's method I would actually say this

is pretty close to qualifying as

lowering only overloaded training recall

he has subjects use quite heavy loads in

the first place on top of this a static

hold at the contracted position is held

until fatigue first this would

essentially pre fatigue the muscle and

make it very hard if not impossible to

lift the weight further thereby meaning

the upcoming controlled lowering

somewhat replicates the physiological

condition of overloaded lowering

training this raises the question how

effective are lowering only repetitions

when they are overloaded beyond what can

be lifted remember I showed you this

graph demonstrating that training harder

with lifting only can produce notable

growth all the studies also had other

groups that were performing lowering

only repetitions which were overloaded

special machines were used to achieve

this and these machines unloaded the

lifting part so that lowering only

overloaded reps was before performed

this did actually produce slightly more

hypertrophy versus the lifting only

training as a result all the methods we

mentioned that overloaded the lowering

portion including menor's method are

likely going to be quite effective for

building muscle but does this mean

they're Superior to normal training well

this data is just comparing lifting only

to lowering only normal training isn't

just lifting it's lifting plus the

underloaded lowering reps and we know as

per the Japanese study underloaded

lowering reps still produce respectable

hypertrophy as a result normal training

might end up producing similar

hypertrophy to lowering only overloaded

reps indeed this is exactly what this

paper established as far as I know it

seems to be the only paper comparing

normal training to lowering only

overloaded reps allbe it in untrained

older individuals muscle growth was

similar between both now some of you

might be quite surprised at this you may

be thinking wait a second considering

how much muscle those under loaded

lowering reps built in the Japanese

paper shouldn't normal training go

beyond and surpass lowering only

overloaded training or conversely

perhaps you've been thinking something

entirely different this whole time

you're thinking since men's method also

involves a pref fatiguing static hold at

the contracted position which we know

can stimulate hypertrophy shouldn't this

make it Superior to normal training well

I think both are probably incorrect I

think some kind of threshold to the

amount of growth that can be generated

from your reps exists and it may be

related to the interaction between

stimulus and fatigue this ultimately

means the growth produced by normal

training just ends up being similar to

lowering only overloaded training and

menor's Method research on accentuated

lowering training leads me to speculate

this what is accentuated lowering

training we've just been discussing

lowering only overloaded reps with the

machines in the studies resulting in no

real lifting reps performed but there

are even special machines out out there

that can challenge you well during the

lifting phase and then increase the load

to overload the lowering phase this is

accentuated lowering training in fact

the 21 method may be considered a form

of accentuated lowering training since

the lifting part is performed with two

limbs you would think that accentuated

lowering training should undeniably be

superior for building muscle since we're

challenging the muscle highly during

both the lifting and lowering Parts but

there have been 11 studies to my

knowledge comparing how accentuated

lowering training compares to normal

training and the majority of them find

similar hypertrophy between both perhaps

because there's only so much that can be

stimulated summarizing this section the

lowering part of normal training does

seem to contribute respectively to

muscle growth but provided you're

trading near to failure the lifting

portion will still contribute to muscle

growth lowering only overloaded training

and accentuated lowering training can be

effective for building muscle but the

over evidence would suggest they're no

more effective than normal

training so far we've just been focusing

on the overall magnitude of hypertrophy

but based on a couple of studies some

might suggest that despite the overall

magnitude of muscle hypertrophy being

comparable between normal training and

overloaded lowering training the type of

muscle growth they produce is slightly

different this is actually a highly

fascinating speculation let us explore

it more

we have some research indicating that

lifting only repetitions May

preferentially grow the middle regions

of a muscle more while lowering only

overloaded repetitions better grow the

lower regions of a muscle furthermore

the type of growth experienced at the

cellular level could differ between

lifting only and lowering only

overloaded training we know sarom are

the force generating units of muscles

one of the primary ways muscles increase

in size is by adding more sarom sarcomas

can be added on top of each other which

is called an increase in sarom in

parallel or sares can be added next to

each other which is called an increase

in sarcomas in series we have some

research alluding to the idea that

lifting only reps predominantly

increases sarom in parallel while

lowering only overloaded reps

predominantly increases sarom in series

as a result methods that overload the

lowering part may do well to grow the

lower regions of muscle and stimulate an

increase in sarcomas in

series as for normal training remember

it's lifting plus underloaded lowering

reps and likely thanks to the inclusion

of these underloaded lowering reps

normal training has actually been

documented to cause pretty impressive

growth at lower regions of a muscle as

well as likely an increase in sarcomas

in series this seems to be particularly

true when using a full range of motion

that achieves a lengthened muscle

position or even using a partial range

of motion at lengthened muscle positions

now lowering only overloaded training

may still produce slightly better lower

region growth and increases in Psycho

series versus normal training but I

don't know if these are practically

meaningful enough in the long term yet

therefore in the absence of other

research my current speculation is that

if you're just performing normal

training you're probably not leaving

much on the

[Music]

table one of the justifications from

mener ditching the lifting portion was

that he thought it was excessively

fatiguing and prolonged recovery the

that the the positive or the lifting of

the weight is a negative in that it is

the one portion of the exercise that

makes the deepest inroad in the recovery

ability meno wasn't correct we now have

solid data demonstrating that lowering

only overloaded training causes a lot

more damage sess and strength reductions

in the days after compared to lifting

only training we even have data

indicating that combining both lifting

and lowering only overloaded training

I.E accentuated lowering produced no

more fatigue than lowering only

overloaded training indicating the

addition of the lifting did not

exacerbate fatigue rather the

overwhelming amount of fatigue was

attributable to the lowering Parts this

is something to be mindful of if you'd

like to perform lowering only overloaded

training it's going to be quite

fatiguing at least initially but your

body does produce a range of adaptations

that reduce the amount of fatigue you

experience over time these adaptations

are called the repeated bow effect and

at the house of hypertrophy we've

previously dissected this study which

found after a training session of five

sets of 15 maximal lowering only

overloaded reps substantial fatigue

damage and soreness was present for at

least 5 days after the training but as

subjects kept training with these

lowering only overloaded reps across 10

weeks they experienced a lot less

fatigue damage and soreness in fact by

the 10th week there was very little to

no soreness damage and fatigue in the

days after training therefore if you are

including lowering only overloaded

training your recovery from it should

improve over time nonetheless the main

point of this section was to demonstrate

that contrary to men's thoughts at the

time the evidence certainly does not

support the idea that lifting is more

fatiguing than

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[Music]

this before wrapping up I would like to

discuss the role of tempo during normal

training how far should you lift and

lower this 2015 meta analysis combined

the results of all the studies up to

that time and found that provided you

were performing repetitions to or very

close to failure individual rep tempos

between 0.5 and 8 seconds produced

similar muscle hypertrophy note these

durations combine both the lifting and

lowering phases more recent research

further supports the notion that both

faster and slower rep speeds can be

similarly effective for building muscle

it had subjects trained the leg

extension with reps to failure with one

leg using a 1second lifting and 1 second

lowering Tempo and the other leg using a

3-sec lifting and 3 second lowering

Tempo here were the time under tension

durations for each leg and despite the

difference is muscle growth was similar

between both as a result provided you're

performing your reps near enough to

failure you're free to train with

whatever repetition speed you prefer

however some people have suggested

combining a faster lifting Tempo with a

slower lowering Tempo could be the

recipe for Superior gains what does the

research say about this two Studies have

indeed found that when using a 1-second

lifting speed on the preacher curl using

a 4sec lowering speed tended to produce

better biceps gains versus using a

1second lowering speed however three

other Studies have more conflicting

results one paper out of Japan found

that when using a 2 second lifting Tempo

on the back squat thigh gains were

similar between using a two and 4 second

lowering Tempo another paper from Brazil

found when using a 1se second lifting

Tempo on the leg extension rectus for

morus and vastus lateralis growth were

similar between using a 2 and 4 second

lowering speed but vastest medialist

gains were greater for the 4 second

lowering speed finally a study out of

the USA found that when using a 1second

lifting Tempo on the leg extension gains

in anterior thigh at one region were

similar between using a 1second lowering

and 2C lowering Tempo but gains at

another region of the anterior thigh

were actually greater with the 1se

second lowering Tempo all in all it's

clear the research fails to currently

establish a unanimously Superior

lowering Tempo but it's also clear the

speed you lower with isn't the make or

break for your trading program you're

going to make gains either way so I'd

recommend using whatever lowering Tempo

you

prefer Mena and Jones were partly

correct in that the lowering part of

normal training contributes respectively

to muscle growth but there claims that

the lifting part was a waste of time and

provided little or no benefit isn't true

provided you're training near to failure

the lifting portion will still

contribute to muscle growth your muscles

are approximately 40% stronger during

the lowering and methods that get you to

challenge yourself more during the

lowering part can be effective for

building muscle including mentor's

method but the overall evidence would

imply they're no more effective than

normal training this should not be

mistaken for me saying no one should

ever perform these methods if it's

something you'd like to try and you can

do it safely with any of the methods

outlined then that's perfectly fine bear

in mind that contrary to men's claims

overloaded lowering training can be

quite damaging and fatiguing at least

initially but your body does produce

adaptations over time that decrease

damage so this isn't necessarily an

issue thank you for watching feel free

to check out the alpha progression app

or our recent video that dissects a

fascinating new study on set numbers for

building muscle