There are a few ways to gain strength. Put on more plates, scream and yell, and try to push the weight. Or you can go slow, pause, or explode up. These are all things that we do in class and our coaches are familiar with. The important piece to this is our staff knowing the why behind the processes. This will ensure their passion to coach it correctly and give you the best advice out there.
#1 Go Slow or Elongate the Eccentric Phase
An eccentric motion is one in which a muscle is lengthened during contraction. In terms of a squat, the eccentric movement occurs in the downward phase of the squat motion as you control the movement. During that phase, the muscles in the legs are lengthening to slow the pace of descent. Another example would the negative or a slow descent in the pull up. We have been doing these a ton lately and we have seen some great success.
This slow lowering of the body under control gives us a few benefits. Number one it builds strength throughout the movement. It is also a good way to reinforce strong position and mechanics. In the CrossFit Level One Seminar we are taught to nail down Mechanics then make them Consistent then focus on Intensity. Working on the eccentric phase is a good time for us to focus on the building blocks, the mechanics of the movement. This is an excellent way to build strength and be less prone to injury.
Side note: One of our long time members Nicol has been working on her negatives for about 3 months. She ditched the bands and only did negatives. She just hit 6 strict pull ups last week!
#2 The Pause
At CrossFit Federal Hill we work the pause in a ton of different movements. From the pull up to the snatch. But, what we probably hammer the most is a pause in the bottom of a front squat or back squat. The pause is a powerful tool to develop control and strength at a potential sticking point. Most people fail a squat in the bottom. If we can get to that position under sub-maximal load, hold tension then drive up we will get stronger in that end range of motion.
# 3 Explode
Any explosive lifts that we do are going to be done with a load that you can move quickly. Speed deadlifts and speed squats are two of the movements that we have hit before. The rate of muscular contraction is a long debated topic in the strength and conditioning world. Most of an individual’s speed is genetics. Muscle Fiber type, anatomical differences, and neurological function. This is obvious when you have people that can jump really high. That speed of muscular contraction usually means they will gain strength quickly. However there are certain ways of training to bring out your maximum speed potential.
When we deadlift, squat, clean or snatch at 50-60% and tell you our focus is speed we want you to lift fast. This will translate maximal loads and help your overall speed. The thing about speed is that mechanics always come first. You can find the most explosive chick out there. If she has never cleaned before you will probably clean more than her. But, once she develops her mechanics then layers on consistency she will be much stronger. In the end speed training is important, but it must be layered with solid mechanics because in the end solid mechanics will be the best tool you can develop.
# 4 Lengthen the Concentric Phase
If we go slow on the eccentric phase we can also reverse that to the concentric phase. Coming up in the push up, or coming up on the squat. The benefits are all similar to the “negative” we talked about in tip #1. And go back to building strong positions.
The tips above will not be done with big numbers, it will not be something you can show off with. But, overtime these things will add up to huge numbers. This is the stuff you do not see the best in the world doing. This is how you truly develop strength, break through plateaus and become the strongest version of you.
Written By: Geo Rockwell