Heavy Support method for strength

[Samraiwise]

The followings are excerpts from an article, "Bodybuilding.com - Josh Henkin - Forgotten Methods Of ..."
I want to hear any opinions or thoughts from actual experiences of this method, pros and cons, especially about *2 part would be appreciated.

My gratitude in advance for your replies.


- Heavy Supports

Many lifters forget that not being able to lift a weight is often a result of failure of the nervous system rather than the muscles. The nervous system is actually responsible for recruitment of muscles and "shutting down" the body when it feels it is in a dangerous situation. There are many tricks to manipulate the nervous system in not letting the body quit so early. A classic method is using heavy supports.

Supports involves holding more than maximal weight on a specific lift. For example, if you wanted to improve your overhead pressing strength you would set up a power rack so that all you had to do is get under the bar and lift about 2 inches off the rails. You would hold about 10-15% more than your maximal lift for about 10 seconds.

*1. Doing this at the start of your set would trick the body in letting you use more weight.
*2. Performing this at the end would teach your body how to handle more weight and not shut down so early.

This is also a great way to build tendon and ligament strength that was a core principle in old time training, but has been lost over the years. Other exercises that heavy supports lend themselves to are squats, deadlifts, and bench press. However, you can become creative with other movements. -

[SA12]

A lot of powerlifters use this technique to improve their maximum lifts. Partial deadlifts is the one I have seen used the most but I think it could be applied to a lot of excercises

[smdiskin]

I've used this type of thing on squats for a long time when I want to get up to the next weight... just put the weight on the bar and see what it feels like... don't even get a 1/4 squat ....
Tend to do it after I've done my working sets, but when you take the extra weight off, I find I can do another set of my working weight and it feels light and I get a better ROM....
Never thought of it like that before

[Dymondintheruff]

This is something I will definitely add to my training. I can see a reason that maybe not too many people do this anymore is they may be made fun of at the gym. How many times have I seen people do a quarter rep on the squat, leg press or bench press and thought "geez they have no idea of what they are doing". Maybe they do and maybe they don't but you never know. So now I will try it for the next month.

[Samraiwise]

Originally Posted by SA12

...I think it could be applied to a lot of excercises

YES!!

Originally Posted by smdiskin

I've used this type of thing on squats for a long time when I want to get up to the next weight... just put the weight on the bar and see what it feels like... don't even get a 1/4 squat ....
Tend to do it after I've done my working sets, but when you take the extra weight off, I find I can do another set of my working weight and it feels light and I get a better ROM....
Never thought of it like that before

Exactly!!
At that moment, you feel you have a perfect control over the load even in the weakest position.

Originally Posted by Dymondintheruff

This is something I will definitely add to my training. I can see a reason that maybe not too many people do this anymore is they may be made fun of at the gym. How many times have I seen people do a quarter rep on the squat, leg press or bench press and thought "geez they have no idea of what they are doing". Maybe they do and maybe they don't but you never know. So now I will try it for the next month.

That's the spirit, m'lady!!

We might have missed so much opportunities in what we saw before our own eyes.
Only one who has an inquisitive mind could find their wings and fly.



I always seek the way to trigger and effectively boost my CNS burst.

Having been doing only ascending sets for main exercises in a hope,
my body would learn eventually that the weight it will lift is always heavier than the one it previously lifted.

For the past three months since I made this thread in April, having been doing this heavy supports between those ascending sets(usually between 2nd and 3rd sets, using 20-30 lbs heavier load for the sets), lately I find the supposedly heavier next set is not always so hard to lift, rather often feel actually lighter than the previous set, with a total control over the load as a bonus.

Good luck!!

[Dymondintheruff]

Guess it was like a needle in a haystack but I'm glad I found it. It was just what I should have been doing. Thank you sir!

[misstransformer]

Originally Posted by Samraiwise

The followings are excerpts from an article, "Bodybuilding.com - Josh Henkin - Forgotten Methods Of ..."
I want to hear any opinions or thoughts from actual experiences of this method, pros and cons, especially about *2 part would be appreciated.

My gratitude in advance for your replies.


- Heavy Supports

Many lifters forget that not being able to lift a weight is often a result of failure of the nervous system rather than the muscles. The nervous system is actually responsible for recruitment of muscles and "shutting down" the body when it feels it is in a dangerous situation. There are many tricks to manipulate the nervous system in not letting the body quit so early. A classic method is using heavy supports.

Supports involves holding more than maximal weight on a specific lift. For example, if you wanted to improve your overhead pressing strength you would set up a power rack so that all you had to do is get under the bar and lift about 2 inches off the rails. You would hold about 10-15% more than your maximal lift for about 10 seconds.

*1. Doing this at the start of your set would trick the body in letting you use more weight.
*2. Performing this at the end would teach your body how to handle more weight and not shut down so early.

This is also a great way to build tendon and ligament strength that was a core principle in old time training, but has been lost over the years. Other exercises that heavy supports lend themselves to are squats, deadlifts, and bench press. However, you can become creative with other movements. -

Very interesting. I'm often cautious when training my lower body, because I worry that my existing weight, with additional poundage, might be too stressful on my knees(though I have not had knee problems). Its possible I've set up a mental block, and if this article is correct, that would explain a few things.

I often feel that I can't squat or lift heavier poundage, but after MUCH self-talk and CAUTIOUS "testing" of heavier poundage, I always manage to do so. I still don't believe I've squatted the max I can handle. Now I love deadlifts, because the worry about my knees is not there. Thanks for posting this article, I'm going to read more about this.

[Samraiwise]

Hi misstransformer,

I THANK YOU for replying to this thread.
And also you've just shed light on an important aspect of this method.

I myself have been trying to be very careful in the past to prevent unneccessary and unwelcome injuries which, if occurs, most likely would humper my plan for a long time.

However I must point out that injuries don't always happen to you when you think you are going to lift real heavy, rather they tend to happen when you underestimate the lift before you execute it. Like when right after finishing your heaviest set and your mind and body starting to relax expecting the next set is a lighter one.

A correct aproach of this heavy supports method is not letting ourselves underestimate our next lift and relax, but making our mind and body expect heavier lift and be ready for it before actually trying it,

Using this method we should feel it an easy lift, never before the lift, but always during and after the lift as a result of our preparedness.

Again, thank you for giving me a chance to clear things up.

I wish you good luck!!

Kaz

[misstransformer]

Originally Posted by Samraiwise

Hi misstransformer,

I THANK YOU for replying to this thread.
And also you've just shed light on an important aspect of this method.

I myself have been trying to be very careful in the past to prevent unneccessary and unwelcome injuries which, if occurs, most likely would humper my plan for a long time.

However I must point out that injuries don't always happen to you when you think you are going to lift real heavy, rather they tend to happen when you underestimate the lift before you execute it. Like when right after finishing your heaviest set and your mind and body starting to relax expecting the next set is a lighter one.

A correct aproach of this heavy supports method is not letting ourselves underestimate our next lift and relax, but making our mind and body expect heavier lift and be ready for it before actually trying it,

Using this method we should feel it an easy lift, never before the lift, but always during and after the lift as a result of our preparedness.

Again, thank you for giving me a chance to clear things up.

I wish you good luck!!

Kaz

Hi Kaz, no problem at all, and again thank you. This makes a lot of sense. Balance, balance, balance, is key. It's important to be cautious, but not to the point that it prevents one from truly challenging themselves during workouts. I've noticed the relax phase you mentioned as well. As a result, I now mentally hit the weights prepared to experience the entire range of motion...no cheating...no compromise for EVERY rep. You're right, regardless of the poundage, it's important to stay focused and never underestimate the lift. Good stuff.

p.s. Also, I found your thread after searching for support when squatting heavy, and your post was one of the threads which appeared.

[jdmalm123]

I am a proponent of these methods!

[endogenous]

i might be sort of repeating what others have said, but i've used this method for squats and bench and one of the benefits i've found is all mental. i don't mean ego lifting, more like getting over fear. it can be intimidating trying to lift a weight much heavier than ever, even just holding it for a few seconds. but after you've done so, your confidence in handling your regular weights soars -- which can be very useful.