Back Day... Controlled w/ Squeeze vs Bang-it-out

[804Prince]

Hey guys,

Just had a decent back day. Its my third gym sesh in three days, so I was feeling a little fatigued. Rest day tomorrow for sure.

I noticed that many back workouts can either be done very controlled, with 1) minimum trunk movement and a squeeze at the end or 2) leaning back, twisting, or jerking (lat pulldowns & rows) to hit your rep range. I see lifters with different levels of experience do either/or. I was wondering if there was any consensus when doing hypertrophic lifts.

Thanks!

[BeginnerGainz]

I always give every single movement I do a slight pause at the bottom or top of the rep (depending on the exercise).

If I can’t hold the contraction with the target muscles then the weight is too heavy for me.

[jk202]

Twisting, jerking and momentum are not prudent to hypertrophic journeys.

[leidenesLK]

The majority of back movements don’t have the most ideal resistance curves (hardest at concentric), so the last thing I’d want to do is to cheat myself of stimulus with momentum.

[Heisman2]

For the reasons mentioned above I think this is one area where dropsets can be quite helpful. Use heavier weight to hit the beginning portion of the movement and then lighter weight with squeezing/pausing at the end of a full range of motion to hit the latter portion of the movement.

That said I would stay away from twisting/jerking movements.

[smokinal]

For the reasons mentioned above I think this is one area where dropsets can be quite helpful. Use heavier weight to hit the beginning portion of the movement and then lighter weight with squeezing/pausing at the end of a full range of motion to hit the latter portion of the movement.

That said I would stay away from twisting/jerking movements.

Came in to say this exact thing.

When going heavy, on any movement, it's tough to keep strict, proper form through all reps. We all cheat a little here and there.
I train almost exclusively with drop sets for this exact reason. Start heavy with a little cheat, then drop with ultra strict form and a little more time under tension.

And as others have said, it's not advised to go so heavy/cheat that you put yourself at risk of injury. AKA, Branch Warren style

[ezra76]

For the reasons mentioned above I think this is one area where dropsets can be quite helpful. Use heavier weight to hit the beginning portion of the movement and then lighter weight with squeezing/pausing at the end of a full range of motion to hit the latter portion of the movement.

That said I would stay away from twisting/jerking movements.

When I row in my basement I like to go on the heavy side which requires a little momentum. Then put the bar onto my rack on low setting, get under it and do a pullup row set to failure.

[EliKoehn]

Well, I think there's a difference in your question between A.) Explosiveness/speed and B.) Simply performing the motion wrong.

When doing lat pulldowns, for instance, it's optional (and more intense) to do it slowly and pause at the bottom, whereas back extending downward or twisting into it is simply bad form and makes it no longer even a lat pulldown. Couldn't recommend the latter personally.

[MyEgoProblem]

for compound movements

Control the eccentric.
Explode the concentric.
Pauses are optional.
Control is mandatory

No point going over about a 2s eccentric without a very specific reason.

Concentric. As explosive as possible while being clean form.
https://www.strongerbyscience.com/sp...h-press-gains/

Pauses.. Can help regulate where most stress is accumulated. Eg Peak contraction.

For 'isolations' ... Use your best judgement, these matter much less anyway overall.. But can be easier on your body to just use a controlled natural tempo.

Yes. This applies for hyp aswell as str..
But nothing is written in stone, this is just all proven and not just bro anecdote

[GeneralSerpant]

If you look at the bench press as either a controlled vs momentum it's no contest because the function of the primary muscles is very simple and boring. Even though it's a pressing exercise, the pecs just clench and control and that dominates the heavy training real estate for that movement.

With the back though, there's a lot of more kinetic based exercises at heavier weight available opposite the control based movements. With lower body exercises it pretty much divides power and bodybuilding, but with back it's all suitable for bodybuilding or athletics.

[EliKoehn]

If you look at the bench press as either a controlled vs momentum it's no contest because the function of the primary muscles is very simple and boring. Even though it's a pressing exercise, the pecs just clench and control and that dominates the heavy training real estate for that movement.

With the back though, there's a lot of more kinetic based exercises at heavier weight available opposite the control based movements. With lower body exercises it pretty much divides power and bodybuilding, but with back it's all suitable for bodybuilding or athletics.

Can you elaborate on what you mean re the bench?

Not sure I follow you on that one.

[GeneralSerpant]

Can you elaborate on what you mean re the bench?

Not sure I follow you on that one.

Between pushing and grappling movements, control factor plays a big part in bench press. You can do clap pushups and pretty explosive dips, but there's not as much body english for chest exercises.

[BeginnerGainz]

Between pushing and grappling movements, control factor plays a big part in bench press. You can do clap pushups and pretty explosive dips, but there's not as much body english for chest exercises.

Idk man, I’m seen people do some weird chit to get the weight up. Like they were possessed or doing some kind of contortionist act.

[EliKoehn]

Between pushing and grappling movements, control factor plays a big part in bench press. You can do clap pushups and pretty explosive dips, but there's not as much body english for chest exercises.

I agree with BG on this one. Feet on the floor, butt on the bench, bar touches your chest and then keeps going up until your arms are fully extended, or it's not a bench. Kind of hard to cheat that subtly.

With back exercises you have spinal extension and shoulder retraction which makes one more susceptible to bad form ... unless that's what you were already saying?

[Garage Rat]

While both can benefit muscle growth for me personally moderate weight and controlling the movement works better.
With a heavy loose style you rely on momentum to complete the rep which only equates to split second in the full contraction if you even get there.
With a more controlled hold/squeeze in the full contraction you make the muscle work full range and in it's weakest position.
So with back you really hit the inner back quite well and the hold equates to time under muscle tension which is a good thing.
The loose style can be of some benefit when your exhausted enough you can do a hold any longer,it's like getting a couple extra forced reps.
Some loose style could be useful just to get use to moving more weight than usual and possibly outer areas of the back.