Going Straight Into Full Depth Hspu Negatives - Good Or Bad Idea?

[Jono]

At the start of January I could do 3-5 HeSPUs, but with a wider than shoulder width grip. I couldn't do ANY with a shoulder width grip. So I trained shoulder width negatives for 3 weeks. Then I was capable of 1-2 shoulder width HeSPUs.

 

Last week out of curiosity I tried full depth HSPU negatives. I was able to control them pretty well for sets of 3 (no joint pains).

 

Is it recommended that I jump straight into full depth negatives, or should I build up to making regular HeSPUs easy, and then add depth slowly?

 

In all honesty, I was planning to start my workouts by doing sets of HeSPUs, and then finishing with full HSPU negatives. Good idea or not?

 

Today I ordered some high parallettes, so will be able to train better.

[Mats Trane]

I would recommend to build them up slowly. Inch by inch. 

I used books to do it. I also recommend to every now and then do the concentric part as slow as you can. This will work every muscle fiber you have and show where your weak link is. And remember not to flair out your elbows (they should NOT be pointing out to the sides) . 

[Joshua Naterman]

At the start of January I could do 3-5 HeSPUs, but with a wider than shoulder width grip. I couldn't do ANY with a shoulder width grip. So I trained shoulder width negatives for 3 weeks. Then I was capable of 1-2 shoulder width HeSPUs.

 

Last week out of curiosity I tried full depth HSPU negatives. I was able to control them pretty well for sets of 3 (no joint pains).

 

Is it recommended that I jump straight into full depth negatives, or should I build up to making regular HeSPUs easy, and then add depth slowly?

 

In all honesty, I was planning to start my workouts by doing sets of HeSPUs, and then finishing with full HSPU negatives. Good idea or not?

 

Today I ordered some high parallettes, so will be able to train better.

Well, you're always going to have different levels of ability in pure negatives VS concentric + eccentric.

 

I think that your primary focus needs to be on developing your range of motion with the HeSPU one inch at a time. I would build up to 4-5 reps and then add 1-2cm (or 0.5 to 1 inch) of elevation under each hand. Books can work, just make sure you're stable. The best thing to do would be to use the paralletes you ordered and put books under your head. You can do the same thing with cinder blocks (or wooden boxes, but cinder blocks are so cheap!), just use a piece of yoga mat or something else underneath to protect the floor and prevent slippage, if you want to work the open hand position. They are different.

 

If you want to finish up with one set of super controlled negatives, I think that's fine, but they need to be really, really slow. And performed stomach to wall. For these, should you choose to do them, your focus should be on making them last 10-15 seconds at minimum, before you add a rep. I personally do not recommend doing more than 2-3 of these negatives in a single set.

 

All of your work should be stomach-to-wall.

 

I think that jumping into multiple sets of negatives is a bit dangerous, that's a lot of extra stress. You can add a second set after 3-4 weeks, if you want, pretty safely, but you may find that it doesn't add anything extra.

[Jono]

Well, you're always going to have different levels of ability in pure negatives VS concentric + eccentric.

 

I think that your primary focus needs to be on developing your range of motion with the HeSPU one inch at a time. I would build up to 4-5 reps and then add 1-2cm (or 0.5 to 1 inch) of elevation under each hand. Books can work, just make sure you're stable. The best thing to do would be to use the paralletes you ordered and put books under your head. You can do the same thing with cinder blocks (or wooden boxes, but cinder blocks are so cheap!), just use a piece of yoga mat or something else underneath to protect the floor and prevent slippage, if you want to work the open hand position. They are different.

 

If you want to finish up with one set of super controlled negatives, I think that's fine, but they need to be really, really slow. And performed stomach to wall. For these, should you choose to do them, your focus should be on making them last 10-15 seconds at minimum, before you add a rep. I personally do not recommend doing more than 2-3 of these negatives in a single set.

 

All of your work should be stomach-to-wall.

 

I think that jumping into multiple sets of negatives is a bit dangerous, that's a lot of extra stress. You can add a second set after 3-4 weeks, if you want, pretty safely, but you may find that it doesn't add anything extra.

Thanks for the detailed reply.

 

I was following BtGB, and the picture showed a guy with back to wall (not stomach). But I will do stomach to wall from now on. I understand why stomach to wall should be done. I think I'm going to be in a for surprise, even at HeSPU depth! Just one question: how close should my hands be to the wall?

 

Since I'll have some parallettes later on in the week (hopefully), then I think increasing depth will be a lot easier with current supplies, since I can reduce height of the surface underneath my head. There was only so far I could go with increasing the depth starting with hands on the floor (limited things that wouldn't slide over one another when I pushed on them with hands)!

[Joshua Naterman]

Oh, you will be in for a surprise! We all are when we make the switch  

 

Focus on being able to maintain a straight body, don't let your back arch. This will be harder than it sounds at first.

 

I tend to have my palm heel 8-12 inches away from the wall, but at first I had to be more like 24 inches away. It all depends on your strength and ability to maintain good form.