bowers...maybe to slow

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yesterday i've tried the bowers in this slow version...

i did it because normally with a tempo of 202 or 212 i can do 7-8 reps in a row...so i think is time for the next progression but i don't know what becomes after bowers, yes i can do it on rings but also here i can do 4-5 of them without problem.

i tried to make the reps slower, but as you can see the first rep is 13-14 seconds and the second would have been more that 15s i think if i if I had not lose the balance (i was very nervous for that)..

i don't risk to fall in hypertrophy doing the reps to much slowly?

i have to continue with slower reps or there is a next step?

thanks for the answer

1) Holy crap, you are strong!

2) Holy crap!!! YOU ARE STRONG!

...

44) Ok, now that THAT is established... I would just do 1 rep at a time. Start in HS, lower down as slow as you can, more like the second rep, press up slowly, and lower back down. Done. Don't try to press up twice, that is clearly too much right now. At that pace you should never expect to be doing more than 3 per set, and trust me: just 1 per set is pretty good right now. Over the next 2-3 months you'll be doing 2 presses up and 3 negatives no problem. As long as you practice your faster tempos at least once per week you should notice substantial strength gains. If you stop doing faster work you will get weaker eventually because peak forces will be lower.

I started off like that with pull ups, same way. I can do 3 now. This has made higher rep sets with a faster tempo much easier and for me this was the only way to re-learn the movement. It still isn't perfect but it's getting better.

thanks Joshua so for the next steady state cycle i can use one rep and half, with entire movement very slow for how many sets?

i ask you that because on the last workshop of powerlifting i followed the coach said that 10 powerful movements a week must be done do get a great strength stimulation (and also he applied it with bodyweigth, he is a master senior RKC, Fabio Zonin) and considering that i train this movement one heavy day a week as multiplane movement, i suppose i have to do 6-7 sets.

what do you think about that? is feasible?

thanks for your time

I am sure that is not the only movement you do for strength in one week. For this element with the amount of neural coordination involved 3-5 solid "singles" would be where I'd start. Key being solid, the moment they start to waiver stop for that day. You'll be surprised how fast they will get better. If at 5 they are slow, solid and it feels like a warm up still then add another

Very impressive. One day..

sure sure...is the only exercise i do for the multiplane day...but on the different days i work on different plans

Nic Branson said:

I am sure that is not the only movement you do for strength in one week. For this element with the amount of neural coordination involved 3-5 solid "singles" would be where I'd start. Key being solid, the moment they start to waiver stop for that day. You'll be surprised how fast they will get better. If at 5 they are slow, solid and it feels like a warm up still then add another

Very impressive. One day..

This is pretty much exactly what I'd say. I'd even say this: Find out how many singles you can do before they become shaky, and do that many. It probably will be in the 3-5 neighborhood. Personally, I think you should do 1-3 reps on another day as well, but just down and up, not down up down. The key being that the second day is not pushing to the last good rep, but just doing maybe 2 reps. These slow movements seem to be more beneficial when performed more often. They do not take as much neural drive as a fast, explosive movement and as they get slower they won't do as much muscle damage.

The point of the slow movement is to focus on the stabilizing structures and make THEM stronger so that your more powerful work can continue to get heavier or more difficult or more powerful.

Your experience may be different, but so far mine has been that adding 1 rep to each set every 2-3 weeks works well. These are a lot of work, but you are stronger than I am. You may experience progress at a different rate, so pay attention and always wait an extra day if you are unsure of whether to add a rep today.

Not every training day will be identical, but as a general trend I think you'll notice that in 2 weeks you can do down up down up. In 4 weeks you will feel fine doing down, up, down, up, down. That may be as far as you ever get in one set, because that's almost 60 seconds of continuous work and that would just be insane. At that point you could start off at the bottom and try to do up, down, up, down, up. That will be considerably more challenging, you may have to go back to up, down , up, down. Nothing wrong with that.

I agree with that. If it was the main skill to focus on I might even say a single a day or every other days. Frequency does help as long as you're smart.

Yes, yes it does.

wow thanks for the tips.

i think i'll consoder the idea to add one reps every 2-3 weeks...but don't you think this is in contrast with steady state cycle?

alex87 said:

wow thanks for the tips.

i think i'll consoder the idea to add one reps every 2-3 weeks...but don't you think this is in contrast with steady state cycle?

Many ways lead to Rome, my friend. The SSC is an excellent tool for making progress, but it's not the only tool

alex87 said:

wow thanks for the tips.

i think i'll consoder the idea to add one reps every 2-3 weeks...but don't you think this is in contrast with steady state cycle?

Perhaps, but steady state cycles work best with extremely low leverage work that is most stressful on the joints and connective tissues, and Bowers are really just hard on the muscles. These slow reps, by nature, are endurance work and as such you don't need such a long cycle. You're also not adding any resistance, simply increasing the time under tension. Because we don't need to worry about your tendons or ligaments, it is really ok to add time under tension as you are able to. The suggested timeline is just a reflection of my personal experiences. Yours may be very different.

very interesting point!

can you do this statement also for other plans exercises? like PL push up or FL rows..

alex87 said:

very interesting point!

can you do this statement also for other plans exercises? like PL push up or FL rows..

Sort of, yes. If you already have a strong static hold in the position then yes.

The SSC for movements such as these where the muscle / nervous system is the limiting factor is really good to keep you from doing too much. If you are very in tune with your body and are also humble enough with yourself to acknowledge when you over reached and need to dial back a bit then you can play with the volume some and keep SSC for high connective tissue tension holds where you really need to manage the adaptation phase.