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High Tension technique


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So the whole technique is basically flexing during the whole movement and the exercise is done at a really slow rhythm. The way the flexing is done is by flexing the prime movers and ONLY THE prime movers. Along with that apparently you have to have really good body awareness to do this since you are basically "thinking into your muscles". I want to ask everyone here what they think of this, and if this technique is possible is based on the way I explained it. So I want to ask if it is possible to flex the prime movers during a movement without flexing the antagonists. An example would be flexing only your triceps and pecs during a push up and keep the lats and biceps loose.

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This is suppose to increase your mind body connection. So it makes your bain connect to your muscles.

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This is very possible.

You can read up on this technique here: http://www.sandowplus.co.uk/

Or you can buy a summary of the old technique here: http://www.amazon.com/Lost-Secret-Great ... B008C2MRUO

However, these men advocated a usual tempo of one second up and one second down, with reps ranging anywhere from 10 to 50, while using dumbbells that ranged from 3 to 10 lbs. The fatigue caused by these high reps helps you to feel the muscle. It also builds quite a bit of muscle.

It does work though, but it can be a slow process. It has helped to learn to consciously flex my hamstrings, my biceps and triceps separately, my deltoids (with a great deal of effort but it's getting better), my lats, and various abdominal contractions. The rest is quite a struggle (especially the trapezius fibres!), but surely doable if you put in the effort over years. I guarantee you most people will not be able to flex their deltoids, or flex the biceps without the triceps. This stuff works.

Does it help with gymnastics? Yes, to an extent. It lets me know that certain muscle groups are contracting when they should be contracting. Proprioception, basically. I don't have to rely on a video camera, especially since I don't have one! :lol:

Also, I'm not sure about this since I'm not an...expert...but I think the lats are used during a pushup, especially if you protract at the top position. And the biceps are a dynamic stabilizer?

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Thanks for the info, I'm glad your were able to clarify things. Well as for the high tension technique I think it is pretty useful in gymnastics since you are developing your proprioception to "sense the muscles" and contract them consciously while doing an exercise. The benefits of an enhanced mind-body connection are really useful and I think everybody should be able to benefit from this. However when using this technique I want to let everyone know that IT REALLY DRAINS YOU. What I mean by that is that it can really tire you out if done a lot. For example I tried this technique with V up, and kept my abs flexed hard during the whole set, after I was done I felt really tired and I only did 15 reps. So yeah it will help your mind body connection, but make sure you got some adequate recovery time between sets, and I wouldn't recommend a beginner doing it this a lot of times over the week since it can tire you out.

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You are basically just doing long TimeUnderTension.

That's great you can feel what muscles are working but it's nothing more special than that. HocusPocus Abra-Kadabra. Go for it, if it makes you happy.

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Yes that is true, I am definitely doing long time under tension when doing this technique. However the reason it is really hard is because I am isometrically contracting my prime movers while moving slowly. For example if I do a v up for 5 seconds up and 5 seconds down, for 15 reps I may have a strong contraction in my abs at the end but I won't be tired. However if I start the reps with my abs flexed AS HARD AS I POSSIBLY CAN and keep them flexed throughout the whole set I'll definitely be really tired at the end of a set. So its concentrating on flexing the prime movers (abs in the ex. I provided) which make it really hard.

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Yes, I understand that.

Again, just TUT. You're varying up the intensity if you flex 100% and keep it up but it's still just TUT.

If you go slowly in a Vup or pushup or pullup, whatever using 505 it still means you are controlling it for 10s per rep. It's not like you should be loose. I can't imagine how you could be if you are using a 5s eccentric/concentric.

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Well one thing is for sure, and that is flexing hard with long TUT, really is tiring. HOWEVER it is kind of hard to to flex the right muscles. What I mean by that is keeping the agonists and synergists tight while keeping the antagonists loose. It require good body awareness since you are trying to keep the tension flexing brings and keep it through the WHOLE ROM. So in the case of a bicep curl you would still be flexing your bicep when your arm is extended down, yet you would still keep the tricep loose, otherwise you would be flexing both the agonists and antagonists which makes everything inefficent. So yea flexing at the concentric portion isn't that hard but working on keeping muscles flexing even when they are at the bottom portion of a curl, is the harder part. Even so doing this will definitely improve body awareness as well as strengthen the mind-body connection due to flexing, thus make you stronger.

What I would do to help flex my hardest is "concentrate on the muscles" and just concentrate on flexing the movers while at the same time work on keeping everything else antagonistic loose. That way I'm pretty sure you can build muscle control since the concentration really helps on using and flexing the muscles that are necessary.

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Also Blairbob would you think that adding flexing (the agonists and syngergists only) to TUT would improve muscle efficency? Also I already understand to flexing the antagonists in "dynamic tension" is very inefficent for movement, but is there really any point in it at all? If there is nothing good about dynamic tension, then wouldn't the alternative I've provided be a good way to increase intensity in TUT?

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Quick Start Test Smith

There is something like this in Japanese Karate. It's called "Sanchin Kata" and it emphasizes tensing and relaxing during movement.

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Actually, Patrick, Sanchin no kata is from Naha-te. Which makes it technically Okinawan Karate though I guess you could say there really isn't Japanese karate at all besides the styles that are practiced there that are offshoots from Okinawa. Kyokushinkai and Wado ryu come to mind. Fun thing about sanchin no kata is when they come around and slap, punch, kick, and strike you with a shinai. I miss the old days. You are basically at a near isometric contraction for the entire kata. Loose enough just to move and strike. I've seen it down with very slow strikes and movements and done at normal speed. Not really sure how Gojo ryu does it besides with closed fists or Isshin ryu does it.

Even as you do the eccentric in a bicep curl and if you are not focusing on flexing your bicep, it's being flexed. Basically you are just concentrating on flexing it more.

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Also Blairbob do you believe it is possible to flex the biceps hard at the bottom of a pull up or curl when the arm is extended and be able to KEEP the arm in that position? If it is possible to focus on flexing hard at the bottom of the eccentric portion then wouldn't you need the tricep to keep the bicep in place at the same extended joint angle?

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Go find a pullup bar and tell us what you find out.

It's not like only the bicep or tricep is doing the work one at a time.

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Quick Start Test Smith
Actually, Patrick, Sanchin no kata is from Naha-te. Which makes it technically Okinawan Karate though I guess you could say there really isn't Japanese karate at all besides the styles that are practiced there that are offshoots from Okinawa. Kyokushinkai and Wado ryu come to mind. Fun thing about sanchin no kata is when they come around and slap, punch, kick, and strike you with a shinai. I miss the old days. You are basically at a near isometric contraction for the entire kata. Loose enough just to move and strike. I've seen it down with very slow strikes and movements and done at normal speed. Not really sure how Gojo ryu does it besides with closed fists or Isshin ryu does it.

Even as you do the eccentric in a bicep curl and if you are not focusing on flexing your bicep, it's being flexed. Basically you are just concentrating on flexing it more.

You're right. Sanchin kata is technically Okinawan Karate... I forget about Okinawa sometimes :D

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It's semantics, really. I'm just being all uppity about it. I trained in Pangai Noon ryu which was a breakaway of Uechi-ryu in HighSchool. Sanchin was the first and last kata of our system besides all the body striking and conditioning we did. It's really the only kata I remember from that system nowadays.

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I did sanchin kata as well, but it was in kyokushin karate. At first I did do flexing in the kata without thinking about it, but was there a benefit to doing dynamic tension in the kata? From what I heard from Pavel using dynamic tension in multi joint exercises is a good thing. Also apparently I can keeping my biceps flexed hard throughout a pull up but there is a little bit of tension in my triceps at the same time.

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