Iâm a born optimist.
Youâll never find my glass half empty, oh no.
No matter how shitty the shit storm, Iâll always be that annoyingly chipper sod that finds the silver lining. And if I take one step forwards and two steps back – Iâm not regressing; Iâm doing a mutha funkinâ cha cha.
But when it comes to strength training, I canât get enough of the negatives.
Let me explainâŚ
What is ânegativeâ training?
Training ânegativesâ (otherwise known as âeccentricâ training) is a training technique which has always traditionally been used to push muscles past their normal point of failure – popular with bodybuilders and those grunty types in the gym clanking weights around and clogging up the squat rack – but I want to show you how you can use it to get stronger on the pole too!
This might sound really technical, but to explain how this works, you first need to understand the difference between âconcentricâ and âeccentricâ contractions of the muscles, so let me give you a quick âin the gymâ example first and then Iâll show you how it relates to pole.
A quick âgymâ example
Letâs look at a super simple movement â the good olâ bicep curlâŚ
The âconcentricâ part of the bicep curl is the bit where you lift the weight towards your shoulder â the bicep muscle shortens as you do it (welcome to the gun show⌠pow pow pow).
When you lower the weight back down (and the muscle lengthens), this is the âeccentricâ (or ânegativeâ) part. The muscle is still loaded and under tension, but the muscle is lengthening rather than shortening.
Why does it matter?
Hereâs the interesting bit. Our muscles tend to be stronger in the eccentric (lowering) part of the movement.
In fact, studies have shown that your muscles can handle up to 1.75 times more weight through the eccentric movement than they can handle during the concentric lifting part.
So⌠if the max weight you can bicep curl without keeling over like a penguin watching an aeroplane was, say, 10kg, you might actually be able to handle lowering over 15kg.
Even though you wouldnât be able to lift the 15kg weight, youâd be able to lower it no probs. So the way I would train negatives with a bodybuilder or someone doing general strength training in the gym would be to physically help them lift the 15kg weight into the top position (remember, they canât do that bit by themselves), so all they have to do is the lowering part of the exercise (the eccentric/negative bit).
That, my pole friends, is âeccentric trainingâ â otherwise known as âtraining negativesâ.
But what does it all mean, Basil?
When it comes to the science behind this, there are various theories about why eccentric training makes us stronger, including neural adaptations that may allow us to use more ‘motor units’, as well as muscle growth.
By training the negative part of the exercise, you’re causing physical adaptations that mean eventually, youâll be able to lift a heavier weight on the concentric part of the movement too!
Eccentric training has also been shown to be useful in flexibility training, which makes sense when we consider that with eccentric training we’re training the target muscles as they are lengthening.
So how does this relate to pole?
Iâm so glad you asked!
Training negatives works exactly the same way on the pole as it does in the gym.
If youâre not strong enough yet to perform a certain pole move, you can train the ânegativeâ of that move to build the strength youâre missing.
The easiest way to think of it is to imagine doing those movements you really struggle with in reverse.
Struggle to lift yourself in a pole pull up? Then train the negative â get yourself up into the top position of the pull up (with the help of a little jump, or a box) and lower back down as slowly as you can.
Want to get stronger to lift into your invert? Then train the negative â i.e. slowly lower out of your invert.
Want to build the strength to lift into your shouldermount? Then train the negative â i.e. slowly lower out of your shouldermount.
Want to deadlift your handstand? Then train the negative â i.e. kick up into your handstand and lower the legs back to the floor as slowly as you can.
Itâs a very powerful and scientifically proven way to train that will help you build the strength you need to do the same lift in the opposite direction.
Whoa – slow down there tiger
One thing to note before I drop the mic – when you’re training negatives on the pole, you need to do the movement SLOOOOWLY.
It wonât do anyone any good if you hoik yourself into your shouldermount position and then flop out of it with the speed of a bungee jumping rock. The movement needs to be controlled.
This video is an example of training negatives on the pole to build strength for the pole handstand deadlift. Itâs taken from my 6-week pole handstand deadlift programme.
I hope this helps explain what âtraining negativesâ/âeccentric trainingâ means and why it can be so useful in strength training for pole. Itâs such an effective training tool, I use it in all of my strength training programmes and I think you should too! đ
As always, give me a shout if you have any questions at all and if you want to know how you can incorporate eccentric exercises into your training programme for pole, check out my book â Strength and Conditioning for Pole â which is available now in hard copy or as a downloadable ebook.
Questions? Just ask! + Please tag me on social media with your training wins â I love to celebrate with you all! Iâm on insta @ptthepole and Facebook @thepolept
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