If you want to learn how to get stronger in just 30 days then you’re in the right place. In this video I’m going to show you how to increase strength and build muscle in just 4 to 5 weeks using one of the most overlooked but important training techniques you can break out in your workouts.
The concept is called compensatory acceleration training and it has been used for decades with great results. Guys like Mel Siff, Louie Simmons and Fred Hatfield have understood that science of physics plays a large part in the gains that you see from your workouts. They know that the old equation of F = M x A leaves open one of the most overlooked training elements that we are no longer going to forget about after today.
Force equals mass times acceleration. This means that when we are looking to progressively overload our muscles we have two ways to do so by this equation. We can either increase the amount of mass or weight that we are lifting, or we can increase the acceleration of the weight that we are lifting. Either one of these is going to have a increase on the force generation capacity of our muscles and create a new stimulus for overload and growth.
All too often we focus on simply putting more weight on the bar when we are trying to get stronger. This is one of the best ways to achieve this, that is, until the opportunity to continue to do so becomes harder and harder to accomplish. There are limits to how quickly we can build overall strength. Most of the time, our earliest gains in the gym come as we improve our neurological efficiencies with the lifts that we are performing in our newbie stage of training.
Once our bodies and muscles become more efficient with the weights that we are lifting, the ability to keep getting stronger gets harder.
That is until we stop and evaluate our options.
The equation above lets the smart lifters tap into the speed element of their lifts as a way to charge up the muscle gains and strength gains again. It doesn’t matter what workout split you are following right now or even what exercises you are doing necessarily. If you want to increase the work being performed by the muscles you are attempting to grow you will move the weight faster.
Now this doesn’t have to even be perceptible to someone watching you perform the lift.
As long as the intention is there to push the bar as fast as you can through the concentric part of the lift, even again if this means that bar speed increases visibly by even just a little bit, you are going to be better capable of recruiting the type ii fibers to the job at hand. These are the fibers that are most capable of increasing size and strength as they are developed. Throw in the fact that sometimes just increasing the efficiency with which these are recruited is enough to instantly unlock gains in strength that you never knew you were capable of.
Here I show you how to increase bench press strength by moving the bar or dumbbells up here as fast as you can. Again, this would apply even if I was doing something like a barbell row, a deadlift or even a lat pulldown. Speaking of deadlifts, you can see how Jesse from ATHLEAN-X has dramatically increased the strength of his deadlift by using this same very technique.
Often times we overlook the importance of moving the bar faster because the strength curve of the exercise itself lends itself to letting us coast. For instance, on the squat, the exercise is most difficult coming out of the bottom of the movement. Once we hit midway, the strength curve gets much easier and we coast the remainder of the way up to the top. In compensatory acceleration training, you would not stop accelerating even when the lift became mechanically easier.
Give this a try for the next 30 days and I promise you that you will get stronger in just the next month. This is especially true if you are not accustomed to manipulating your rep speed in your training.
If you are looking for a complete program that will build more muscle, athleticism and size in one step by step follow along system, be sure to visit athleanx.com via the link below and check out the All American Muscle program coming on Black Friday 2021.
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Chris Wright
*IMPORTANT* – Some are asking if CAT training negates the need for and/or benefits of Time Under Tension. Not at all. Remember, in strength and conditioning…context is everything – as are training goals! If you are attempting to get stronger or more powerful, your focus on a lift would be to accelerate the bar or weights through the concentric part of the exercise. This does not nullify your ability to control the eccentric or even intentionally slow the eccentric to even 3-5 seconds. The important element of the lift in CAT training is the explosive concentric. Keep in mind, even then the concentric doesn’t actually have to move incredibly fast to be effective at increasing motor unit recruitment efficiency and ultimately strength. You just have to consciously push the bar as fast as the weights will allow you to throughout the positive portion of the lift – with the “weights will allow you to” part being contextually important. Though lighter weights are advocated for this technique (50-80% of max), those used at the top of the range are going to move visibly slower than the lighter range – and that’s still ok. Often times chains and bands are used to help slow down the acceleration as it nears the end of the concentric range of motion to still allow high effort.
Likewise, you can still lower the weight slowly and under control – only to quickly return the bar or dumbbells back in the opposite direction explosively when doing CAT. Ok other words, the explosive concentric does not preclude you from performing a slow or slower eccentric.
All said, this again is a strength building technique (the topic of the video) that has the ability to drive size gains as a function of overload and for some, novel stimulus.
As compared to time under tension it is complimentary and not a replacement. TUT however is definitely more focused on a goal of hypertrophy than strength. Rushing through the concentric and eccentric part of a lift is not likely to deliver any of the gains you are seeking unless you’re performing speed reps for a specific goal of getting faster on a movement. The 1-2 seconds up / 3 seconds down rep tempo is and always will be great for increasing tension on a muscle you’re trying to grow – at the risk of creating muscle soreness that can interfere with strength goals if you are pursuing them. This is what I pointed out with the other methods of eccentric muscle damage and metabolic stress in the video.
Bottom line, an athletically comprehensive workout plan will hit all elements of strength, size, conditioning and performance at some point in the progression. CAT and TUT are both “tension modifiers” but for different purposes and with specific applications depending on goal. Plan to use both because your training should and will always include elements of strength and hypertrophy in your ultimate pursuit to be the best version of you possible.
I hope this answers your questions but if not, I’m happy to answer any follow ups that may help any that still may have questions. Leave them in this thread so everyone can benefit. Meantime, thanks for being a loyal subscriber…
Jeff, thank you for the response. Your answer brought a better understanding of the context presented. In simple terms – UP with speed and control – DOWN- Slow with Control.
What is your opinion on Lu raises ?
Important clarification, thanks!
please do a video on how to build muscle with a slap tear/ shoulder tear.
@Chris Serio yes, also as the third to last paragraph says, TUT is probably better for hypertrophy still compared to CAT which is better for strength gains.
jeffs advice has helped more than anything else on my gym journey
Same, not even close.
Fax. His programs and advice put me in the shape am in today.
Same
I’ve been doing slow and steady, trying to strain my muscles for 3 years now. Whenever I thought of going explosive I was afraid I was going to incorporate other muscles groups to get that effect.
@Mr. Sir I can see why it makes sense. More F (strength) leads to more muscle fibers being broken which leads to more muscle growth. Most people just increase M (weight of plates/dumbbells) in order to use more F. He is saying you can also increase A (acceleration from bottom to top) in order to increase the F. That makes perfect sense.
Explode on the positive and slow on the eccentric
See the pinned comment please
@ATHLEAN-X™ to the rescue
I do a bit of both, usually slow it down a little towards the end of isolation sets to really get that burn, but have found that on thr bigger compound lifts if you speed it up and do the explosive movements like Jeff has said it helps with strength gains grow much quicker than a slow set
Got to love the burn, no pain no gain!!!
As a physics teacher, I approve.
Who cares what you approve.
Seriously? How old are you?
So Power = force * displacement/time. So while the concentric you want to maximize force, on the eccentric you want to minimize power to create the greatest time-under-tension. Or in your professional opinion, do you think the derivative of acceleration (jerk) or second derivative (jounce) are more important to become a SWOL physics teacher?
From what i can see when Jeff is doing a set there are 2 secs for lifting up and 2 secs to drop them down, that would be the optimal speed?
How about slow on the eccentric and explosive on the concentric? I do it and it leaves me much more sore, and I like to believe that it increases hypertrophy. When I reach the point where I can’t do that in a set, then I just do explosive on both the eccentric and concentric to bring the muscle group to failure and finish the set. And I try to do that in every set.
Thoughts?
When I was young I thought I was supposed to train with slow eccentric and concentric. It worked great for building weight and size but my strength gains were rather disappointing. 15 years later I’m back in the gym and going more explosive on concentric for some of my sets. I hope it will help me gain some real strength this time.
I do 2 push, pull and legs sessions each week. The pull and legs work in the same way as I’m going to describe below for push.
Push 1-
Heavy bench (5×5 or 3’s or even singles)
Overhead press speed reps (10 sets of 3 with minimal rest at around 40-50% max weight)
Heavy tricep variation (dips, JM press or close grip etc)
Bunch of shoulder volume
Bunch of tricep volume
Push 2
Heavy overhead press
Bench press speed reps
Bunch of chest volume
Bunch of tricep volume
I like being able to concentrate on Max weight one day and Max hypertrophy on another for the muscle groups
Failure in every set can be too much in the long run
Why would you want to be sore?
I do it too especially with high potiental injury lifts like the bench press. For me the biggest benefit is the controlled movement and the mind muscle connection is so much better then when I ram it down.
Jeff is indispensable. He has helped me so many times in my comeback to lifting weights after 17 years of absence. Thank you
It’s a trade off of acceleration vs time under tension.
I’d say the drop of the barbell onto the chest is taking away from the “speed-version” lift. Shouldn’t you only accelerate after touching your chest?
@Willie Crooks I used to always go slow on both portions. it built size but not a lot of strength.
Yes it’s slow on the eccentric and fast on the concentric.
See the pinned comment please
@ATHLEAN-X™ Will do, thanks.
@ATHLEAN-X™ With all due respect, the pinned comment is a bit confusing. I got it on the third read, I think. You all are still my favorite.
Weightlifting is like life: you have to put a lot of effort into the positive while you control the negative.
That’s a great analogy!!! I’m going to put this in my notes on my phone to refer back to it from time to time.
I always thought going slow and controlled would use more muscle fibers because it’s more time under tension on the concentric move.
@Rob A You’re right, but more time under tension means greater hypertrophy, not necessarily more strength. So slow and controlled for hypertrophic gains, and more explosive for strength gains
@Rob A explode against gravity. Slow and controlled negative to recruit all the fibers.
Hi, Jeff! Can you do a video on full-body static stretching? I’m the person who bought your workout, and I’m probably not the only one who’s a little upset that your programs don’t include information about warming up and stretching. There’s already a video about warming up before a workout on your channel, but there’s no information about stretching after the workout for the whole body. Besides, although the Internet is full of videos about stretching, I prefer to trust you as a physical therapist who obviously knows better than other fitness bloggers and collect all your videos of stretching in one cycle a little awkward, and I am sure that there is a way to minimize the time stretching (in one exercise stretch several muscles at once).
YES along with the weight to be used during warmup and in actual set.
@Pablo you should use your training to fix the problems you have, to strenghten those muscles. Biggest one i see is hip flexors. Most people try to stretch them, it turns out training them is a much better idea.
When i was younger my posture was so bad people were telling me i will be looking at the floor when i grow up. I haven’t done any stretching and my posture is decent now (could be better but i have my reasons why it’s not).
@Zck ! thats true, you were lucky and got away without injuries mate. When I started I was focusing on strenght and getting bigger like most noobies since I was slim and there were no muscles to help stabilise my joints etc. I ignored the foundation of training like posture and it led to injury. You could say I tried to build a house on sand. Also when it comes to hip flexors the “girly” hip abductor machines is one of the best things that I discovered.
@Pablo you seem to put alot of emphisis on posture. There’s data reporting it’s not that impprtant. Chest this video out https://youtu.be/yUSyMqDUkv8
his channel has a playlist regarding stretching and mobility. jeff has literally made a lot of videos about stretching each muscle group. check it out
Interestingly my current workout has incorporated both muscle under tension and explosive exercises. Gotta love doing jumping squats in between heavy sets of deep squats.
I want to keep an open mind, but I’m having a very difficult time believing essentially using momentum to move the weight brings about more gains than moving the weight slowly–the latter of which equates to longer time under tension.
Time under tension is useful for getting a pump but that’s about it, as a natural pump really doesn’t matter that much anyway
That’s not using momentum, at least not what we usually use that phrase to mean. Using momentum is a problem when you use excessive movement to take load off your target muscles, like swinging your hips during a bicep curl. Here you’re trying to use the target muscles, but more explosively, which basically trains those muscles to output more force more quickly.
This isn’t momentum it’s about trying to move the weight (with good form) as fast as you u can on the concentric part of the motion
See the pinned comment please
@ATHLEAN-X™ Thank you all for your replies, and thank you Jeff/Athlean-X, for your detailed, pinned comment. Ultimately, from what I gather, CAT only applies to the concentric phase, whereas TUT applies to the eccentric phase. Hence, in order to get the best results–strength AND hypertrophy, respectively, one should utilize both CAT AND TUT in his/her workouts.
2 Questions : 1: What about time under tension? One seems to have more time under tension with less acceleration. 2:What about going slower on the eccentric? I thought that would increase muscle more?
@BorbotonesFit TuT is not all about slow eccentrics. GustaveL is right Jeff has said both ways produce muscles, but is saying all 1 does. Not the first time Jeff contradicts himself. No Jeff has said and it’s a fact that more muscle is built with eccentrics.
it doesn’t really conflict his other videos. He has spoken about being explosive in some exercises before, for example with the single leg jumping lunges (can’t remember the title of the video but there was a nfl player cameo)
Being explosive and increasing time under tension should both be adopted. That’s how powerlifters get strong
It’s not conflicting at all. What he’s talking about is concentric explosion. Time under tension can be maximized by slowing the eccentric motion THEN exploding on the concentric part. This is not the same as rushing the exercise and actually complements his previous content
If you are confused please read my explanation here.
This video is about the concentric portion of the lift, be fast and explosive. Time under tension is still important for muscle activation and breakdown, on the eccentric portion.
When controlling the eccentric you apply an upward force slightly less than the weight total, therefore the force is greater than when the weight drops.
F=MA is in reference to the concentric, if the weight is 75 pounds and you’re barely curling it, you might be applying 76-80 pounds of force. If you lift it quickly, you could be applying 85+ pounds of force concentrically, this is the explosive power talked about here.
See the pinned comment please
There is a place for all of it, slow eccentric‘s, fast eccentric‘s, slow and fast Concentrix‘s, grinding the heaviest weight possible
For example today I did deadlifts three sets of one with 90% and it was grinding
But I could do three sets of one with 85% and move the weight faster
Or I could do 10 sets of one with 75/80% as fast as possible
Or I could do an all out 100% one rep Max
Training is training and no matter whether you do slow controlled movements at a lower percentage or fast movements at a lower percentage or your max or a mix or grind your way through your maximum load it trains the movement and eventually you will get stronger
Just like a 10rep set times three trains a bench like a three sets of three or a five sets of five
Throw everything into your training program in the right format and context and it will work
Works great on incline curls, full speed up + slow eccentric down
Sometimes if I was getting a repetition with relative ease but didn’t have the strength to do another, I would slow it down to increase tension. After this video would that be a useful or useless idea?
Anybody else notice Jeff’s initials are JC? I’ve been calling him workout Jesus forever cause of his praying hand gestures and how insane it is he’s not charging for all the info he puts out. He is the Muscle Messiah.
Funny how i recently wanted to incorporate this on Squats and deadlifts just to improve my power cause i know for both the explosion of the first 25% of the movement can be very beneficial fast up slow down other movements a 3sec movement is fine so yeah i feel this came at the right time in my training path.
Jeff has always been an inspiration, but Jesse strikes different, watching his growth over years truly motivates us to push ourselves ever so slightly more, respect Jesse!