Positive and Negative Movements in Bodybuilding

There are many opinions regarding positive and negative movements. Do they have any impact on building muscle or we can ignore them easily? These are some of the questions we will answer in this post. Read further and find out are positive and negative movements about and how they work.

A key factor in the performance of an exercise in bodybuilding is the time during which the muscle is under load. Empirically it was determined that by controlling the time during which the muscles are under load can be caused the required type of training stress, which, in turn, in the future lead to the expected increase in muscle mass.

Here is very important everything: the time spent on training in general, the time spend for one exercise, time for one approach, and ultimately, the time for performing one repetition. And, of course, how much last one repetition will determine all of the above.

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In this sense, it is important from the very beginning of training with weights, along with studying the nature of new exercises and techniques for their implementation, to learn to control the time for one repetition of each exercise of the complex.

Along with all factors mentioned above, the duration of a single repeat largely determines not only the possible increase in muscle mass but also the development of power performance indicators. Need to be noticed that this circumstance represent a basic difference between these two kinds of sport, which are usually considered as being the one: bodybuilding and weightlifting.

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And each of them relies on the development of specific skills to control the speed of the projectile and, consequently, the time of his rise and fall.

What Means Positive and Negative Movements?

Our body is set on the motion by skeletal muscles which contract and relax synchronously according to the type of movement. For this reason, the work of one muscle is conventionally divided into two phases: positive and negative, shortly - positive and negative.

The phrase when the muscle performs its reduction, decreasing in length, is called positive, and the phase when the muscle is stretched and at the same time increases its length is called negative.

Actually, when we practice with weights, during few similar repetitions working muscles pass through both phases, replacing one another. However, to achieve certain athletic performance, each phase has its own potential, knowledge of which will largely predetermine the effectiveness of the selected type of training.

Further, let’s see how positive and negative movements can be applied to getting best results in building muscle mass.

Weightlifters mainly focus all their efforts on positive phase of the movement, phase of lifting, struggling with the force of gravity. This way they are able to work on the development of power indicators with the minimum required for this muscle mass.

In bodybuilding, there is some specific standard. It is believed that for reaching the full growth of muscle fibers, is more important to focus on the negative phase of the movement, that is, the lowering phase of the movement, whether it is the dumbbells, barbell or other types of lift exercise.

Instead, the positive phase of bodybuilding has been assigned another very important role and namely power. And in order to get the most from a single repetition, exercises should be performed in the following way: assign a positive approach about one or two seconds, and to a negative about two-four seconds.

Here you have to bear in mind that the main thing is that the negative lasted twice as the positive one. Such distribution of time for raising and lowering the weights represent the most effective training regime for gaining muscle without sacrificing power performance indicators.

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At the same time, when training hard for a special group of muscles can be included in training program exercises which are performed in a explosive manner with a mix of focus on the positive (work in force) or with an accent on negative movement with a deliberately delaying of  time when lowering the weights, i.e. work on muscle mass.

As you see negative and positive movements have different impacts and the human body. If a positive movement has an impact on body power, then negative is best for building muscle mass. Since most of the bodybuilders are looking to give their bodies a very nice appearance, they use more often negative movement. That’s why if your goal is to get your muscle grow, make sure to emphasize negative part of your training.

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But do not make the mistake to focus all your training on negative movements, as you will not get the desired result. Many bodybuilders have made already this mistake wrongly believing that it can lead to a bigger increase in muscle mass. The best solution is to combine both types of movements, with the bigger accent on a negative one.