How long to do negatives for?

[Longshanks]

I wanted to start doing negatives with weighted pull-ups and wondered how long a duration should I do? Is it like iso's where you do half your max time and do it in sets up to a minute? :?

[braindx]

5-7s for 5x works fairly well

[Blairbob]

At least 3-4 seconds. IMO, if you can't do a negative for at least this, it isn't worth bothering and you need to find something easier. A 2s negative is very short, imo for training.

[Hewi]

Well this is valuable information, so thanks for that

Does this work for full ROM HsPu or Hs Press negatives as well?

[Longshanks]

Well took your advice and my arms are so sore I can barely hold the kettle today and my girlfriend is taking great enjoyment in calling me a big girl! lol. Only managed 3 sets of 5secs with a counterbalance on each arm. Would I be right in asuming you use negatives sparingly so as not to cause injuries or overtrain? I figured once a week in the place of lever work would work ok?

[Blairbob]

Eccentrics taxes muscles the most. I think I typically may work around 10s of negatives in one set up to 15 typically. I have worked negative pullups for up to 30s or just negative OAC for 1 or 2 reps of 5-7s. I can't remember if the last time I worked them, I worked 1 or 2 reps per arm in each set. I need to start recording my workouts again.

You can notice that on GB their isn't a buttload of volume when working eccentrics. Look at the Cirques and assisted OAC.

Counterbalance on each arm? Were you working OneArmChinUp/PullUp negatives? I thought you were working weighted negative pullups? I am confused :?

[Longshanks]

Was gona do it with a massive weight and two arms but noticed the max weight on my chining bar is 135kg and I weigh 107 so thought i thought using a counterbalance and doing 1-arm negative chins would be more sensible so I dont tear the doorframe off. lol

[Seiji]

In my weightlifting experience, negatives should be no more than 8 seconds. A true negative is where you do not lift, but only lower. A negative accentuated rep is where you lift and then lower to 4s.

[rubadub]

Would I be right in asuming you use negatives sparingly so as not to cause injuries or overtrain?

I find negatives very easy to do, that is the danger for me anyway, it is far too easy to overdo them and DOMs can last for days after.

This is an interesting read http://www.rpfit.com/pdf/Negative_Case_Study.pdf

[Seiji]

True dat ruba.

My lifting coach said that you can handle 50-100% more in lowering than lifting. Obviously it works the muscle far harder, so DOMS will be quite extreme in most cases.

When I was learning to front tuck, I practiced so much that the next day my calves were so sore I couldn't walk without having a massive jolt of pain. So, I stayed in bed all day watching TV Even with massages, it took a very long time to go away.

[JL]

A while ago, I posted a plan given in a climbing book. It involved a 5 sec. hold in the top position followed by a 5 sec. negative. personally, I find that the 5 sec. negative is too quick for my taste, I prefer a little more (up to 9). I played around with this once, and my biceps were sore for 3 days. You count the 5 sec. (top) >>>>5 sec (lower) as one rep. I believe they say you should work up to 5 sets of 5 reps. Then, you should be above 4-5 pull ups at a given weight. That would be 250 seconds of total time under tension. I think the frequency recommendation was 3x a week (M,W,F).