If you've ever seen a pro bodybuilder's training DVD, you may have concluded that the pros use bad form on most exercises. They cheat too much. How can their workouts be productive when the execution of so many exercises is so sloppy? Most reps of most sets are so explosive that you have to wonder whether they really know how to train. Aren't slow, controlled repetitions best for hypertrophy?

On the other hand, pro bodybuilders are the most muscular human beings on the planet. They must be on to something. I'm not talking about one or two pros who train explosively—most of the biggest ones do it.

What's Your Number-One Goal During a Workout?

Ask that question around the gym, and you'll realize that most bodybuilders don't know their number-one training goal is it to lift the heaviest weights possible? No. Is it~`~ to perform the greatest number of reps? No. Is it to perform the most exercises? No.

You train to get bigger, but which factor in your training is going to trigger muscle growth? To stimulate hypertrophy, you have to contract your muscles with the highest intensity possible—that's your number-one goal during a workout. So you attempt to handle the heaviest weights—but that's a means to an end, not the end. If the goal of your workout is to lift as heavy as possible, you're a powerlifter, not a bodybuilder, and you'll fall short of fully developing your muscles.

If you want to contract your muscles with the highest degree of intensity, your nervous system should send the target muscles as many hertz—or impulses per second—as possible. At 80 hertz, or 80 impulses per second, almost all of your muscle fibers are recruited. That's about the level of intensity required to perform a set of eight reps in a controlled fashion. At 100 hertz the degree of contraction of each fiber is much higher.-That's about the level of intensity required to perform the same set in an explosive manner.

You reach the highest degree of voluntary muscular contraction at about 120 hertz, and you get there only during explosive, not slow, movement. There's no way to do it with slow, controlled repetitions. You get to the highest degree of muscular contraction at about 150 hertz, typically during a cramp, which is an involuntary contraction.

We all know that a painful cramp forces the muscles to contract far more powerfully than they do during a workout, even during a one- rep maximum effort. If we could voluntarily produce the intensity we get during a cramp while working out, we'd grow very fast—but most of us wouldn't be able to stand the pain. (Incidentally, a toadfish's so-called "superfast" muscles can generate power at frequencies in excess of 200 hertz.)

There's only a 30-hertz difference between maximum voluntary contraction and involuntary strength, but those 30 impulses make all the difference in the world. So, if you train at 80 hertz because you insist on using slow repetitions, your degree of muscular contraction is probably extremely low, even if you're under the impression that you use high intensity.

The Staircase Effect

Many bodybuilders assume that once a fiber contracts, it contracts at maximum intensity. That's not the case. The degree of contraction depends on the number of impulses a fiber receives. A single impulse won't force a fiber to contract much. Two impulses will do a much better job. The more impulses per second, the higher the degree of contraction. It's called the staircase effect. If a cramp makes you feel as if you're about to tear a muscle, it's not because you're recruiting new fibers but because each fiber is contracting as powerfully as it can when it receives so many impulses. That's what we're trying to duplicate with explosive training.

Bodybuilders will get the proper feel of contraction during an explosive repetition only if their muscles have a lot of type 2 or fast fibers. Those are the fibers that hypertrophy the most, and pros have them in abundance, which is why they're so big and strong. It's also why they like to train explosively—and get results from it. They've intuitively found that fast reps suit their muscles best. Obviously, most of us aren't pros. What makes them so different?

• They have the right nervous system and the right fast-twitch muscle fibers for explosive training
• They've been training for many years, which has enhanced their ability to contract their muscles properly using very fast repetitions
• Their mind/body connection was probably superior, not average, even before they started training. They didn't have to use scientific researchers to figure out that explosive training was the way to go
• They use steroids, which enhance the mind/body connection. They also restructure the nervous system so that it gets more responsive to explosive training
• Their joints and tendons are far more resistant than the average person's. Your muscles may respond well to explosive training, but your tendons and joints may be too fragile to sustain it.
• Bottom line: When you watch pros train, they may seem to cheat too much, but, in fact, they're contracting their muscles hard—harder than most of us, the motor-handicapped bodybuilders, are capable of.

Motor-Handicapped Bodybuilders

If you can't feel a powerful contraction when you use fast repetitions, your nervous system just isn't endowed with the right characteristics. Basically, your muscles aren't endowed with the right types of fast fibers. I call it being "motor-handicapped." It describes most of us.

Some of your muscles may respond to explosive training, while others may not. Those that do are endowed for bodybuilding, while those that don't are not. That explains why we all have weak points—like the one so many have: the calves. Even the pros have some unresponsive body parts.

The point is that you should not use the same techniques to train every single muscle. The body parts that don't respond to explosive training are likely to be your weakest in terms of strength and development. Slower work may suit them best. Still, that does not imply that slow reps are superior to fast reps.

What Science Says

Scientific studies consistently show that explosive training induces more strength gains than slower repetitions do. That's very important to know if you're weight training for sports. Bodybuilders, however, are interested in hypertrophy rather than in strength. Science demonstrates that explosive training is superior to slow reps in that respect too. Here are two examples:

Eight weeks of arm training increased muscle size by 10 percent in men and women when they performed the exercises in a slow fashion. Explosive training increased the size of their arms by 15 percent. That's a 50 percent difference.

Six weeks of leg training performed in a slow fashion did not increase muscle size in men. Explosive training increased the thickness of the type 2 fibers by 11 percent. Another group of men used both slow and fast repetitions. You might think that alternating the two styles of training would be the best way to produce growth. In fact, that strategy didn't result in any significant muscular gains. It appears that the slow reps impaired whatever improvements were achieved by explosive training.

Explosive Training: Not for Everyone

If you're new to bodybuilding, you first have to learn how to contract your muscles. In order to do that, you have to perform the exercises in a slow, deliberate fashion. If you attempt to train explosively right from the beginning, you run the risk of cheating too much. If you use too much momentum, you won't grow. There's a fine line between productive, explosive repetitions and sloppy, unproductive training. Proper explosive training is far harder than it seems. It takes years of practice.

For a beginner, proper form means:

• Lifting the weight up in one or two seconds
• Squeezing the muscle as hard as possible for one second in the contracted position
• Lowering the weight in two to three seconds

Once you master that technique perfectly, it's time to move on to more advanced training styles.

The Most Dangerous Form of Training

Explosive training is not perfect. In fact, it's the most dangerous form of training. The risk of injuries is very high, which explains why we see a growing incidence of serious muscle tears among pros and top amateurs. The more violent the contraction, the more dangerous it is for the muscles, tendons and joints.

Slower repetitions are safer. Sending fewer hertz means the contraction is less aggressive. Ideally, we should find a way to render explosive training less risky without reducing its capacity for forcing muscle growth. I'll save that topic for next month.

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