amortization

[Alex (Big-AL)]

Can anyone explain this to me?
Is it purely beneficial to those wanting size?
Is it beneficial at all?
How might one implement it within a routine?

Thanks for any help

AL

[666]

This is where you reduce the ROM to just the bottom portion of the lift, like Ronnie Coleman does in his videos if you've seen any of them. I tried it for quite a while and did quite well with it though it might have worked best for me because full ROM BB OHP is difficult with my poor shoulder flexibility, though the point behind it is supposedly greater time under tension I think...? I did it by just doing this instead of full OHP, though you could presumably just do a set or two like this at the end of any exercise you feel like using it for.

[PikeKing]

over rated i think, ronnie does those partials coz his joints are ****ed i'm told

[Alex (Big-AL)]

Thing is, almost every famous bodybuilder i have seen training seems to do this or at least something similar to it. I imagine you can use a fair bit more weight doing it like that, seems a bit of a cheat but maybe there is something in it and if it does work for some reason then perhaps it is worth throwing in the mix?

Also, why is it called that? :o

AL

[Narc]

It's called that cos some dumbass called it that. Amortization actually means the shock absorption phase of a movement, so makes completely no sense as a term for this nonsense. As for the reason most bodybuilders do it, laziness, none of the bodybuilders in my gym use a full ROM, it sure as **** isn't because they are doing 'amortization reps' it's because they are ****s

[Alex (Big-AL)]

Yes i had wondered if that might be the simple answer.

As with most things i will probably have a half hearted go at it, put any progress behind me and pick up where i was a month ago in six months. :018:

Cheers

AL

[Narc]

Hahahah

[JumboTron9million]

Not to be a super technical **** or anything but amortization is both the "shock absorption" and subsequent change in direction in a rep. Thats all it means, the bit where ya absorb force then return it to change the direction of the bar.

It's also the point where mechanical stretch is greatest, intramuscular tension is greatest and you have the best chance of inflicting some damage on sacromeres with a given load.

It's the same deal with ALL "parts" of a rep.

About 10 years ago it was negatives - some decent research showed that maybe it was negs that tore sacromeres, and made us grow, so everyone started emphasising negatives, usually slow ones. Then some one pointed out that braking forces on eccentrics would be higher if bar speed was higher, so now everyone is back to doing negs at a normal speed, or fast negs with supramaximal loads.

Then mechanotransduction came to the fore and everyone said "**** it, just get as many reps as you can with as much load as posssible and you'll be huge".

...and so on. Now with AMT reps.

There's no re-inventing the wheel. ALL "parts" of a rep are useful, all provide something towards making muscles grow so do 'em all (i.e. full rom rep at normal pace) but then feel free to add other stuff to emphasise different factors over time.... slow negs for a while, or fast reversal / AMT style reps, or holds at a sticking point or drop sets with lighter load or some combo of the above.

All of these can be used to get more hypertrophy from a set, and yes, most 1/2 decent BBers do some or all of these at some point. Incidentally, almost no 1/2 decent BBers have a ****ing clue why they do what they do...other than cause it works. Equally there's plenty ****s who "know" that keeping it basic will work and invest a lot of emotion in that "truth" but don't get anywhere all that quick if at all.



JBT.

[Scourge]

Mechanotransduction n.: The conversion of mechanical stimulus to biochemical activity.

...in case anybody didn't know.


JBT - What are your thoughts on using bands for hypertrophy training? Given that they let you use supramaximal loads and they offer above-g acceleration on the eccentric, I'd always imagined that BBers would be all over them.

[JumboTron9million]

Problem is that BBers care what they look like in the gym:)

JBT

[Narc]

Coulda fooled me