New Trends I'm likin'.

So I've been training on the same program (ish) for roughly 7 months. I don't do the same exercises I did in the beginning, but I still have the same body part split and do many of the exercises I was doing months ago. That said, I like to add some variety to the workouts, especially when I see a body part lagging behind (like my arms). That said, here are some of the things I've been trying (and liking!) recently to keep my muscles guessing and my mind engaged.



Slow Negatives

In the past couple months I haven't played with the speed of movements at all. I was more focused on getting the movements down, the weight up, and sticking to the routine. Recently I've been trying slow negatives, which is where the negative part of the movement (usually the "down" in curling/pressing/body-lifting movements) is slowed down by at least a factor of 2 as the "up" or the contraction of the muscle.

I have been told many times that this part, the negative movement, is what actually builds the muscles (dominantly). I've also been told that time under tension (TUT) really matters. If these are true, then negatives seems to be perfect exercises for building muscles. I have been experimenting with them dominantly in the following categories:

• Bicep Curls with EZ Curl Bar. The slow negatives really get the muscles burning. In my experience so far, I can feel my arms burning more than they do with higher weights and low reps.
• Pull-ups. As you may recall, I really would like to be able to do 5 legit pull-ups (starting with 1 is good too!). In order to build more core strength, along with back and lat strength, I have started doing slow negatives on the pull-up bar after doing some assisted ones and trying unassisted ones. I have recently read a few T-Nation articles and Bodybuilding.com forums about the benefits of these as well!
• Shoulder presses. I love shoulder presses on the Smith machine to build my shoulders. Slow negatives really help keep me focused on the movement.

The final, and one of the most important side effects of slow negatives is that I have begun to notice a stronger mind-muscle connection. I have to concentrate on keeping the motion slow and am therefore, much more in tune to my body, the way it is moving, feeling, and what muscles are being activated.

Burnout Sets & Lifting to Fatigue

I recently started doing sets in which I didn't have a specific number in mind, I just wanted to go until I couldn't. I don't think this is appropriate for every exercise. Since I very easily dislocate my shoulders, I tend to keep this method to biceps, cable crosses and other exercises that don't put backwards torque on my shoulder.

• Bicep Curls with Dumbbells. I will do a series of exercises without stopping or pausing in between such as 6-8 regular alternating one-arm curls, 6-8 (or how many ever I can) half-curls (top half) and the the next 10-12 (or how many every I can) rotation standing dumbbell flyes exercises. This seriously gets my whole bicep & shoulder area burning. I can barely pick up a 10 lbs. dumbbell after a couple sets of these
• Cable shoulder rotation. I do these to help strengthen my rotator cuff so that my shoulders don't come out of joint as easily. I tend to do more reps -- until I can feel a good burn, and go through the sets rather quickly with little rest. 

Pushing to fatigue, when your muscles literally can't lift anymore because you've exhausted them is a good feeling. I find that this feeling is satisfying in the same way not being able to lift anymore because you've lifted your new 1 rep max for 2 reps is satisfying. Either way, you are awesome because you are pushing your body to its limits.

What new things have you been trying in the gym?