The Best Kind Of Exercise
by Arthur Jones

For the purpose of producing maximum strength, a muscle must be worked against resistance throughout its full range of possible movement. Resistance must be available in the position of full contraction – and resistance is also required in the position of full extension.

Barbells and most other types of exercise devices are based upon negative resistance – when lifting a barbell you are performing positive work against negative resistance, you are pulling “up” and the barbell is providing resistance against your movement by pulling “down.” But a barbell also provides negative work. At the top of a movement, after the weight has been raised as high as possible, the barbell must be lowered back to the starting position – and you are performing negative work while lowering the barbell.

For the purpose of building strength, such LOWERING of weight is far more important than lifting weight.
Careful research clearly proves that eccentric contractions (negative exercises) are of far greater value for the purpose of building strength – when large groups of previously untrained individuals were trained with  negative only exercises the results were far better than those produced by a similar group trained with positive only exercises.
The cause and effect factors involved in exercise are actually quite simple strength increases are produced in proportion to the “intensity” of an exercise. “Intensity” is best defined as “percentage of momentary ability.”

If you are capable of bench pressing 300 pounds, and you press only 100 pounds – then the intensity is low.  But if you are capable of 300 pounds, and you use 300 pounds then the intensity is high. No amount of low intensity training will produce much in the way of increases in strength. But if the intensity is high, then a very small amount of training will quickly produce maximum strength.

A muscle is stimulated to grow only when it is exposed to an amount of resistance that is very close to its maximum level of momentary ability. If the weight is properly selected, then the intensity will be far higher in such exercises. During the first two or three repetitions, it should be possible for the trainee to easily reverse the movement and move the weight in a “positive” (upwards) direction – but no attempt to do so should be made.

Then, during the next two or three repetitions, it should be possible to stop the movement -but no attempt to do so should be made.
Only after several repetitions have been performed with no attempt to stop or reverse the movement – only after it becomes momentarily impossible to stop or reverse the movement – only then should the trainee even attempt to stop the movement.
In effect, if you can reverse the movement, don’t try – and if you can even stop the movement, don’t try.But after it becomes impossible to reverse or stop the movement – then try as hard as you can.

Such a style of training will result in an intensity that is utterly impossible to duplicate while training with positive movements.

For the last several months, we have had all of our trainees on a program of exercises strictly limited to NEGATIVE ONLY resistance – and the results have been by far the best that we have ever produced.

The simple logic, the physical laws, the theory, the research results, and the practical experience all indicate exactly the same thing . . . THE BEST TYPE OF EXERCISE is NEGATIVE ONLY.

Some people – probably quite a few people will make the same old mistake of assuming that MORE is BETTER. Which certainly is NOT true. Brief workouts are a requirement – so if you make the mistake of training more – then you will gain less. And if you train too much, then you won’t gain at all. And do not make the gross mistake of ADDING such negative only training to your regular workouts – instead, use this training in place of your regular workout. To the maximum degree possible, totally ELIMINATE positive work from your training.

Positive exercises should be used only about once each third week – and then only for the purpose of judging your progress and maintaining your form.
I would suggest that you follow a program of eight negative only workouts and then one positive- negative (normal) workout.
During the first week, train three times – negative only. During the second week, also train three times – negative only. But during the third week, use two negative only workouts – and then one regular workout.

Then back to another three week cycle of eight negative only workouts followed by one regular workout.

Some people will adopt a “wait and see” attitude in regard to this information -but by so doing they will be denying themselves the great value of already established, clearly proven, undeniable FACT.

The wise reader should clearly understand that I don’t care how you train -it makes no slightest difference to me whether you train right or wrong. So I pass this information along only in a sincere attempt to make the simple truth as widely known as possible – in the end, the truth will be known, regardless of what I say and regardless of what others may say or believe. But if you are wise enough to conduct a few simple tests for yourself – then you can take advantage of the truth now, while some other people are still wondering what to do. Suit yourself.