Pre-Exhaustion

The idea behind pre-exhaustion is that one performs a set of an isolation exercise to tire a muscle out, then immediately (with no rest) follow up with a compound movement. When performed properly, this training method can be brutally hard. But the results can be amazing. Just be prepared to have sore muscles the next day!!

A couple of examples of pre-exhaustion are – dumbbell flyes supersetted with bench presses for the chest, Bicep curls followed by lat pulldowns for the biceps, and so on. The second exercise in the superset will have to be performed with a lighter weight than usual, as the muscle that has been ‘pre-exhausted’, i.e. the pectorals from dumbbell flyes, will be unable to perform at their peak, with only the accessory muscles – in this case (bench press) the delts and triceps doing the work.

Warning; Caution should be exercised when attempting to perform pre-exhaustion, because of the danger of getting stuck under a barbell – never attempt presses or leg presses as a second part of a pre-exhaustion combo without a spotter.

Forced Repetitions.

Forced repetitions are repetitions completed with the aid of a ‘spotter’ – someone who assists you by placing a finger under each side of the bar to give you just enough assistance to complete the rep. Correctly applied, this technique can improve results, but can cause a massive drain on the nervous system and contribute to over-training if used too often.

A good rule of thumb might be to use it on one or two sets maximum, per bodypart, per week, and increase or decrease the frequency according to how you feel, and how you are recovering.

Negatives.

These are usually performed after forced reps, and take the intensity up yet another notch. Though very stressful on the nervous system, and very painful and difficult to perform, they can help a trainee break through to a new of muscle size and strength.

Performance - After reaching ‘failure’ (where you cannot perform another repetition unaided), and after continuing the set with 1 to 3 forced reps (with the aid of a spotter), negative-only repetitions, or ‘negatives’ can follow. In a negative repetition, the spotter will lift virtually the entire weight to the contracted position for you (because your muscles are so fatigued from the forced reps that preceded them), and you will lower the bar as slowly as possible. When you cannot control the descent of the bar, the set must end for safety’s sake.

As with forced reps we recommend using negatives sparingly…..perhaps on one or two exercises per week. As always, it will depend on your individual recovery ability and training load. Also, exercises where exceptionally heavy weights are the norm, and the spotter does not have the leverage to lift the bar (i.e. when standing behind a trainee doing squats) are unsuited to negatives. Negatives are ideal, however, where the weights are lighter, as in bicep, tricep, and shoulder exercises. They are also suited to some types of pulldown, and many chest exercises, where the spotter can stand behind the trainee, and safely control the movement of the bar.