Compensatory Acceleration: another lost concept that deserves resurrection
27 October 2006If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
I am a strong believer in the concept of compensatory acceleration as it applies to lifting weights. So what does this phrase mean? Compensatory Acceleration refers to compensating for the fact that the poundage used is less than maximum – so how do you increase the degree of difficultly (and therefore the benefit) factor while using a relatively light weight? Move the payload faster! If you are repping 100-pounds and it takes 2-seconds to push or pull the payload from start to lockout, by pushing or pulling that payload to completion in 1-second you have geometrically and significantly increased the degree of difficulty. Additionally, you will, over time, reconfigure the fast-twitch/slow-twitch fiber configuration of the muscle or muscle group. This has tremendous application for sports-related physical activity: compensatory acceleration enables the athlete to fire all fibers within a muscle or muscle group simultaneously as opposed to recruiting muscle fiber in a slow, gradual, ever-increasing number. Watch a 350-pound NFL defensive lineman fire off the line when the ball is snapped. Watch the Olympic shot-putter spin and explode the 16-pound iron ball 70-feet. Watch the high-jumper leap 8-feet straight up. Watch the NBA point-guard explode from the foul line, fly through space and perform an aerial feat before dunking. Watch a 180-pound weightlifter pull 396-pounds to pec height before shooting down and under, catching the bar on extended arms, then standing erect with the poundage precariously balanced overhead. These are but a few examples of the physical manifestation of athletic explosiveness.
Compensatory Acceleration, CA, proffers up the thesis that by pushing or pulling ever rep of every set of every exercise as fast as possible, muscles will be reeducated and taught how to fire all at once rather than being called into action in a leisurely and piecemeal way. CA is explosive but never sloppy! CA is only applied on the loaded portion of a lift, be it push or pull. The eccentric, load-ing portion of the lift is ratcheted into place (relatively) slowly and with great precision. Imagine a giant coiled spring being pushed downward by ever-increasing weight; when pushed downward all the way, someone or something flicks the restraining load off the compressed spring and WHAM! That coiled spring expands and extends with an amazing release of energy. That’s the image we need to keep in mind when we practice CA…load ever-increasing amounts of tension and energy into the limbs on the load-ing phase: the instant the turnaround (that micro-instant wherein the rep reverses direction) occurs and load-ing becomes load-ed – fire the maximum number of fibers all at once and explosively! The ability to fire all available fibers within the confines of a muscle can be intuitive, the athlete can be genetically predisposed to explosiveness – or it can be learned with practice over time. The ability to contract all fibers simultaneously and push or pull the resistance with every ounce of available force can be taught. To learn CA simply move every rep as fast as humanly possible through every inch of the loaded phase. CA practitioners are taught to think a single word at that instant when eccentric becomes concentric: “SPEED!”
A man capable of a 405-bench press should be able to move his 135/225, 315, 365-pound warm-up reps damned fast. Yet you would be amazed and the number of athletes who subconsciously hold down the speed and explosiveness of light warm-up reps. The brain and body silently unconsciously collude to use just enough energy to lift the weight – explosiveness be damned! The human body always picks the path of least resistance and the path of easiest resistance is to move a light weight slowly. One Gal Pal who shall remain anonymous could grind-squat 175-pounds. She moved her warm-up reps at a glacial pace. Even when confronted on it (“stop moving slowly!”) with me sitting 10-feet away, haranguing her mercilessly, her body would not relinquish control and allow her to push those uber-light 50% squats a damned bit faster than she moved with 175/100%. If it took her 2-seconds to move 175-pounds from the turnaround to lockout, it took her 2-seconds to move 95-pounds from turnaround to lockout. Ironically, in order to increase her push speed, the 1st thing I did was slow down and “tense-up” the eccentric load-ing portion of the rep. A slower lowering builds great tension and stored muscle tension provides the requisite energy for an explosive release. Those who depend on rebound to generate momentum are driving at 100-miles an hour towards a brick wall. There is zero tension buildup in a free-fall and injury lies just around the corner for the bouncer.
Elite lifters build tension-energy during coiling, eccentric portion of the rep. They release the stored energy the instant the turnaround occurs. The release occurs when the brain screams, “SPEED!” Watch world record holder Kirk Karwoski (1003 squat) as he warms up with 135-pounds; not only does he treat the paltry poundage with great respect, he rockets his reps to lockout, the bar is a blur. He moves 135 waaaay faster than he is able to move his heaviest weights. Our Lady lifter’s body was hard-wired in such a way that it only exerted the bare minimum possible strength and energy to move 95/115/135-pounds. She would literally shimmy and shake on the last reps of her slow as molasses light warm-up sets – yet she moved faster with her 175-pound, 100% max than on her 95-pound warm-up reps. The opposite of Kirk, her max was done faster than her warm-ups. All her warm-ups reps had one speed: slow! The cure required dropping poundage back to a weight she could and was able to move explosively. 135? No…115? No….95?! No! Finally at 65 we found the poundage that she could and would and was able to explode upward. Once we found this ‘explosive benchmark floor’ we built upward on that over time. If she began “grinding” a rep, I curtailed the set immediately. After a few months of CA indoctrination, our Gal squatted a terrific 220 in training. It was a thing of great beauty. Compensatory Acceleration is a leaned skill; learn it and watch as strength, power and athletic prowess jump up to the next level.
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