Lifting weights should lead to body composition changes, increased strength, and/or better sport performance. Having your exercise selection, intensity, and frequency dialed will lead you to these goals. But how you lift your weights is often overlooked. Often, we do what we need to do to get the weight from point A to point B. However, lifting using compensatory acceleration training protocols can lead to greater gains, and thus more effective training.
Resistance Training Background
In traditional resistance training, the concentric (or upwards/lifting) portion of an exercise is done in a controlled manner. The tempo of this is often a 2 count.
A smooth, controlled rep is often considered optimal. This is particularly evident in people that resistance train for general health benefits.
However, smooth, controlled contractions may not be an optimal training strategy in athletic populations. Sport performance is often dependent on being able to move, react and produce force more quickly than an opposition.
Therefore, would relatively slow training be optimal for athletes?
I (and many others) would argue no. Hence, compensatory acceleration training (CAT) is a training concept used with athletes.
What is Compensatory Acceleration Training
According to Mel Siff, legendary strength coach and author, compensatory acceleration training is the process of deliberately trying to accelerate a weight throughout the concentric phase of the movement.
A key, but often overlooked, component of this definition is “deliberately trying.” The load doesn’t even have to be accelerating. You just need to be trying as hard as you can to increase the speed on the bar.
Intention is key.
As mentioned above, this is a change from the traditional way that resistance training is programmed.
I really like the acceleration focused mindset associated with CAT.
I find that when performing an exercise like a squat, once I am about halfway through the concentric phase of the lift I can go on autopilot.
As I’ve written about before, we are at a mechanical advantage in the top portion of the squatting motion. That means that it is easier to move through the top of the range vs. the bottom of the range. As a result, I find myself just going through the motions on occasion.
However, there is no autopilot if I am focused on CAT. Instead, there is a deliberate acceleration of the load through all phases of the lift.
Because of this, CAT leads to better mental engagement – and muscular involvement, as we’ll discuss below.
The Math Behind CAT
Now that we know what compensatory acceleration training is, we need to know some of the science behind it.
The first bit of science explaining CAT comes from our friend Sir. Isaac Newton. Newton did a few things for the math and physics world, and it applies to the strength and conditioning world too. As my colleague says, “physics is undefeated”.
Newton’s 2nd Law is: Force = mass x acceleration (F=ma)
So how does this apply?
In strength training we want our muscles to produce a maximum amount of force. Muscles produce force based on the number of successful cross-bridges in the muscle. This is influenced by a number of different factors such as nervous system input, muscle fiber types, and speed of movement.
Practically, according to Newton’s 2nd Law there are three ways to increase force – either lift more load (increase mass), lift a set weight faster (increase acceleration), or do both.
If we only ever focus on increasing the load lifted, then eventually we will stall out on force production.
Therefore, we need to incorporate training strategies like CAT to increase the acceleration component that contributes to force production.
“An increase in acceleration will increase muscle tension and the enhance training effect of any resistance exercise.”
– Mel Siff (Supertraining)
Does Compensatory Acceleration Work?
Scientific research shows that compensatory acceleration training works. Using CAT will lead to greater strength gains compared to slower resistance training.
What is happening in the body with Compensatory Acceleration Training?
It is thought that high speed movements are initiated differently by the brain. The brain is able to stimulate a greater number of motor units, and preferentially activate “stronger” motor units (Behm & Sale, 1993). The brain also changes the way that agonist and antagonist muscles (e.g. hamstrings and quads) fire. This leads to more optimized contraction.
These events happen in the body even if you don’t actually accelerate the bar. This is why intention is key!
Having the intention to accelerate the bar maximally will lead to greater, and preferential motor unit activation (Behm & Sale, 1993). Therefore, the attempt to move loads fast provides the same (or very similar) benefits as actually moving loads fast.
Increasing Strength with CAT
A few key studies have looked at CAT and strength. They have primarily focused on college athletes, but I believe the take-away messages work for most people with some resistance training experience.
A study by Pareja-Blanco and colleagues looked at how lifting at max speed vs. at half of max in the squat impact strength, sprinting, and jumping abilities. The subjects trained 3 times a week at moderate volume (from 3×2 to 3×8 per session) for 6 weeks.
The results are shown below. It appears that lifting at max speed (CAT focus) probably increases max strength and jump height. It also increases your ability to move fast – which makes sense based on the SAID principle.
The percent change in many of the variables tested was doubled in the max speed group compared to the half speed group (Pareja-Blanco et al., 2014).
A study by Jones et al. looked at partial range CAT bench press training in college football players.
The group that performed CAT increased their bench press by about 10 kg, compared to a 5 kg increase in the non-CAT group, over 14 weeks of training (K. Jones et al., 1999). Increasing Division 1 college football player’s max bench by 10 kg in a summer of training is pretty huge.
The authors concluded that “the intent to maximally accelerate concentrically with heavy weights may be better for improving strength and power than slow heavy training” (K. Jones et al., 1999).
Another study, by Margaret Jones (a different Jones), looked at CAT and accommodating resistance on strength in college baseball players. These college baseball players increased their bench press strength by over 11% in just 5 weeks of training (M. Jones, 2014).
These studies show that significant strength and power gains can be seen by implementing CAT protocols. Even very short training programs can lead to huge gains.
Compensatory Acceleration Training Summary
At the end of the day, trying to move as fast as possible through the concentric phase of your main lifts seems like a good idea.
The science suggests it leads to large and fast strength and power gains. Plus, real-world experience suggests that CAT protocols help athletes perform better in their sports.
As John Welbourn often says: “intent is everything”. And no one trains to be the slowest on the field or the track.
Move fast, move well, move consistently and see the gains.
References:
Behm, D. G., & Sale, D. G. (1993). Intended rather than actual movement velocity determines velocity-specific training response. Journal of Applied Physiology, 74(1), 359–368. https://doi.org/10.1152/jappl.1993.74.1.359
Jones, K., Hunter, G., Fleisig, G., Escamilla, R., & Lemak, L. (1999). The Effects of Compensatory Acceleration on Upper-Body Strength and Power in Collegiate Football Players. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 7.
Jones, M. (2014). Effect of compensatory acceleration training in combination with accommodating resistance on upper body strength in collegiate athletes. Open Access Journal of Sports Medicine, 183. https://doi.org/10.2147/OAJSM.S65877
Pareja-Blanco, F., Rodríguez-Rosell, D., Sánchez-Medina, L., Gorostiaga, E., & González-Badillo, J. (2014). Effect of Movement Velocity during Resistance Training on Neuromuscular Performance. International Journal of Sports Medicine, 35(11), 916–924. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0033-1363985