Negatives for Beating Strength Plateaus

As I try to increase my overhead press and weighted pullup strength, I have found it absolutely essential to mix up my strategies in order to prevent a plateau in my strength gains.

Before I outline the strategy I used in last weeks workout, let me emphasize an important point:

"To press alot, you have to press alot."
- Pavel



Because I have been doing just that (pressing alot) I now have found myself at the point of incremental gains.  When I first started focusing on presses and pullups, my strength increases were rapid.  Now that I have been doing tons of presses and pullups for months, my strength gains are starting to diminish.

There are many strategies to overcome plateaus.  The one I chose in my last press/pullup focused workout was completing set of NEGATIVE ONLY reps.

Here is how it works:

The goal is to use heavier weight than normal, but only use the target muscle during the ECCENTRIC portion of the lift.  For example, press negatives are executed by jerking or push pressing the weight overhead (to minimize the shoulder involvement while getting the lock out), then resisting the weight as it travels back down to the starting position with maximum effort so it goes down as slow as possible.

Wt. Pullup negatives are completed by having someone assist you on the way up to the bar, then resisting gravity on the way back down by going as slow as you can until you are at the full hang.  The spotter will then help you back up for your next rep so you are spending all your energy during the negative portion of the lift.


Since I didnt have a spotter, I did 1-arm pullup negatives.  I did this by using two arms to pull myself up, then used only 1 arms to resist on the way down.

The point of doing NEGATIVES is to use heavier weights than normal for more reps, since you are STRONGER on the negative portion of the lift.

My negative workout:

KB military press
 5 x 70 lbs.
4 x 80 lbs.
3 x 88 lbs.
2 x 97 lbs.
1 x 106 lbs.

supersetted each set with 1 one arm pullup negative per side.

The next day I was SORE!!  A solid indicator that the reps shocked my muscles and hopefully stimulated new growth and strength!

Try adding negatives into your workout for 1 week and see how they increase your strength the following week.

Be safe and use a strong, trustworthy spotter!