Workout of The Week (#62)

Compensatory Acceleration

“Above all, you must be intent on cutting the enemy in the way you grip the sword. The grip for combat and for sword-testing is the same. There is no such thing as a man-cutting grip.”

Musashi

Training with compensatory acceleration (CAT) is important to drive maximal force into the barbell, dumbbell, or kettlebell. Smooth and controlled contractions are great for muscle gain, but if we’re trying to develop knockout power we need to be intententional about accelerating through the movement. The workout below is designed to be performed with heavy weights and done with brute force.

Cue: Lift the bar with violence, disregard for it’s wellbeing, and contempt for it’s existence.

Quick muscle lesson: you recruit motor units starting with the low threshold (slow twitch) and work your way up to high threshold (fast twitch). This is called the size principle. By applying more acceleration into your movement you can recruit more high threshold motor units and consequently recruit more type two fast twitch muscle fibers. Even if you just train for aesthetics, it doesn’t hurt to sling along some heavy bells or train with CAT on large compound movements like squats, presses, pulls, and hinges.

Workout of The Week

KB  Clean x 3L/3R

KB Push Press x 2L/2R

Snatch x 1L/1R

6 Rounds go as heavy as possible with good form, keep rest minimal. Each movement is performed with a single arm (L = left, R = right). If you are new to these movements go a bit lighter, double the reps and focus on technique and a high level of execution.