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Hello there!
This is a serious question, all kidding´s by side i need advanced answers from personal trainers or coaches,or wight lifters,even vertical jumpers and athletes.

The momentum use/not use in weight lifting confused me.Well im a boy 20 yrs and i lifted weights 6 months ago for like 3 months.After the 6 months break i started again to go to the gym.My gains in those 3 months were poor,as i first came to gym it looked like1RM: bench press-70kg,military press-45kg…after 3 months 100kg and 55kg.In those 3 months i visited the gym twice a week.I didnt realize the momentum stuff and i barrely dont really know what momentum means.Well i read somewhere for example when you at bench press,you put the barbell downwards /eccentric action/ while you doing this you load your muscles to counteract,when not counteract immidietly the momentum goes lost,and the lift up action /concentric action/ becomes more difficult unlike with use of momentum.Thats how i understand the mean of momentum.
Second thing. I just look for gaining max strength,all Bodybuilding stuff by side. Now i combined the strength workout(upper body) with the lower body workout.And combined with the strength workout the plyometric workout too. I purchaseed the vertical jump bible.I read the book ,and everything just confused me.Well or…whatever.
Now look, when you doing the weight lift slower and without momentum you force your muscles to work harder-result more stronger.

So question one: Is this true? When yes… for example how im gonna do my bench press. Am i gonna do it like this: Downward action 2-4 seconds, let the weight in place for 1-2 seconds to lose momentum,upward action 2-4 seconds. Is this idealy to get stronger and improve bench press in no time? But without using momentum i cant even lift 80kg. What about this??

Dilema 2: What about those fast twitch fiber´s in muscles. When you keep doing your exercises fast,energetic,explosive you force your Central Nervous sistem to recruit more fast twitch fibers. I need to be explosive and i need those fast twitch fibers,for jumping explosivnes…
Now,how my CNS recruit more fast twitch fibers when i do the exercises like i showed above. How to gain those fast twich fibers and strength. Or i just need to build up strenght for 1-2 months and combine it with fast exercises…man phew…
Now look its probably designed so,that you first strength your muscles and slowly attempt to the reactive training including fast explosive moves…i guess so,what you think?
Now again, to gain more strength should i do the bench press, barbell squats, split or bulgarian barbell squats and military press and other exercises slowly to gain strength,by deleting momentum. And be able to lift more in no time.
I read too that 3-4 sets of 6 reps improve your strength more and faster then 10 or 12 reps why that? Should i delete momentum in all exercises during strength gains? Is it better that i visit the gym 3 times a week unlike twice like i done before?

phew… thats it. Hope that you can help me here, im just confused about everything. Who guess that simply weight lifting can be so complicated. :S

Thanks…

Hi, your questions are really all over the place, but I’ll try answering as best I can…

Many younger bodybuilders are overambitious and use weights that are too heavy for their strength capacity, but are able to perform the exercise using tricks like:

- Swinging the Barbell/Dumbbell
- Locking the elbows at the top of exercise
- Performing exercises very fast instead of slowly using good form
- Using momentum rather than muscle

Don’t fool yourself, this kind of stuff is nothing but cheating and will be one of the primary reasons you will NOT see results.

You referred to letting a weight rest in place for 1-2 seconds in the middle of an exercise. That is exactly what you should not be doing.

Good form means all exercises are done slowly and fluently without interruption and without locking your elbows at the top of an rep.

Remember, the whole idea of stenght or resistance trianing is to put tension and pressure on your muscles. If you’re gonna cheat by using the weights momentum to lift, you’re muscles are not working very hard and results will be slim.

As for reps and sets, here is a recommended set range for each muscle group:

Legs – 14-20 sets
Calves – 6-10 sets (possible twice per week)
Abs – 6-10 sets (possibly twice per week)
Back – 12-16 sets
Shoulders – 9-12 sets
Triceps – 8-10 sets
Biceps – 6-9 sets
Forearms – 4-8 sets
Traps – 3-6 sets
Chest – 12-16 sets
The rep ranges for muscle building is 6-12 reps per set and you should be lifting with a weight that you struggle to complete the last couple reps on each set with good form. Once you hit your rep range with good form it is time to move up in weight.

I’ve put two links at the bottom. The first one is a very good article you can read on why momentum in bodybuilding is a bad idea. The second is a video of a bench press done with correct form. This is the way and speed all exercises should be performed at (you can even go slower than that, but not faster)

Phew, hope that helps…