How does Newton’s second law of motion apply in the gym?

Well, we know that net force is calculated by mass times acceleration. When we started the tag “lift violently” this is really what we were getting at…building humans capable of generating a tremendous amount of force.

Most of us have the mass part down. We know we have to lift heavy weight to get stronger. How often do we train acceleration though?

Fred Hatfield helped popularize the term Compensatory Acceleration Training, which means deliberately accelerating the weight through the concentric portion of the movement, or lifting submaximal weight with maximal acceleration.

When we develop our training programs, we look at each movement as a demand that drives the specified adaptation we are looking for. Incorporating CAT into your training plan adapts your CNS to to rapidly accelerate the weight (mass) through the movement, thus increasing your ability to project a greater amount of force.

So, we know that in order to become more forceful humans, we not only have to pick up heavy shit, but we have train to move it faster.

First video I’m working on CAT bench at 225 for 5s about about 80% of my 5RM. I tend to grip a little narrower (edge of the smooth) due to some past shoulder issues and this help keep my shoulder in a better position.

Second video is just an example of something you can do if a barbell isn’t readily available. There’s ways to incorporate this into your training regardless of the equipment on hand.

As always, hit us up with any questions.

Happy Saturday