Hi Ellington,
I was thinking of doing a one rep negative only (60 seconds) squat. It will be on a Smith machine - or similar - so I’ve eliminated the danger aspect. What thoughts do you have?
Thx.
similar idea to a neg only dip or chin-up,no?
Yes.
Is the exercise gonna be like a normal back squat except on a smith machine
will your lower back hold up for a 60 sec negative, thats a long time for a stress or pressure on the spine, doncha think
If I were to try something heavy for a slow negative, I would pick something I could do 5 reps with one or two reps in the tank before I did the slow negative on the last rep.
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Not if he positions himself right. I tell anyone who will listen that a typical Back Squat on a Smith Machine is about the worst idea ever. The regimented groove of the machine is at odds with the natural curve of the squat ROM and is a back tweak waiting to happen. The ONLY way to Squat on a Smith is to approximate the same foot and body position one would do for a Wall Squat → feet out and away from the machine and you leaning back into the bar.
If i were to try this 60-sec negative, I’d do it on one of those pivot hack squat machines. This way, I could set the pin at just the right spot and lower right to it!
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Don’t you think that you could do squats safely in power rack with safety pins or straps?
Something like that I’d strongly recommend only using a leg press
I’d imagine Hack Squats or Leg Press to be the far superior choice of exercises for something like this. Even Sissy Squats would be a great choice.
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Considering the huge amount of weight that some are capable of doing, how much warmup might be reasonable?
When I was strong (many, many moons ago), doing leg presses I would add a plate to each side for every set
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I don’t think i could be specific here, but id give the same general advice for warmup sets i always give:
Warm up as much as you need to benefit your working set(s), but no more. For specialized intensification techniques like this, I’d recommend including a final warmup set of 3-5 reps around 10-20% greater than the working weight. I call this “potentiation” where it just makes the working set feel better.
Last i leg pressed, it was like 650lbs or something for the 6x4 Rest-Pause set (I believe this was the Mentzer Rest-Pause? Probably going to get flamed in the HIT forum)… i did potentiation with like 740 i think.
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OK…I clearly don’t know as much about weight lifting as I thought. I’m sure I’ll pick it up 
A leverage machine squat might be a better option vs Smith machine.
Have you performed the negative squat?
Yes. Here’s the full workout:
Block 1 - Legs
1 Rep Negative Squat (60 secs)
Block 2 - Shoulders / Traps
M/C Lateral Raise (30-30-30)
Block 3 - Back / Chest
Seated Row (30-30-30)
Incline Press (30-30-30)
Close Grip Pulldown (30-30-30)
Block 4 - Arms
M/C Bicep Curl (30-30-30)
Dmb Tricep Extension (30-30-30)
27 minutes to complete
215 1/4 lbs pre-workout
Negative Squats were done on a leverage machine with 520 lbs
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“M/C”? Please illuminate! Thanks!!
M/C = machine
I just saw this post. If you have not already hurt your low back doing this, one 60 second negative on a smith machine is most likely too much for your low back muscles. More so the deep muscles and your erectors. Also you only get one spine.
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Instead of a 60 sec negative, what I think would be far more effective (and safer) would be doing zone reps on the squat, or better yet, use hip belt squats or one legged squats with a dumbbell.
You could start with halves at the bottom half; aim for at least 15 reps, take a fractional second pause between each end of the zone rep, going close to failure.
Then take a short rest (~15-25 seconds) and then aim for the top half zone. Avoid lockout during top half zones - keep it hard and you should always be feeling adequate tension. Aim for 15 reps doing the same and getting close to failure. The pump should be very good. If you cannot get 15 due to fatigue and/or burn, take a very short rest (maybe 5 seconds) and pump them out until you do.
You could even try 20/20 this way.
With thirds, aim for 10/10/10 (or 15/15/15) the same way for similar TUT. Expect more “inroad”.
The exact rep numbers are only rough guidelines and less important vs the feel of the tension, burn, and pump and ‘effect’ in the muscle.