How to Be an "11" Without Really Trying

Dear Bo Derek:

Don’t worry your imperfect little head, though. There’s a fitness program guaranteed to turn 10s into 11s, let alone the great masses of fours and fives into sixes and sevens.

It’s called the "negative resistance" workout, and it’s followed by some of the country’s greatest athletes, as well as the some of its tallest, skinniest models. But it’s the pinch-an-inch crowd the workout really speaks to, according to Marty May, sports/medical researcher and personal trainer, of One-On-One Body Shaping, (New York City and Calabasas, CA). Thankfully, negative resistance offers a sane alternative to liposuction, creams, wraps, and so-called famine diets.

Negative resistance - or the reverse pressure necessary to return the muscle to a stretched, starting position - refers to the lowering phase of weight lifting, which, May claims, produces more results than the lifting phase.

"The weight lifter is generally fifty to seventy percent stronger in the lowering phase, and is therefore lowering less weight than he or she is capable of," he says. "Negative resistance makes a higher degree of intensity acceptable to the trainee. And the higher the intensity, the better the results." May also points out that by isolating the lowering motion, the trainee doesn’t experience pre-fatigue from lifting.

Negative resistance is a huge jump ahead in the field of fat-reduction according to its fans. May says it offers a profound increase in lean tissue after the first session alone. After just one negative workout, the trainee can see an increase of between one to one-half inches in lean body mass.

"Famine diets actually make you lose lean tissue - this is what leads to the yo-yo effect." May’s workout routine is performed manually in initial sessions. Not using equipment, the trainee is better able to vary the line and range of motion. The focus of the negative workout id high intensity with applied resistance and slow motion. Because of the rapid increases in strength, however, customized equipment - books, a chair, and other objects around the home are eventually utilized. Incidentally, Marty makes house calls (for a higher price).

But if the whole idea of positive results from a negative workout is confusing to you, this should put you in a tailspin: May insists his clients practice being sedentary between workouts. No hi-lo funk classes. No jogs around the park.

"This, " he maintains, "helps raise the exerciser’s nitrogen balance, which prepares the muscles to respond better in the following session." And don’t put away the peanut-butter either; increasing one’s protein intake also helps.

To top it all off, May’s negative resistance program requires as few as two sessions a month. In fact, he suggests no more than three sessions biweekly, to leave enough time for the repair of microtears in the muscle tissue that often occur (a fancy term for muscle soreness). Most clients opt for an average of three sessions a month, dropping down to a once-a-month maintenance check after attaining sufficient results.

Let’s see … cut down on aerobics, load up on mayo, stop by twice a month to have someone else lift the weights for you. Bo, we’ll see you on the beach.

© If you are interested in a "custom-designed" negative resistance workout, please send your request to Marty May: marty@ultranutrition.com

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