4/4/2017 HeavySupports|TNation

Heavy Supports
by T Nation | 12/14/07

Sometimestheonlythingholdingyoubackfromachievingnewpersonalrecordsinthesquatisfear.

Infact,contrarytopopularbelief,whenPresidentRooseveltmadehisfamousspeechthatincludedtheline,"Wehavenothingto
fearbutfearitself,"hewasactuallytalkingaboutsquats.Nevermindthathehadpolio,hedidn'tletalittlethinglikethatholdhim
back.

Nosir,themanhadpluck.

Youhistorybuffscandebatetheveracityofthatstoryallyouwant,wedon'tcare.Whatmattersishowweovercomethisfear.

EnterHeavySupports.

They'renotreallyanexercise,butamethod.Wethinkyou'llforgetthesemanticinaccuracyonceyoutrythem.

ThemethodwasallegedlydevelopedbyformerMr.AmericaChuckSipes,butitcomestouscourtesyofCharlesPoliquin.

Sipesclaimedthemethodsimplybuilttendonstrengthandthusallowedtheliftertosquatgreaterloads.Poliquin,however,believes
itheightenstheshutdownthresholdoftheGolgiTendonOrgan(GTO),whichisatension/stretchreceptorlocatedinthetendon.

AccordingtoPoliquin,"TheGTOinhibitoryeffectcanbeseenwhentwopeopleofunequalstrengtharmwrestle.Astheweaker
personloses,itlookslikehe'ssuddenlyquittingandgetshiswristslammedtothetopofthetable.What'sreallyhappeningisthat
theGTOperceivesarapidrateofstretchduringtheeccentriccontraction,atwhichpointityellstothebrain,'Shutdown,orthis
pimplyfacedgoonisgoingtoripthebicepsapart!'Thebrainthensendsarapidsignaltoinhibitthecontractioninordertopreventa
muscletear."

Apparentlythesamethingistrueofyourlegswhenyoudosquats.However,youcanraisetheGTOthresholdbyinterspersing8
secondheavyisometricholds,a.k.a.supports,inbetweenregularsets.

ThishishowyouincorporateHeavySupports:

Set1:Fullsquats5RMat85%ofmax(restforthreeminutesaftereachset).

Set2:Aheavysupportof8secondsat200%ofmax.Basically,it's1/16thofasquat.Youjustunracktheweightandholdan
uprightpositionwithyourkneesjustshortoflockout.Theweightshouldbeheavyenoughthatyourkneesstarttoquiverlikea
certainseasonalfatman'sbellywhenhelaughs.

Set3:Fullsquats5RMat85%ofmax.

Set4:Heavysupport8secondsat210%ofmax.

Set5:Fullsquats5RMat85%ofmax.

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4/4/2017 HeavySupports|TNation

Set6:Heavysupport8secondsat220%ofmax.

Poliquinmaintainsthattheloadsyouuseduringheavysupportsgoupdramatically(we'veonlyjustbeguntoexperimentwiththe
methodsowe'lltakehiswordforit).

Whilethepercentagesindicatedaregenerallyaccurate,youmightwanttouseevengreaterloadsthentheonessuggested.Don't
beafraid.

Regardlessofwhetherthemethodimprovesyoursquatpoundagesthroughbuildingtendonstrength,inhibitingtheGTO,orsimply
eliminatingfear,itworks.

12/14/07

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