When Drake first came out with his smash hit “started from the bottom” back in 2013, the meathead in me naturally assumed he was talking about concentric-based lifting and the potential gains this method could produce.
While certainly not a new concept or method, concentric-based lifting (typically off of spotter arms in a squat rack or blocks) can lead to a host of benefits and have plenty of different uses which we’re going to discuss today!
As always, I’m fascinated with strength history and must give credit where credit is due. This method of lifting was popularized by the late Paul Anderson back in the 1960’s. Often called pin, inertia, dead-stop, bottoms-up, or even Anderson lifts (Anderson squat, Anderson bench etc.), this style of lifting has been around for over half a century.
Potentially unknowingly, many readers have already used this method. If you’ve ever performed a deadlift in your life, congrats. By definition, that is a bottoms-up lift. Compared to the deadlift’s bench press and back squat counterparts, where the weight is felt in the hands or on the back before descending with it and attempting to lift it back up to lockout, the deadlift is unique. You don’t get that opportunity to feel the weight and brace yourself beforehand; you must prepare for the fight of your life before even becoming familiar with your opponent!
The main criteria are that you start from a dead-stop and the exercise is not preceded by an eccentric (or negative) contraction. Below, we’ll explore a few of the hows and whys of implementing these methods in your own training routine, regardless of your goals!
Strength
Concentric-based lifting provides us with a very potent stimulus to improve strength, especially at specific joint angles. These lifts can help drastically increase strength, as there is no momentum or bounce used, but rather pure force application. Whether we’re looking to increase strength from our deepest ranges of motion, replicate a sport-relevant posture, improve carryover to another exercise, or blast through a lift-specific sticking point, beginning the exercise at the bottom is a great way to do so.
A few common examples include:
- Overloading the top quarter squat position to boost our vertical jump performance.
- Bench pressing from a 90-degree elbow angle to get stronger from the point of the lift we typically fail at.
- Increasing strength out of the bottom of our front squat from a dead-stop position so that when we perform cleans, our strength and confidence out of the hole increases.
Speed and Power
When loaded appropriately, these bottoms-up lifts can be an excellent tool to develop starting strength and power, allowing us to go 0 to 100 real quick. Man, that’s two Drake references in one article; he must be quite the lifter!
Especially when loaded with accommodating resistance such as chains or bands, lifts off the spotter arms can teach us how to explode and accelerate through an external load, mimicking the forces often experienced on the field, ice, or mat.
Technique
Overcoming inertia during these exercises provide an excellent opportunity to practice and hone lifting technique. Oftentimes with the bench press and squat, athletes will try to use momentum to perform the exercise, bouncing the bar off their chest or bouncing out of the hole in the squat.
While there is certainly a time and place in the training program where we want to learn how to be reactive and explosive by using that rebound strategy safely (known as the stretch-shortening cycle), this is typically a more advanced strategy and needs to be earned by first displaying proficiency with proper lifting technique and control.
Lifting off of the spotter arms (and returning between reps) teaches us positional awareness and forces us to maintain proper technique throughout each set of our exercise.
Injury Prevention
It’s commonly understood that our muscles are at their weakest point when they’re fully stretched. Injury happens when tissue load exceeds tissue tolerance. Oftentimes, it’s not the fact that a movement or load was dangerous in and of itself, but instead that we were unprepared to handle said load through a specific range of motion. Some experts suggest, then, that getting progressively stronger starting from these lengthened positions (pec fully stretched at the bottom of the bench press, for example) may be an effective method to help reduce incidence of injuries to these muscles in these weak, compromised joint angles. For what it’s worth, most people will be naturally forced to lift lighter weights using these variations than they would with the classis press or squat variations, which may also potentially be a reason why injury incidence decreases.
While this may be impossible to prove or even study, it makes logical sense and is worth at least trying. If our best ability is availability, then it may be wise to implement this training method!
To ensure safety, it’s imperative to use a full rack so that the spotter arms can prevent anything detrimental from happening, even in the case of a failed lift. As an extra layer of caution, we also suggest ensuring a competent spotter is still present just in case.
Fatigue Management
Because we are not heavily emphasizing the eccentric portion of the exercise, where most of the muscular damage and fatigue occurs, bottoms-up lifting is also a great way to manage fatigue. While we don’t freefall and drop the weight down on to the pins in between reps, there’s definitely less time under tension and strict control during the lowering phase than in a normal rep of an exercise. This means we can produce a potent strength or power stimulus (depending on loading) without causing a lot of fatigue, perfect for athletes on or near game day. Assuming reasonable volumes are prescribed, these dead stop lifts can be the silver bullet that help us peak and perform at our best when it matters most.
How to implement
As you should know by now, at IPC, we’re all about practicality; you could likely plug this method into whatever training problem you’re already doing! As with anything, don’t go crazy and perform every single exercise you do in this manner. Instead, pick one or two main or supplemental exercises you’ve already got scheduled and swap out the bottoms-up equivalent. Below are a few examples that you can use for inspiration to get you started!
Examples:
BB Bottoms-Up Low Incline Press
BB Seated Chain Bottoms-Up OH Press
In Conclusion
So, there you have it: a potentially fresh twist on a timeless classic. Throw a few of these variations into your next workout or training program and watch your strength, power, and technique soar!
