The Optimal Rep for Muscle Building.

During my last Bench Press session I did my usual working sets, steadily easing back into moderate/heavy loads. I had lightly strained my pec a couple of weeks back so I'm not quite back up to full strength levels. I finished up with 110kg for 5 reps; the speed was good but well below what I'd been doing 2-3 weeks ago. I'm startling to add more frequency of training to the bench again so it should be up to 120kg+ for 5 in 2 weeks. 

After the regular training sets, myself and my training partner for this particular session opted for some band work. We looped one side of the band around the barbell and the other around a heavy dumbell placed directly under the bar on the floor. We could then create more tension by twisting the dumbell around to create extra loops in the bands.  

We did a few sets, progressively adding more weight to the bar and extra loops to the bands. For the last set I asked my trainer partner to push down on the negative portion of the rep. So not only was the band adding more tension towards the easier half of the positive phase of movement (lockout), the negative phase of the movement was also made more difficult by the extra load.

Remember, one can handle a lot more weight during the negative phase of the lift than the positive phase; between 120-140%. It would be a waste not to incorporate 'forced negatives' into your training routine at some point, although bear in mind that they are extremely taxing so use sparingly!! 

During the positive phase of movement, the lockout is generally far easier to execute than the bottom half. By adding bands this is no longer true as the tension is increased the further the bar moves away from the chest. Added to forced Negatives this makes a brutal combination; perhaps in terms of tension, as close to optimal as your ever going to get! 

Ross - Natural Aesthetics