Negative training, if you're not familiar with it, is basically using a heavy weight and focusing on just the LOWERING phase of a rep, aka the "negative" or "eccentric". The lifting phase is known as the positive or "concentric' phase.

The idea here is to be able to use more weight than your body is capable of lifting - you can lower under control a heavier weight than you can lift.

Normally, this type of training is done with a partner - the partner helps you in the positive phase so you can get the weight back up to the start position and do the negative phase on your own.

This is VERY challenging training and not for beginners. But it's also quite effective for building strength - it really conditions the connective tissue, muscle and nervous system to use heavier weights.

Ideally, you want to use a weight that's around or a little more than your 1 rep max. If you can do more than 5 or 6 reps on a negative exercise, you're not using enough weight.

The other MOST important thing to remember with negatives is that you must ACTIVELY FIGHT gravity. Don't just lower the weight...focus on pushing AGAINST that weight all the way down.

If you just lower it and don't fight it, it's not going to be as effective.

Now, because I train at home and alone, I ALWAYS use a rack for bench press. I've always been amazed that one of the only exercises that can kill you is the one that has the LEAST safety measures built into the benches used for it.

I seriously AM trying to scare about bench (with a bar) alone without a rack. Unless you're using a weight that you can get off your body easily, DO NOT bench alone outside of a rack.

With a good spotter? No problem - you don't necessarily need a rack.

Benching heavy and alone? No chance.

Anyways, enough preaching. This technique allows you to do negative training completely and safely on your own - no spotter necessary. Instead of a spotter lifting the weight back up, I'm going to show you a couple of ways to get the bar back to the top. It's stupid easy.

So first, get the rack set up - if you've not used the rack for benching, it's not hard. Just stick a bench in the rack, set the racking pins to a comfortable height then the safety rails to just around chest level.

You'll need to experiment a bit with settings but once you get 'em, it's easy. The bonus is you'll never have to wait for a bench press station again! Just haul a bench over to the rack and you're ready to go.

Load up a weight that is near your 1 RM. Start conservative until you get the idea of the technique.

FIGHT gravity all the way down - as though you're trying to PUSH the bar back up but it's weight takes it down.

Lower all the way down until the bar is resting on the rails.

Roll the bar forward on the rails.

Grab the uprights of the rack and slide yourself out from under the bar.

Technique #1 - stand on the bench and deadlift the bar back to the racking pins.

This one isn't too bad with this amount of weight (and is the quicker of the two techniques) but if you start getting too heavy, it can get awkward.

Technique #2 - one side at a time. This is the easier way to go. You just roll the bar back towards the pins then pick up and set one end on there.

Then you go around to the other side and do the same.

Easily done even with heavy weight.

The nice thing about this solo negative technique is that not only can you do negatives on your own, you also get a brief rest in between negative reps, which helps maintain strength levels.

That's the deal! Do no more than 3 sets of no more than 5 or 6 reps of this type of training. That's really all you need as it is really tough on the body.