Thought you guys might like to read this:
As the name suggests, super slow training calls for lifting and lowering a weight very slowly. Instead of completing multiple sets of various different exercises, super slow training involves one set which might consist of just six repetitions of the bench press. However, each repetition lasts between 15 and 20 seconds. One set of each exercise, and you're done.
Super slow training
A typical workout lasts less than 30 minutes, and you do just one or two each week. Performed strictly according to protocol, you'll need to take 3-7 days of complete rest between workouts. And the more advanced you get, the less frequently you need to do it. According to advocates of super slow training, this is all the stimulus your muscles need to grow.
Not only does super slow training promise to deliver greater gains in muscle size and strength than conventional programs, it's also said to be better than other forms of exercise for helping you lose weight. In fact, the guidelines dictate that aerobic exercise (such as running or cycling) is unnecessary, and keeps you from improving as much as you would if you just stuck to super slow training.
Although it might sound easy, don't make the mistake of confusing a quick workout with an easy workout. When you spend 10 to 15 seconds lifting a weight, and another five seconds lowering it again, it hurts. Super slow training doesn't take a lot of time, but it does take a lot of work.
Origins
Super slow training isn't anything new. Bob Hoffman — founder of The York Barbell Company — sold weight-training courses that involved very slow training speeds in the early part of the last century.
The recent interest in super slow training was generated by Ken Hutchins. Back in the 1970's, Hutchins was working with elderly women suffering from osteoporosis (also known as brittle bone disease). He felt that the traditional speeds of lifting (an average of two seconds lifting, a pause lasting one second, and four seconds lowering) were too fast for such frail patients. So, Hutchins began using slower lifting speeds. Encouraged by the progress of the women, Hutchins began using super slow training with people of all ages and abilities.
Although super slow training has been around for some time, it's only recently that research comparing it with traditional training has reached the pages of peer-reviewed journals.
For example, in a study published in the Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, Wayne Westcott examined the effects of regular speed or super slow training in untrained men and women [6].
Westcott, a research director at the South Shore YMCA in Quincy, Massachusetts, assigned subjects to one of two groups. Both groups trained up to three times each week on Nautilus exercise machines. The major difference between the two groups was repetition speed.
• The regular speed program involved one set of 8-12 repetitions, with each repetition lasting a total of seven seconds (2 seconds lifting, 1 second pause, and 4 seconds lowering).
• The super slow training program involved one set of 4-6 repetitions. Each repetition lasted a total of 14 seconds (10 seconds lifting and 4 seconds lowering).
All of the participants were tested for either their 10 repetition-maximum (regular speed group) or 5 repetition-maximum (super slow group) before and after the 8-10 week program. A repetition maximum (abbreviated as RM) is the greatest weight you can lift with proper technique. A 1-RM, for example, refers to the maximum amount of weight you can lift once. A 5-RM refers to the maximum amount of weight you can lift five times.
In both studies, super slow training resulted in about a 50% greater increase in strength compared to regular speed training. In the first study, for example, the 5-RM in the super slow training group increased by an average of 26 pounds. In contrast, the regular speed group showed an increase of JUST 18 pounds.
As the name suggests, super slow training calls for lifting and lowering a weight very slowly. Instead of completing multiple sets of various different exercises, super slow training involves one set which might consist of just six repetitions of the bench press. However, each repetition lasts between 15 and 20 seconds. One set of each exercise, and you're done.
Super slow training
A typical workout lasts less than 30 minutes, and you do just one or two each week. Performed strictly according to protocol, you'll need to take 3-7 days of complete rest between workouts. And the more advanced you get, the less frequently you need to do it. According to advocates of super slow training, this is all the stimulus your muscles need to grow.
Not only does super slow training promise to deliver greater gains in muscle size and strength than conventional programs, it's also said to be better than other forms of exercise for helping you lose weight. In fact, the guidelines dictate that aerobic exercise (such as running or cycling) is unnecessary, and keeps you from improving as much as you would if you just stuck to super slow training.
Although it might sound easy, don't make the mistake of confusing a quick workout with an easy workout. When you spend 10 to 15 seconds lifting a weight, and another five seconds lowering it again, it hurts. Super slow training doesn't take a lot of time, but it does take a lot of work.
Origins
Super slow training isn't anything new. Bob Hoffman — founder of The York Barbell Company — sold weight-training courses that involved very slow training speeds in the early part of the last century.
The recent interest in super slow training was generated by Ken Hutchins. Back in the 1970's, Hutchins was working with elderly women suffering from osteoporosis (also known as brittle bone disease). He felt that the traditional speeds of lifting (an average of two seconds lifting, a pause lasting one second, and four seconds lowering) were too fast for such frail patients. So, Hutchins began using slower lifting speeds. Encouraged by the progress of the women, Hutchins began using super slow training with people of all ages and abilities.
Although super slow training has been around for some time, it's only recently that research comparing it with traditional training has reached the pages of peer-reviewed journals.
For example, in a study published in the Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, Wayne Westcott examined the effects of regular speed or super slow training in untrained men and women [6].
Westcott, a research director at the South Shore YMCA in Quincy, Massachusetts, assigned subjects to one of two groups. Both groups trained up to three times each week on Nautilus exercise machines. The major difference between the two groups was repetition speed.
• The regular speed program involved one set of 8-12 repetitions, with each repetition lasting a total of seven seconds (2 seconds lifting, 1 second pause, and 4 seconds lowering).
• The super slow training program involved one set of 4-6 repetitions. Each repetition lasted a total of 14 seconds (10 seconds lifting and 4 seconds lowering).
All of the participants were tested for either their 10 repetition-maximum (regular speed group) or 5 repetition-maximum (super slow group) before and after the 8-10 week program. A repetition maximum (abbreviated as RM) is the greatest weight you can lift with proper technique. A 1-RM, for example, refers to the maximum amount of weight you can lift once. A 5-RM refers to the maximum amount of weight you can lift five times.
In both studies, super slow training resulted in about a 50% greater increase in strength compared to regular speed training. In the first study, for example, the 5-RM in the super slow training group increased by an average of 26 pounds. In contrast, the regular speed group showed an increase of JUST 18 pounds.
