Train Slow Be Slow

So I've been around long enough to see things come full circle in many aspects of life, and life in the weightroom is no exception to this. As I get questions from the athletes that I work with, I am seeing a trend of one of my old nemesis beginning to make a return to the weightroom: super-slow training.

This thought became mainstream in the 1940's in the bodybuilding culture, reappeared in the 80's with Nautilus, sporadic review in scientific literature and vernacular books. Arnold Schwarzenegger's Guide to Modern Bodybuilding was the first time I was exposed to this idea and if it worked for Oak, it should help me out. Right?

Quick summary, take 10 seconds to lower the weight and another 10 seconds to bring it back up. The longer the muscle is under tension the more it will grow. The concept makes sense at first. Using every one's favorite exercise, the bench press, doing a regular rep from the start of the decent of the bar to touching the chest, to lock out it might take 2-3 seconds each rep. Say you do 8 reps then your muscles are under tension for 16-24 seconds compared to the 160 seconds in the super slow method. Do this for a few weeks and you will be hulking out of your clothes!

Hold on there turbo. Think this one through. Compared to your 1 Rep Max (1RM), how heavy is this? For most people 8 reps is realistically between 75-80% 1RM, but that is for that lower time under tension. So how much do you need to take off the bar for almost 8 times the duration? The first time I tried a bench the super slow method I thought I had a good strength base, benching 300 pounds (which would have gotten 3 reps in any competition). OK, lets try 225 for 8 reps. Crushed, only got 3 reps. Rest and dropped to 185. Little better, 4 reps. Ego in hand, and many failures later I ended up with 95 pounds on the bar and small children laughing at me.

At the time I didn't get it. Then came along Dr. Siff and Dr. Zatsiorsky and their books. Out of the darkness came light and it was good. Their two ideas saved my pride and brought me back on track with my training. 

from Science and Practice of Strength Training Second Edition

Here is the big one. The Size principle of Motor Unit Recruitment, and the nickle version of it. Our bodies are lazy. We don't want to do any more work then is needed so at first the muscle fibers that contract are the low hanging fruit of body, the Type I motor unit. In comparison, these fibers are small, don't contract very fast or hard, very limited in growth potential but can keep working for a long time. Soviet block countries called this oxidative work, but in the New World the term of aerobic exercise entered the vernacular. These Type I fibers, are targeted by the super slow method compared to the big, fast, quickly fatigued fibers that need to be recruited with super heavy weights.

The muscle recruitment issue is one concern, but not as important as the changes the nervous system goes through. The human body is amazing in its ability to adapt to nearly any stress it is put under, the catch is just to make sure the stress is what you want to be come adapted to. When our nervous system tells a muscle to contract it is called Rate of Force Production. The faster the muscle contracts the more force it creates, and the faster you can move a weight, the faster you can move without extra weight. So as we consciously move the bar slow in the super slow training method, your nervous system is learning how to move your body slowly and that leads to your muscles unable to have an explosive change of speed that is needed to run, jump, or lift something heavy. 

So to sum up. If a body part is a little smaller than you want and running or jumping is not as important to you, the super slow method might be something for you. For those who compete in anything that you have to move fast, run away from this idea just as fast as you can!