In the world of bodybuilding, there are many different methods that in some way help the athlete increase strength and build muscle mass. Especially a lot various options training with a different number of repetitions and the pace of their implementation. In this article we will talk about slow repetitions, figure out what it is, learn about the advantages and disadvantages of this technique.
What are slow reps for?
Slow repetitions allow you to fully control the trajectory of the sports equipment and better feel the load on the target muscles. Also, such a topic for performing exercises is the safest, as practice shows, the risk of injury with slow repetitions is reduced to zero. Prolonged exercise develops the connection between the brain and muscles, which is very important for beginner athletes. If you feel your muscles well during training, you will be able to progress faster and quickly build muscle mass.
This technique is perfect for those who decide to return to bodybuilding after a break, or after an injury, since slow repetitions do not put much stress on the joints, very rarely lead to injuries and allow you to feel the muscles. They are also suitable for experienced athletes who, at least for a while, want to change the record and change the rhythm of training.
- At slow pace the exercises should not be paused during the execution of each repetition at any point in the movement, the projectile must be in motion constantly, while all movements must be controlled and smooth.
- The positive part of the repetition should last about 10 seconds, and the negative part 5.
- To maintain the pace of execution, you need to ask a partner to keep a countdown.
- To master the technique of slow repetitions, you will need a lot of time, about 2-3 weeks.
- For work, a weight of 40-65% of one repeated maximum is taken.
When working on the slow rep method, athletes most often perform 3-8 reps per set. You don’t need to do more, as the set will be too long, and this can lead to overtraining or stagnation, a plateau. The load in such training is very large, so it is not recommended to perform more than 3 sets per exercise, and more than 3 exercises for each muscle group.
From the specified execution rate, it turns out that each repetition will last about 15 seconds (for example, regular repetitions bench press last 3-5 seconds). Not every athlete will be able to withstand such a load, so you can start with a shorter repetition duration, it should be done intuitively.
Many athletes speak favorably of slow reps. This method of training does not cause injury and allows you to feel the target muscles as much as possible. Athletes believe that this exercise technique increases strength and muscle size quite well, but practice shows that there are more effective methods progression in bodybuilding. Also, professional trainers believe that it is impossible to achieve a noticeable result using only one technique, so you should not only use different techniques (for example, but also radically change the speed of the exercises, the number of repetitions and approaches. Thus, you can constantly shock your muscles, from which they will always grow.
Learn how to properly train the press, what builds it better and faster, training at a slow or fast pace.
At least once, but everyone who comes to Gym, when doing exercises for the press, I wondered how to download it correctly ?! Fast or slow? Has its benefits
FOR QUICK REPEATS
Working at a fast pace definitely includes more muscle fibers in the work, including them at full work, and this is true.
FOR SLOW REPEATS
If you need to better draw the press, give it a good relief, then slow repetitions are well suited for this. When preparing for fitness and bodybuilding competitions, experienced athletes know that the concentrated execution of exercises at a slow pace makes it possible to better feel the trained muscle area than with fast execution.
With slow repetitions, the muscles are under load longer, so they are better worked out.
CONCLUSIONS
What pace should you choose? To solve this problem, Spanish scientists undertook, they conducted a scientific experiment, dividing the subjects into small groups that trained the abdominal muscles, oblique abdominal muscles and the lumbar region and spent 4, 3, 2 and 1 seconds for 1 repetition.
The purpose of these experiments was to find out what pace of movement in the complex trains the abdominal muscles better.
THE RESULTS SHOWED THE FOLLOWING:
- at a fast pace - the oblique muscles were actively involved in the work, and with slow repetitions they were half rested.
- at a slow pace - the muscles are well worked out, but not everything is included in the work, as when performed at a fast pace.
To create beautiful and strong muscles, you need to correctly combine fast and slow repetitions. The first 12-15 reps for maximum muscle fiber activation, use fast reps, then move on to a slow pace for better concentration and a good feeling of the press.
By the way, if you want to create, forget about additional weights and a body with dumbbells, in this way you will pump up muscles, but the narrowness of the waist will be practically invisible. Don't forget to expand the back, shoulders and hips, this will visually make the waist narrower.
Train properly, get rid of round bellies and always be healthy, good luck!
Many beginners who have just started exercising rarely think about whether they are training correctly. They think that training in itself is good. And whatever it is, it will definitely bring results. Of course you're right. The fact that you show willpower and make your body work is wonderful and honor and praise to you. But be reasonable. Do you really want to waste precious time and effort? I think no. Therefore, let's figure out how to exercise in the gym or at home in order to achieve the greatest results.
We can do fast or slow repetitions depending on what weight we are working with. After all, taking the maximum weight, you will not be able to do fast repetitions. Therefore, it is very important to first determine how much weight you need to work with.
Fast and slow muscle fibers
In order to understand how our body works, it is necessary to explain to you that there are fast and slow muscle fibers. Our entire muscular frame consists of various muscle groups, including slow and fast fibers. They are called so because of their intensity of growth.
So, slow muscle fibers very difficult to increase in size, some argue that it is almost impossible. These muscles cannot support very large weights, but they can withstand a long and continuous load. These fibers are responsible for dynamic work muscles, keep our body in good shape throughout the day and produce the heat necessary for a person. These muscle fibers give our muscles endurance. If a person is dominated by slow muscle fibers, then he rarely achieves great results in bodybuilding.
fast muscle fibers- on the contrary, they have great strength, but not as good endurance as slow ones. They get tired faster. The number of repetitions when working with fast muscle fibers is much smaller, but the weight with which the exercise is performed can be limiting. That is, the maximum weight that a person is capable of.
Each person has an equal ratio of fast and slow muscle fibers by nature. But it is not always the case. Some people are dominated by fast, some slow muscle fibers. You can determine your ratio using a special technique:
Determine your weight limit for each muscle group, whether it be arms, chest, legs, etc. For this:
- Warm up the muscles before lifting the maximum weight (lifting small weights on this muscle group)
- Take a weight that you can do 2 to 5 reps with.
- Rest 3 minutes.
- Take a weight that you can only do 1 rep with. Attention!!! Be sure to ask someone to insure you in order to avoid injury.
- Write down the maximum weight for each muscle group.
- Rest 15 minutes.
- Take 80% of your maximum weight for each exercise
- Complete maximum amount reps with this weight
- Record the result.
Test results:
- If you have completed up to 8 repetitions, then fast muscle fibers predominate (for this muscle group)
- If you have completed up to 10 repetitions, then the ratio of fast and slow muscle fibers is the same (for this muscle group)
- If you have completed up to 12 repetitions or more, then slow muscle fibers predominate (for this muscle group)
Fast reps
Fast repetitions cause the pulse to beat at a high frequency and immediately engage both fast and slow muscle fibers. It is fast repetitions that work out the main muscle groups. Based on many experiments, it turned out that fast repetitions involve more muscles than slow and concentrated movements. For example, when pumping the abs, fast repetitions engage some abdominal muscles that are not involved in slow exercises for specific abdominal muscles. Fast reps with a load develop the strength of your muscles. The only condition is that the weight must be 50% of your maximum weight. It is important that the number of fast repetitions is 25-30.
Slow repetitions
Slow reps, on the other hand, reduce momentum and allow the muscles to work at full strength. As a result of slow repetitions, slow muscle fibers are initially activated, and as fatigue accumulates, fast muscle fibers come into force. Such exercises help to increase the size of the muscle, as they damage both fast and slow muscle fibers. By doing the exercises slowly, you force the muscle to be under tension for a long time. During lifting and return movement. Perform slow exercises with a weight equal to 70% of your maximum weight. Reps in each approach should be 5-6, no more and no less. Approaches should also not be many - 2-3 approaches.
fast + slow
In order to achieve results in the formation of beautiful muscle definition and increase those parts of the body that are necessary to create a proportional body, take advantage of both slow and fast repetitions.
- Alternate workouts with slow, normal and fast repetitions every 1-2 weeks
- Use a faster rep tempo at the start of your workout.
- Use 70% of your maximum weight for slow reps
- Use weights that are 50% of your maximum weight for fast reps.
- Fast repetitions last from 1 to 3 seconds per repetition, the number of approaches is 3
- Slow reps last 15 to 20 seconds per rep, 2 sets
Conclusion
So, in a dispute between fast and slow repetitions, as always, friendship won. Never go to extremes, be it diet, physical exercise, lifestyle in general. Personally, I do not support those who have gone into vegetarianism or those who are only engaged in exercises and do not accept the load, and vice versa.
Watch a unique video from the Rossiya TV channel, where you will learn in detail which muscles are more important and how they work. Very informative and just curious.
If for some reason you can only train with light weights, you can still increase your strength and gain muscle mass. You just need to slow down the repetitions in the exercises. This conclusion was made by scientists from the University of Tokyo.
Strength training is the cure for all diseases! But not everyone can afford traditional schemes. 20% of people over the age of 70 develop joint and muscle problems when working with maximum weights, and doctors also consider the increase in pressure and heart rate during traditional strength training in people with cardiovascular diseases to be harmful.
In this case, the working weights should not be 80% of the maximum, but 50% will be enough. However, we know from textbooks that such training will not be very effective. After all, it is no accident that bodybuilders train with a weight of 80-85% of the maximum.
According to the results of a study by Japanese scientists, an alternative may be to work with a short rest between sets - no more than 30 seconds. Studies show that such training will also lead to an increase in strength and muscle mass. Another alternative would be the super-slow method, where 10 seconds is allotted for the flexion movement and 4 seconds for the extension. This has also been proven by research.
Another alternative could be "Kaatsu" - power training with limited blood flow to muscle groups under load. Researchers treat this method with caution, as its use requires a solid knowledge and skills that cannot be acquired by reading a couple of articles on the Web.
The researchers looked at another training method that involves working at a slow pace and building muscle tone. Training takes place with a weight of 50% of the maximum, but the speed of movement is selected such that you can do no more than 8 repetitions. According to the study, this requires 3 seconds for flexion and 3 seconds for extension.
The experiment involved 24 students who performed leg exercises in simulators 3 times a week for 12 weeks. The students were divided into 3 groups.
The LST group worked out according to the “Slow pace with the creation of muscle tone” method (3 s lifting, 3 s lowering without stopping at the beginning and end of the movement (statodynamics. - Note ed.). The weight used was 50% of the maximum.
Group HN was the control group, which was trained according to the traditional scheme, performing 8 reps with a weight of 80% of the maximum (1 s up, 1 s down and 1 s rest between repetitions).
The LN group was the second control group, which performed 8 reps per set, at the same pace as the previous group, but with 50% of the maximum weight. This group did not exercise to failure (1s up, 1s down, and 1s rest between reps).
The experiment showed that progress in strength and muscle mass was about the same in the LST and HN groups. The maximum increase in strength in the LST group was 28%, in the HN group this figure was slightly higher - 32%, and in the LN group the increase in strength was 16%.
Muscle mass increased in equal proportions in the LST and HN groups. The students in the LN group showed no increase in muscle mass.
During the performance of approaches, the amount of oxygen in the muscles was significantly reduced in the athletes of the LST group. Despite the small working weight, this was most likely caused by a high concentration of lactic acid. The level of acidification was the same in the LST and HN groups.
Scientists suggest that oxygen deficiency in muscle cells leads to muscle enlargement. This is not the only but essential growth factor. Oxygen deficiency leads to an increase in the level of lactic acid in the blood, which in turn leads to the synthesis and secretion of anabolic hormones such as somatropin and testosterone. Also, oxygen deficiency causes an increase in the number of free radicals in
muscle cells, and as a result, such compensatory training leads to an increase in muscle mass.
Researchers' conclusion: “Low-intensity training with light weights, slow reps, and muscle tone is effective for building strength and muscle mass. Since this exercise is not associated with lifting large weights, it can be recommended at the initial stages of sports training and during rehabilitation after orthopedic injuries.
Strength athletes who, due to injury or illness, can only train with light weights can still get enough training stimulus from their training if they perform movements with light weights more slowly than usual. This suggestion comes from an anthropological study published by a University of Tokyo researcher in the Journal of Aging and Physical Activity.
Sarcopenia
The Japanese are looking for a training me that could help older people fight sarcopenia - the loss of muscle mass and strength associated with aging. Heavy weight strength training is still the best method for building muscle mass, but for example, for a group of older people, this type of training is too risky. The Japanese want to find out if it is possible to build muscle mass using light weights.
STUDY
The researchers recruited 40 subjects aged 59 to years and asked them to exercise their leg muscles using a flexion and extension machine for 12 weeks. All subjects trained twice a week. They used weights equal to about 50 percent of the weight with which they could only do 1 rep. They did 3 sets of 8 reps each workout, with a 1-minute rest between sets.
Half of the subjects trained at a normal pace, which meant that both concentric and eccentric movements took 1 second to complete. A full rep, including the isometric phase [when the muscles are statically held in a tense position] after the concentric phase, lasted 3 seconds.
The other half of the subjects performed the movements at a markedly slow pace. Both concentric and eccentric movements took 3 seconds to complete. A full rep, including the isometric phase, lasted seven seconds.
RESULTS
By the end of 12 weeks, subjects who trained slowly gained more muscle mass and muscle strength than subjects who trained in a conventional way.
- Variable - value
- Pre - before
- post - after
- Knee extension - knee extension
- Knee flexion - knee flexion
- Isometric peak torque - isometric peak torque
- Front portion of the thigh - front surface of the thigh
- Back portion of the thigh - back of the thigh
- Normal speed training - training at a normal pace
- Slow speed training - training at a slow pace
Researchers don't understand how slow reps with light weights can have such a greater effect than reps performed at normal speed. They found that slow repetitions resulted in slightly more growth hormone production, and slightly less cortisol [see below].
Muscles also took in slightly more oxygen when doing slow reps [see right].
But the effects were so small that they can't be seen as an added benefit from doing the slow reps. This also confirms the data that hormonal changes in response to the load are not decisive in the development of further adaptation.
- Relative oxygenation (baseline)
- Minimal - minimal
- Maximal - maximum
- Serum growth hormone concentration - concentration of growth hormone in blood serum
- Plasma cortisol concentration - plasma cortisol concentration
- Pre - before
- post - after
CONCLUSION
"Low-intensity resistance training with slow movements is effective in increasing muscle volume and strength, even for older individuals," the researchers conclude.
“Since low-intensity resistance training with slow movements carries a lower risk of orthopedic injury and cardiac events, this could be a countermeasure against sarcopenia.”
For more information about the University of Tokyo study on the effects of deliberate slow repetition, click here.
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