Bodybuilding Exercises: Extremely Slow Repetitions for Success
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Slow-speed repetitions are becoming more and more popular among bodybuilders, and for three good reasons: 1) Slow repetitions are harder to perform-at least they are once
you master the correct form- and you need harder repetitions for better growth stimulation; 2) they work the muscles more thoroughly; and 3) they're much safer than fast
repetitions.
A superslow repetition, according to Ken Hutchins, who wrote the technical manual on slow training, requires approximately 15 seconds to perform, but what about doing a
repetition even slower than 15 seconds? On the bench press, for example, Rob slowly pushes the barbell up as he counts to 50 in his head. Three-fourths of the way up he stops
for a long pause, then slowly locks out his elbows. He returns to the bottom position in the same manner, pausing in the same position, while counting to 50 once again. Thus,
Colacino takes approximately 100 seconds to perform his one-repetition bench press.
Prior to learning about Rob's training, I experimented with various styles of very slow repetitions. More than 15 years ago, while I was director of research for Nautilus
Sports/Medical Industries, we tried very slow speeds on the chin and dip. What worked well on both movements was a goal of doing the positive phase in 60 seconds immediately
followed by 60 seconds in the negative phase. Initially, however, almost no one could make it up in 60 seconds, so we typically started with a 30-second positive and a 30-second
negative. At each additional workout we increased the positive and negative times by five seconds. Consequently, in three or four weeks many trainees could do 60 seconds up and
60 seconds down on both the chin and the dip.
Most important, almost every guy who accomplished this feat was rewarded with one-quarter to one- half inch of extra muscle on his contracted upper-arm measurement. The question
we asked ourselves was, Can this very slow positive and very slow negative be used on other exercises? The answer was, Generally, no.
Fifteen years ago all the Nautilus machines-as well as those of other manufacturers-contained too much internal friction to be used productively in such a slow style. Furthermore,
because of their disproportionate strength curves and natural sticking points, most barbell and dumbbell movements weren't well suited to slow training. The chin and dip both have a
long range of motion, and they both allow you to change your leg position to help you perform the movement, so they were by far the best exercises to use for very slow, one-rep
training.
In 1992, however, MedX Corporation introduced a line of strength- training machines that removed almost all of the internal friction from the basic movements. In addition, many
of the MedX machines incorporated cams and resistance curves that were much more conducive to slow training than earlier machines. As a result, I began training a few research
subjects with very slow reps.
There were other trainers around the country who did the same thing. Ken Hutchins of Orlando, Florida, and Steve Maxwell of Philadelphia found that certain machines-such as the
leg extension, leg curl, pullover and row-could be adapted for successful slow training.
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