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Hi,
I’ve read a lot of articles on bodybuilding and fitness in general, and I’ve noticed that people often overlook a factor I consider to be quite important: the speed at which the exercise is performed.
I’m never sure whether it is lifting heavy weights fast or lifting them slow which promotes muscle growth.
When you see a sprinter you see huge muscles, so doesn’t that mean the faster you perform each repetition with a heavy amount of weights, the bigger your muscles will get? Please correct me if I’m wrong.
The reason why I’m confused is because when I first started going to the gym one of the monitors told me something else: heavy weights but very slowly. And yet you’ll see so many people in the gym lifting the weights really fast and they’ve all got the bodies you see in bodybuilding magazines.
Best wishes,
Parvesh Chugani
Dear Parvesh,
Lifting weights slowly and deliberately… AND at a lower weight than your maximum…. Will make your muscle get stronger in less days or weeks.
The reasoning is that with slow deliberate motion, many more of the muscle cells get to participate in the work of moving the weight against gravity and for a LONGER amount of time per repetition.
For example, if a bicep curl is performed in six seconds as opposed to three seconds, you have “exposed” the muscle cells to six seconds of effort / work / usage / stress. Twice as much as a three second rep would.
Therefore, you will get more benefit in terms of more work out per rep… And therefore more work out per hours in the gym. The muscle cell was exposed to twice as much TIME of effort during the movement.
Also, lower weight and slower movements are much safer in terms of strains / pulls and joint injuries.
And don’t worry so much about the other people in the gym. There will always be people stronger and weaker than you. Worry about you. Other people may have different genetics, spend more hours per year lifting weights than you and / or be using steroids and / or eating higher protein diets than you…. Etc…etc. It is very difficult and not helpful to compare yourself to others.
I hope this has helped. Email me at Female Muscle anytime.
Dr. Dave c/o female muscle website (David J. Ores, MD)
