A 10 second positive and a 5 second negative are extremely difficult. However, who has had actually had success with this? In theory it sounds like it could cure cancer, but does it work in building strength, power, hypertrophy, etc?
I don’t like the super slow rep approach to training. Muscles were designed for fast, powerful movements, not for continuous tension. I always do ballistic reps and I see great results.
It will work mostly for hypertrophy and will help for strengh, but must worked in with a more tradional tempo.
I’ve experimented a bit with it myself. Unfortunately, because of the extremely slow tempo, keeping good records becomes more difficult. If you’re going to try it, I would try to the newer version of SS that uses 10 seconds for both the positive and the negative. I’ve seen a few people try it. The one guy it didn’t work at all for simply wasn’t keeping the motion smooth–i.e., a pretty quick negative and positive followed by lots of time spent at the turnaround point where little tension is produced on the muscle. Bottom-line: like anything else, it works if you bust your ass, do all the nutritional stuff right, etc. It can be a fun mental exercise if nothing else. Also, depending on strenght, it might have good applications if you’re somewhere that doesn’t have any weights and are restricted to bodyweight only exercises.
for hypertrophy it should work but for real STRENGH that you could use in things like fighting or sport ala explosive strength it will be absolutely TERRIBLE
You’re right, muscles were designed for ballistic motions. I personally don’t feel a bench press set is “hardcore” unless I break three ribs.
“Muscles were designed for fast, powerful movements, not for continuous tension.”
I know if I have to carry something heavy I like to clean it and throw it explosivly in one foot increments rather than carry it...sure it takes longer than carry it, but our muscles weren't make to carry things.
Who is the fool that designed our muscles in such a narrow minded way? I'd like to teach him a thing or two...
If you have read any books by Darden you would think that this is all you need. If ballistic movements are not wise, how slow is too slow? A 10 second positive requires me to use 2 cans of stewed tomatoes as weight on a db bench press.
I would have to say that for hypertrophy, it can be effective. I tried this style of training for a while and put on a noticable bit of size. Upon resuming ‘normal’ training I had lost about 15% off my 1RM on the bench and other lifts. IMO this is attributed to the change in neuromuscular stimulation. I could venture a good guess in the size I gained in slo-mo training was due to merely changing the workout. Good luck in your training.
the point i was making about super slow being terrible for developing strength and force is well supported as Louie Simmons says that one must do a Dynamic day in a addition to the max effort day, because if all you do is high intensity your muscles in effect get slower and slower… as evidenced in the decrease in MB’s max…
again for hypertrophy super slow should work well
I tried this program a couple of years ago “super slow” sounded in theory like it should work, i even made the milk shakes that were recomended in the book which were very high in carbs and no protein, anyways i follwed the program by the book and at the end of it i was about 40 lbs weaker and 10% fater
I would have to say…“WHY???” Is there any practical application for taking 15 sec. or more per repetition in a real life circumstance? I’d say no. All you need to do is vary the tempo slightly every six workouts or so. Personally when I’m concentrating on bodybuilding I use the “4 second rule.” In other words each rep should take about 4 seconds to perform be it a 3/0/1/0 tempo or a 2/0/2/0 tempo, etc. When you perform a set of 8-12 reps to momentary muscular failure the set will provide between 32 and 48 seconds which is a nice blend of strength and hypertrophy. Obviously if your involved in a more explosive sport such as powerlifting, boxing or martial arts you would want to stimulate the neuromuscular system in an explosive fasion, ie. plyometric type weight training, which will “teach” the muscles how to react explosively.
I’ve used the ultra-superslow reps method. 30-0-30 tempo for Chin-ups. This gave actually good strenght gains in the short run. I think it sounds really dumb in theory, but it can actually work. Just don’t use it for long periods of time.
About 10-0-5 tempo i have never tried.