subject: "If you lift weights slower you will gain more?!" - Myth [print this page] Many say that if you will lift weight slower, your muscle will be under greater stress due to the slower and high intense workout which will lead to faster progress.
The truth is that very slow lifting only makes your routine and gym time longer, but does not help you with any progress whatsoever. Research was made where two groups of people were under supervision. They both trained for 30 minutes, first group made slow lifts, in positive direction for 5 seconds and in negative direction, when muscle stretches, 10 seconds. Second group lifted as usual at the normal pace: one second in positive and one second in negative direction.
The results were:
The results showed that second group spend around 71 percent more calories and lifted 250 percent more weight than the first group, due to the faster pace. Strength and muscle gain was obviously outdone by the second group.
How should you lift? - when trying to gain muscle mass and strength the positive movement must be explosive and fast. Movement in negative direction (when muscle stretches) should be done with caution: slowly and in control to avoid any risk of injury. Try different routines with different repetitions, because your body quickly adapts to the weight and movement thus the progress slows down. If you make 3 or 20 repetitions always take a break which takes from 40 seconds to 90 seconds but no more than the 90 seconds for maximum progress. You will also stimulate different layers of muscle tissue with different weight/repetition ratios.
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