Slow Reps, Fast Reps, or Both ???

B

Big_Idiot

2
What are peoples views on how to do reps?

Do you perform slow, controlled reps or more faster reps or both?

Personally i do slow, controlled reps with most things but iv heard faster ones can also benefit you but iv never considered doing them that way.

Any Opinions and/or advice on this?

;)
 
I always do the concentric reps as fast as possible. You recruit more monitor units this way, and it's good for strenght and neural adaptions. If you are going for strenght, fast concentric reps are very important and I advice you to start doing the concentric portion fast. If you're going for size, it's a bit more debatable, but a mixture of both would probobly be best.

I usually do the eccentric fast too, but I keep it controlled.
 
Cheers for that mate, think ill introduce some faster reps then just to mix it up a little, no harm in trying - It makes sense anyway to do a mixture of both.
 
Ha, I was about to say that I do exactly the same as what Karky does and then I realised I only started doing that because of the same advice Karky gave a while back :)

At least I can testify that it seems to have benefits
 
I'm with Karky. I train with fast concentric and eccentrics. However, fast relative to being in control. TUT or accumulation of tension over a workout, has shown to be largely irrelevant. Focus on increasing your working weights and total workload over time.
 
I always heard it was bad to perform fast reps because you rely on momentum and less on your strength.
 
so if i am squatting 200lbs fast, its going to be easier to push it back up because im using momentum?

may i ask you: is it easier to stop a fast moving truck or a slow moving truck coming at you?

so why would it be easier to stop and lift a fast moving barbell?
how is the bar moving fast in the opposite direction(eccentric) contributing to momentum for the concentric?

as long as you keep form, incorporate fast reps
 
Fast. Fast, fast, fast. Eccentric is controlled, but nowhere near "slow". Fast as you possibly can...and with that, follow Karky wherever he's goin with this because I have class.
 
I was assuming his goals were hypertrophy and strength gain. Seems to be the prevailing, average set of goals.... unless one is training for sport.
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Indeed. If they are training for sport, the faster reps are more advisable.

Do you perform slow, controlled reps or more faster reps or both?
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There is a lot involved in this question. For most exercises I recommend a fairly fast rhythm to do the reps. These would be exercises where you would do more than 5 reps. Generally 8-15 reps.

Examples of these exercises are:
  1. rows
  2. rdl
  3. flys
  4. most back exercises
  5. most arm exercises
  6. basically anything that fits into the category of "assistance exercises"

For exercises where your goal can be speed, then the advice changes to trying to move the bar (weight, whatever) with explosive speed.

Exercises that fit into this category are:
  1. squats
  2. bench press
  3. any olympic movement
  4. any jumping movement

That being said, if you are training more than 3 reps, do the faster rhythm, the exercises are easier to control this way and the higher reps do not really fit in with the explosive style lifting.

Lets also not forget the ever so important "intent for speed."

If you are moving heavy weights, then the reality of being able to move fast is not there. Heavy lifts are generally slow.

That does not mean that the lifter is not trying to move the weight fast. Most EMG research has shown that, when the lifter is trying to move a heavy weight faster, there is much higher motor unit recruitment. Making the heavy lift more effective as well as increasing the likelihood of a successful lift.

So.... Well.... That is a little more detailed answer to your question.
 
goergen1 said:
There is a lot involved in this question. For most exercises I recommend a fairly fast rhythm to do the reps. These would be exercises where you would do more than 5 reps. Generally 8-15 reps.

Examples of these exercises are:
  1. rows
  2. rdl
  3. flys
  4. most back exercises
  5. most arm exercises
  6. basically anything that fits into the category of "assistance exercises"
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Curious - why do you recommend this ?

I'm thinking more in terms of the average gym rat. What is the training advantage / difference you have seen to doing, let's say, a moderate rhythm as opposed to the fast rhythm you suggested above ?

And, is this training advantage/ difference significant enough to worry about for most gym rats ?

goergen1 said:
That being said, if you are training more than 3 reps, do the faster rhythm, the exercises are easier to control this way and the higher reps do not really fit in with the explosive style lifting.
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Aren't exercises generally easier to control and to execute ( in letter perfect form ) the slower you do them - not faster - i.e " the faster rhythm....... easier to control " ?

Perhaps I'm simply not clear on your point. :confused:
 
Most EMG research has shown that, when the lifter is trying to move a heavy weight faster, there is much higher motor unit recruitment. Making the heavy lift more effective as well as increasing the likelihood of a successful lift.
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As georgen stated. That's the training advantage. And yes, it's significant. Recruiting the highest ammount of monitor units is important in muscle and neural development. This doesn't just go for trying to lift heavy loads fast even though they will move slow. It also goes for lifting light loads fast.

You know the saying "It's the last few reps of the set that really makes the muscles grow"? that's because the body recruits muscle fibers in order, from slow to fast. So at the end of the set all the slow fibers will have been fatigued and the fast fibers are then recruited to be able to continue to lift (this goes for typical BBer sets with sevral reps) However, if you lift the load as fast as possible (with intent to lift it fast during the entire set) also the first reps, not only the last, will recruit the fast twitch muscle fibers. And the fast twitch muscle fibers are the ones with most growth and strenght potential.
 
Karky and goergon covered it imo pretty well. There are those out there, myself included, who believe that slow reps have their place in an advanced bb routine. It's very difficult to make a mind/muscle connection with some muscles and a very effective way to develop that is through slow concentric/eccentric reps.
 
I see where you're comming from mreik. I know on rows, I sometimes like to take things a bit easy to feel the back muscles work, and remind myself to flex them. Actually, when I go heavy on rows, I don't feel my back working, but when I go with moderate weight and pace I can feel it much better.

also, on exercises such as rows/pulldowns/etc, it's easy to gather momentum from the first part of the lift, since that is pretty easy compared to the last part (getting the bar to touch the chest/abs). I always stop for a bit when I have rowed the weight to my abs so that I know I can control the weight at the end ROM and I'm not just using momentum from the start of the movement. The momentum thing is one argument I have heard for doing such exercises with a moderate pace. But I guess it would be better to accelerate the weight gradually instead of exploding out of the first part of the rom and speed dabbing off into the second part of the rom (in this case you would be using momentum) If you're still increasing the speed when you enter the last part of the rom, you know your muscles are doing the job, not the momentum.

that got long and complicated. I probobly could have explained that in a much more simple way, but I chose not to :p
 
I've always believed that you should use a combination of fast and slow repetition.
It's not necessarily the speed at which you move the weight that matters, it's more about the intensity of you moving the weights. For example moving a lighter weight as fast as you possibly can might not necessarily active fast-twitch fibers (something you want it to be doing), whereas moving a heavier weight using good form and attempting to go as fast as you can will put more tension on the muscles and probably activate those fast-twitch fibers.

You can't really "target" fast-twitch fibers as such, they will only be activated once your body requires them. So basically what you should be doing is moving the weight as fast as you possible can, doesn't matter if it takes 2 seconds or 10 seconds, so long as you are putting all your focus and intensity into the movement on the concentric stage.

For the eccentric stage I've always preferred to lower the weight in a slower and more controlled fashion as if you were doing slow negatives. Studies show that doing negatives with a greater weight than that being used during the concentric stage may use more fast-twitch fibers.

My suggestion is that on the lifting stage you try put all your focus and intensity into getting the weight up as quick as possible, but in a controlled manor, and on the lowering stage you lower it a bit slower and again in a controlled manor. I usually aim for a 2 second lift and a 4 second lower.
 
Using FT muscle fibers is the whole purpouse of the dynamic effort method..

It annoys me when people say you can't target the fast twitch muscle fibers. You can. If i do 60% of my 1rm on the bench for 3 reps, putting 60% of my effort into it, I will use slow twitch. If I put 100% effort into it lifting it as fast as I can, I'm using the fast twitch fibers too. I've not targeted them. What I haven't done and what you can't do is isolate them, since the body will always recruit from slowest to fastest.
 
Karky said:
Using FT muscle fibers is the whole purpouse of the dynamic effort method..

It annoys me when people say you can't target the fast twitch muscle fibers. You can. If i do 60% of my 1rm on the bench for 3 reps, putting 60% of my effort into it, I will use slow twitch. If I put 100% effort into it lifting it as fast as I can, I'm using the fast twitch fibers too. I've not targeted them. What I haven't done and what you can't do is isolate them, since the body will always recruit from slowest to fastest.
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Which is why I said you can't really target them "as such". Of course you can attempt to force your body into using them by using more effort/heavier weight but what I meant is you can't just say "right this movement will target them or isolate them".
But obviously your body will use your fast twitch fibers once they are required, which is why I said try focus on moving that weight as fast as you can and putting as much intensity into it as possible to attempt to get to the stage where fast twitch fibers are required.
 
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