I have been experimenting recently with Super-slow bodyweight exercises, what’s that I hear you ask?
Super-Slow is a controversial Body Building technique, instead of performing multiple sets per body part, you would perform only 1 set to failure. The major difference between is how long you take to perform 1 repetition, the average rep count is 4 seconds up, hold for 1 second and then lower for 4 seconds.
Super-slow takes the average repetition count and totally blows it out of the water! Generally speaking with Super-slow you take 10 seconds to lower, 10 seconds to lift and about 5 seconds holding at the most difficult part of the exercise.
Why perform Super-slow?
In a word, STRENGTH!
Super-slow is not something you perform every workout, because it is a very demanding on the physiology of the body and you will soon deplete your energy stores, shortly followed by over-training.
How many exercises should I perform?
Generally speaking you should not perform more than 6 – 8 different exercises per session; this is because of the High Intensity nature of the training. I suggest the following Bodyweight exercises;
- Pull-up or Chin-up
- Dips
- Push-up
- Crunch or old fashioned sit-up
- Bodyweight Squat
The above exercises should give you a very intense workout if you follow the principle of Super-slow training as outlined above.
How long should I perform these exercises for?
I personally suggest that you follow the above routine for 3 days per week, alternating the day’s you workout on (i.e. Mon, Wed and Fri). I would also suggest that you perform this routine, on a rotating basis, so for example:
Week One - Perform Super – Slow Training
Week Two - Perform training at normal speed, maybe even try Speed specific training
The basic rule of thumb is to listen to your body, at times you may wish to perform more than one week of Super-Slow. There is no right or wrong way of using this system.
If you’re interested in learning more about Super-slow Bodyweight training, you can join our Free Newsletter at www.natural-transformation.com
1 comment:
I have been doing superslow type high intensity workouts, and very intense since early february; now almost mid April I have added some serious muscularity to my body. The workouts consist of one set of each exercise, to failure, with as much weight as I can do in order to complete at least 6 reps. I have gone from 250 on the squat, 120 on the chest press and 120 on the pull down to 335 on leg press, 165 on both chest press and pulldown. It has evolved into alternating one leg exercise with one upper body, and have included bodyweight dips and leg curls into the routine. With no rest between exercises, it takes about 15 minutes to complete and I feel like I sprinted a mile at finishing.
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