G′day guys
I′ve been reading an article on slow rep speed on a HIT website by Drew Baye that I thought was interesting. I will quote an excerpt from it:
” If you perform an exercise at a relatively fast speed, the resulting increase in momentum assists you during the positive movement, allowing you to lift an amount of weight that would be heavy enough to provide a meaningful level of resistance during the negative. If you perform an exercise slowly you will not be able to lift as much weight as you can at the faster speed. The lighter weight will feel much heavier during the positive, due to the lack of assistance from momentum, but if you perform the negative at the same speed, the weight will feel much too light. This is due to friction.
By moving too slowly during the negative, you allow the muscle a brief respite, unloading it somewhat. The negative should be performed slowly enough to minimize the amount of force the body is exposed to, but not so slowly that the muscle is allowed a rest. By not moving so slowly as to allow the muscle to rest, you are accentuating the negative. For most exercises a 4 to 6 second negative appears to be effective for this purpose ”
I have been using a 4/4 cadence but am considering testing a 4/6 cadence and seeing what difference it makes on my training ( if any ).
Cheers