What is SuperSlow, High-Intensity Strength Training?
How does SuperSlow Work?
What are the special machines used in SuperSlow?
Can I really get a good workout moving so slowly?
What are the benefits of SuperSlow for the serious
athlete?
What are the benefits of SuperSlow for the recreational
sports enthusiast?
What about my cardio?
What about burning calories?
What should I do to warm up before my workout?
What about stretching before beginning an exercise
session?
How often should I work out?
Isn't such a high intensity of exercise dangerous
for some people?
Can’t I injure myself merely
by attempting to lift too much weight, even when moving slowly?
What results can I expect to get if I train hard
with High-Intensity Strength Training and eat right?
Q: What is
SuperSlow, High-Intensity Strength Training?
A: SuperSlow, High-Intensity Strength Training is an
exercise philosophy and an exercise protocol. Nautilus and MedX founder
Arthur Jones developed portions of the theory underlying this philosophy.
The Nautilus philosophy was to slow down the rep speed, thereby eliminating
force, the main cause of injury. The theory was refined and developed
in 1982 by Ken Hutchins, a research theorist for use in a research project
on osteoporosis conducted by Nautilus Sports/Medical Industries and the
University of Florida. He called it SuperSlow.
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Q. How does SuperSlow Work?
A. SuperSlow is a very specialized form of strength
training that forces the muscles to do all the work. The joints are not
affected because all momentum or acceleration is eliminated in the movements.
Each rep is done slowly, 8-12 seconds up (the positive phase) and 8-12
seconds back (the negative phase), unlike traditional strength training
which permits movements of 1-3 seconds up and 1-3 seconds back. The focused
slowness forces muscles to work much harder.
Each repetition must be performed slowly with perfect form with a weight
heavy enough to take the muscles being worked to total fatigue in just
a few repetitions. This quickly stimulates the body to produce additional
muscle tissue and creates improvements in cardiovascular and other support
systems.
The intensely slow SuperSlow method safely builds muscle, increases the
resting metabolism and allows the body to burn more calories even while
at rest. It is far more challenging, safer on the joints and produces greater
results in less time than other forms of strength training.
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Q. What are the special machines used in SuperSlow?
A. 4 Ideal Fitness uses state-of-the-art exercise equipment
by MedX Corporation that allows full range of motion, variable resistance,
minimal friction, and adjustments for proper and safe positioning and
alignment. This specialized equipment is normally found in physical therapy
offices because it offers a choice of resistance in two-pound increments
for a weight that's just right - not too heavy and not too light for
rapid and steady progress. The unique design of the MedX equipment allows
for the slow and fluid movements that produce the dramatic results found
in SuperSlow strength training.
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Q: Can
I really get a good workout moving so slowly?
A: Definitely! You will discover that your muscles do
even more metabolic work per unit of time moving slowly than they do
moving fast. Faster movement uses momentum to move the weight, not just
muscular strength, thereby unloading the muscles during parts of the
repetition cycle, allowing the muscles to rest, while overloading them
during other parts.
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Q. What
are the benefits of SuperSlow for the serious athlete?
A. SuperSlow High-Intensity Strength Training is perfectly
designed for the serious athlete. As most athletes know, the foundation
for endurance is muscular strength. The SuperSlow method targets the
body's major muscles, called skeletal muscles.
The skeletal muscles are the foundation for all other movement. Muscular
strength training is essential to sports performance and injury prevention.
High-Intensity Strength Training is an excellent way to strengthen your
core, the muscle groups that stabilize your skeletal structure.
With SuperSlow, the loading of the targeted muscles to complete muscle
failure results in greater strength in less time than traditional weight
training, which is characterized by a high number of repetitions and multiple
sets. SuperSlow builds lean muscle which translates into superior cardiovascular
benefits for competitive athletes. By building muscle mass the body has
to grow new microvascular capillary networks to serve those muscles. This
makes the heart increase its efficiency so all sports are executed with
less effort.
The benefits of SuperSlow support some of the most important goals of a
successful athlete:improved cardiovascular fitness, greater muscular strength,
increased metabolism, and reduced injuries.
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Q. What are the benefits of SuperSlow for the recreational
sports enthusiast?
A. In everyday life your muscular strength can determine
the ease of many daily tasks. For the recreational athlete, SuperSlow
builds and maintains the muscles so you can enjoy all activities to their
maximum. The superior 30-minute workout gives you more time to enjoy
other activities. One excellent benefit of High-Intensity Strength Training
is the strengthening of the skeletal muscles which diminishes the chance
of injury. The additional cardiovascular benefits allow you to participate
in your activities longer and with less fatigue.
A common misconception is that being unfit is due to a weak heart and
lungs when actually it’s weak muscles that lead to being unfit. A
fit person's stronger muscles work more efficiently because they draw oxygen
from the blood and reduce strain on the heart and lungs. High-Intensity
Strength Training conditions the entire system by pushing the aerobic and
anaerobic systems to their maximum. A recreational sports enthusiast will
gain all the benefits that a serious athlete would by training in the SuperSlow
protocol, the biggest benefit being the development of functional fitness,
essential to both daily living and regular activities.
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Q: What about my cardio?
A: It’s not necessary to engage in aerobic activities
between workouts, unless this is something you like to do. You will get
cardiovascular and metabolic stimulation during your strength training
sessions. Most of the conditioning effect of exercise is the result of
metabolic adaptations, which enhance the ability of muscle tissue to
absorb and utilize oxygen.
As we age and lose muscle mass, activities that were once done with ease
when stronger, become more difficult as your muscles, not your heart and
lungs, get weaker. SuperSlow strengthens your muscles so recreational
activities, such as biking, hiking, swimming and skiing, require less effort
from the heart and lungs.
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Q: What about burning calories?
A: You can become a 24 hour-a-day fat burning machine
simply by adding some muscle. One of the great benefits of strength training
is the calories burned as a result of the workout, not the calories burned
during the workout. By training to failure, you will add toned, defined
muscle to your body, which causes the body to need more calories at rest.
A muscular body at rest is constantly burning fat.
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Q: What should I do to warm up before my workout?
A: Your muscles remain close to normal body temperature
at all times, even if your skin feels cool to the touch. Contrary to
popular belief, muscles don't need to warm up beyond normal body temperature.
By the time you start sweating, your muscles are already beyond their
optimum operating temperature. Your joints and muscles do require a bit
of extra lubrication during exercise, but the most efficient way to lubricate
them is to begin the actual exercise, slowly.
The SuperSlow protocol minimizes inertial forces, and therefore the stresses
on your joints. The first few repetitions, which are never explosive and
are performed slowly, allow time to send a message to the joints, ligaments
and tendons to lubricate and warm up.
We don't recommend any steady state activity as a warm up before the workout,
as preheating will sap your strength, and compromise your workout. It will
force the body to decrease the intensity of effort necessary for the workout.
It also wastes the body’s recovery sources and your time.
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Q: What
about stretching before beginning an exercise session?
A: While stretching feels great, it is unnecessary,
for much the same reasons enumerated in the warm up question.
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Q: How
often should I work out?
A: The majority of our clients train once a week and
get excellent results. Some start at twice a week to jump-start their
program. Because the workouts are so intense, it is recommended
that the muscles have adequate time for recovery. For most people this
takes 5-7 days.
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Q: Isn't such a high intensity of exercise dangerous
for some people?
A: The risk of injury does not come from the intensity
of an exercise, but from the inertial forces associated with rapid acceleration,
fast movement and abrupt changes in speed or direction. Our protocol
minimizes these forces
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Q: Can’t
I injure myself merely by attempting to lift too much weight, even when
moving slowly?
A: At 4 Ideal Fitness each one-on-one training session
is conducted by a certified SuperSlow instructor who is trained in understanding
how much weight should be used by each individual. With the trainer’s
guidance, injury is highly unlikely because force and explosive movement
are not being used to move the weight.
We use only the resistance that you can move smoothly and slowly, paying
strict attention to perfecting your form, and in accordance with muscle
and joint function. We only increase the resistance over time if you are
able to lift and lower the weight, without rest or compromising form, until
you achieve momentary muscular failure on each exercise within a time frame
of 1 to 2 minutes.
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Q: What
results can I expect to get if I train hard with High-Intensity Strength
Training and eat right?
A: With High-Intensity Strength Training and a healthy
diet you can expect to see: Increased muscular strength and endurance
Improved cardiovascular efficiency
Increased bone mineral density
Increased metabolic rate
Prevention and delay of muscle loss due to aging
Discriminate weight loss
Improved muscle tone and definition
Enhanced flexibility
Contribution to body leanness
Stress reduction
Improved self image, self esteem and self confidence
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