drtbear1967
Musclechemistry Board Certified Member
Does lifting faster increase strength gains?
_
You often hear the advice of “lifting slowly” and “focus on the squeeze in the muscle”. _
Turns out this might very well cut your 1RM strength gains in half.
_
Performing squats with maximal speed in the upward (concentric) phase vs half the maximal speed almost doubled strength gains (18% vs 9.7%) after 6 weeks of training [Pareja-Blanco 2014]. _
Even when time-under-tension was 47% higher for the half-speed group.
_
Other research found the exact same thing in the bench press [González-Badillo 2014]. _
Furthermore, recent research shows that focusing on the mind-muscle connection does not increase muscle activation more when you lift at higher speeds [Calatayud 2018].
.
This is quite intuitive. Just imagine trying to focus your attention on your glutes when you’re trying to explode out of a heavy squat: at this moment all your attention goes to just getting that bar up.
_
However, the mind-muscle connection does seem to matter when you’re lifting lower loads (~50% 1RM) [Calatayud 2018].
.
But lifting these loads is not the most efficient or effective way to go about getting bigger and stronger over time.
_
For maximal strength gains, just focus on moving the weight (or your own body) as explosively as possible, while controlling the weight down. When you’re lifting this way, you won’t even get the opportunity for a mind-muscle connection.
_
Pro tip: with heavier weights (80% 1RM and over) you can also try *accelerating* the weight. This means you build up from slow at the start to fast at the end of the movement. This will avoid the feared sticking point when moving too quickly from the onset of the movement.
_
You often hear the advice of “lifting slowly” and “focus on the squeeze in the muscle”. _
Turns out this might very well cut your 1RM strength gains in half.
_
Performing squats with maximal speed in the upward (concentric) phase vs half the maximal speed almost doubled strength gains (18% vs 9.7%) after 6 weeks of training [Pareja-Blanco 2014]. _
Even when time-under-tension was 47% higher for the half-speed group.
_
Other research found the exact same thing in the bench press [González-Badillo 2014]. _
Furthermore, recent research shows that focusing on the mind-muscle connection does not increase muscle activation more when you lift at higher speeds [Calatayud 2018].
.
This is quite intuitive. Just imagine trying to focus your attention on your glutes when you’re trying to explode out of a heavy squat: at this moment all your attention goes to just getting that bar up.
_
However, the mind-muscle connection does seem to matter when you’re lifting lower loads (~50% 1RM) [Calatayud 2018].
.
But lifting these loads is not the most efficient or effective way to go about getting bigger and stronger over time.
_
For maximal strength gains, just focus on moving the weight (or your own body) as explosively as possible, while controlling the weight down. When you’re lifting this way, you won’t even get the opportunity for a mind-muscle connection.
_
Pro tip: with heavier weights (80% 1RM and over) you can also try *accelerating* the weight. This means you build up from slow at the start to fast at the end of the movement. This will avoid the feared sticking point when moving too quickly from the onset of the movement.
