Speed of Movement During Exercise

I've always found speed of movement interesting. So did Arthur Jones. After experimenting for decades, the Nautilus inventor concluded, "It is probably impossible to lift weights too slowly." Hence the outbreak of slow and Super Slow protocols. More importantly, his influence spread through trainers who emphasized good form, of which slow, controlled speed was part.

Today's trainers emphasize form in the same way, but few pay attention. No one knows exactly how slow is best (if it exists); few realize the physics, the physiology, the rationale behind slow-rather-than-fast repetitions; and many have been influenced, or at least confused, by the recent surge in "performance" training which promotes the opposite - explosive, fast-as-you-can reps. "Activate the fast-twitch fibers," they say. "Train for power, to demonstrate power on the field, to prepare the body for what's to come." Genius. Pure genius.

They forgot one thing - logic. The body can move at incredible speeds - limbs as quickly as 1000 ft/sec. When you add resistance to a moving part, however, speed slows. Now, the limb moves as quickly as it can against the resistance, not as quickly as it ultimately can. If resistance is very heavy, the maximum generated speed will be, by necessity, slow. The heavier the weight, the slower the speed, nothing else is possible.

Point one: How can explosive training with weights help an athlete become more explosive (demonstrate more power) on the field? In other words, how can a slower-than-possible movement (because of resistance used) help one become faster? The same people who believe slow training makes you slow on the field are training slower than possible (if no resistance is used) and claiming it makes them faster. Hmmm.

Point two: The genii believe there's automatic transfer from gym to on-field activity. Few have read the literature. Four decades of motor learning research reveals that NO transfer exists, none. It's called specificity of training, and it's ignored.

The result? Wasted time, lots of it. Practicing something that doesn't transfer to sport and placing muscles in harms way to get there. Unfortunately, strength is general in its application. Any strength gained (even that by explosive repetitions) helps performance - thus belief in what they're doing. But strength can be obtained by safer means.

The sane approach, the logical approach - strengthen the muscles you need in a safe way independent of how they are to be used. Slow repetition speed doesn't mean slow movement on the field. Plug the new strength into the sport by practicing the sport.

We may never arrive at a conclusion about speed of movement during exercise - there are too many out there who believe that FAST has value.

Jones summed it up in the 1996 issue of Ironman magazine, "Ignore this warning at your great peril; move fast during exercise and you will eventually hurt yourself...Train properly and you will probably never hurt yourself."

"Properly," if I read Arthur correctly, means "not fast."