Put some more speed into your lifts.
We’re always trying to find new ways to build muscle. It’s the number one reason that we hit the gym in the first place. Switching up your routine every now and then can really help your muscle building endeavors in more ways than one. Firstly, it will keep you from getting bored with your routine.
Training can become so mundane that following the same program week in and week out can prove pretty tedious on the road to gains. But most of all, it helps to avoid hitting the much feared plateau, giving you the opportunity to make your workout more challenging. Lifting speed is one method that has been proven to help and can make a big difference in your training.
When most people talk about muscle building, they’ll tell you that the key to making some major gains is to perform your lifts slowly so you can give your muscles a steady burn. While that is true, it’s not the only method that can be used to stimulate muscle growth. There have been studies that suggest lifting at faster speed can prove to give you even more gains than lifting slow. But how exactly can you benefit but performing your lifts faster? Let’s take a look.
Develop Strength (Movement Feels Lighter, You Can Use More Weight)
Lifting fast can be great for building your strength. While lifting moderate weight and lifting faster you’ll notice that the task of lifting the weight becomes easier. This is because of the momentum utilized by trying to lift faster. That same momentum, some will call cheating, will help you to lift heavier weight which in turn translate to more muscle and more strength to perform the movement. Do it enough times and eventually you’ll notice some improvements in your one rep max.
Develop Power (The Ability to Accelerate is Needed in All Sports)
Often confused with strength, the development of power has to do with two things. Power is a combination of strength and speed that allows for explosive movements. By lifting faster you improve your ability to explode into your lift. Your core strength will improve and it will translate into strength gain as well. Strength and power work in tandem together, the muscle strength and endurance allows you to last while the power allows you to push weight with more ease.
Work More Muscle Fibers (If You’re After Muscle Development: Lift Fast!)
This is perhaps the number one reason why you should be lifting fast. Faster movements activate more muscle fibers which in turn translates to greater gains. The explosive power and muscle strength from lifting work together to utilize an increased number of muscle fibers due to multiple muscle groups having to work together all at once.
Putting it simply, the explosive movement of lifting faster will help develop you fast twitch muscles which translate to a greater development of the entire muscle group that is being attacked. That means greater gains and greater muscle development.
What’s your views on fast lifting? Let us know in the comments below and be sure to follow Generation Iron on Facebook and Twitter.
