slower or faster, need help
 

Hi, my name is eric im over here in ireland ive got into
the gym seriously bout 3 weeks ago and have been lifting
heavy (where i am able to lift bout 8 - 12 reps) and
taking the reps slow but i read somewhere today the
a faster moving more pumping fast rep will gain muscle
faster which is better a slow rep or a hard fast please
help me if ya can
:wtf:

1. Heavy is relative.

2. Super slow reps for size is a little over-rated. This is all based on TUT or "time under tension" and to put it simply, people who get into the super slow lifting thing are overestimating just how much time under tension is needed and they are also overestimating how much difference the extra time under tension will make.

3. If you lift super slow you make sacrifises that are NOT conducive to the results you want. You will be able to handle less load (lower intensity) and you will muster less volume (reps times sets). Less load and less volume with more TUT? Sucks.

4. Some people like to lift normally during the concentric phase (the ascent or the part of the lift where you move the weight up) and go super-slow on the eccentric (the lowering part). Again this is to increase TUT and also because there is a lot of talk about the importance of the eccentric in muscle growth. Again..you can end up making some of the same sacrifises as above and again it is dwelling on TUT.

4. Dwelling on ONE aspect, as in this case dwelling on TUT, is always a mistake. Training is "holistic". Not to sound philosophically but it is not the sum of a bunch of individual parts but rather all the parts being greater the the sum of the parts, lol.

So in other words drumming up ONE part over others will not lead to a greater whole but simply detract from it.

5. Super slow reps are stupid.

6. Even bodybuilders should pay attention to strength.

At this point in your training you are probably fine just sticking to 8 to 10 reps. You should simply lift at a "normal" speed. That means a speed that is comfortable and comes naturally.

Lower the weight under control. Not super slow but CONTROLLED.

Later on you will want to branch out into lower rep ranges. And you will get bitten by the strength bug.

Yeah that damn bug is nasty, bit me so hard it left a huge mark right on my ass :biglaugh:

BTW I totally agree with points 5 & 6 :) and well, 1,2,3 & 4 for that matter.