Now I understand why yoga is done in slow-motion
Sometimes I like to do my push-ups in slow motion, fingertip push-ups to be exact. And what I have noticed is, that it feels like I engage more different muscles. When you get to the low point, try to hold for a time and you can feel different muscles pop up and engage. You can even focus on your palm and finger muscles engage and transfer some of the load into you hand. I think to do the perfect push-up you have to perfectly balance your whole body weight load onto as many different muscle groups as possible if that make sense. Fingers, palm, arms, shoulders, back, core, thighs to your toes, it is possible to engage them all to do the push-up. And when you do, the push-up feels super easy to do.
So, I believe slo-mos are a must to get the best form that you can get. Fast push-ups are necessary as well to train your reflexes, muscle reaction time, and of course explosiveness!
And while you’re at it, why not kill 2 birds with one stone? Get all the benefits by incorporating both, slow motion and explosiveness. Slow motion on the way down, explosive on the way up, and you get best of both worlds.
Or why not kill 3 birds with on stone? Go down slow, at bottom hold, explode back up! Damn, now that’s how you do it.
And you can apply those principle on any workout. I even tried slow motion sky diving but the parachute didnt open on time and I broke my leg at the landing. Just playing, I’m currently working on incorporating slow motion/explosive with the pull-ups and it’s a bitch! Slow down is easy, but explosive up is on a whole new level, especially full range. Haven’t been able to do but I’ll get there eventually. I’m less into weights, but I can imagine that slow motion weight lifting should be beneficial as well.
So, just incorporate slow motion into your exercises and I promise it’ll improve your form, strength and muscle definition.
So, in conclusion, exercising in slow motion is gonna give you all kinds of benefits. Cutting out the momentum will give you enhanced muscle control and increased time under tension, leading to improved muscle strength, endurance and growth. Slow movements will also drastically improve you form and engage more muscles, which in return prevents future injuries.
I also found some dudes who studied slow motion exercises:
- Research by Dr. Stuart Phillips at McMaster University found that slow lifting speeds can stimulate muscle growth as effectively as traditional speeds, indicating its efficacy in strength training.
- A study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology showed that slow resistance training can lead to significant increases in strength and muscle mass, particularly in older adults.
Daniel Florian
