There's a man at my gym (early 60s maybe?) who lifts weights on machines really fast. I've never really looked to see how much he's lifting, but I really notice how fast he lifts. Is there a benefit to lifting the weights really fast? I'm more of a "slow" lifter with a "hold" at the top because I'm trying to work the muscle in both directions. While I'm not going to change what I'm doing, I'm just curious as to what effects one gets from lifting so fast.

Thanks!

Sheila, the 'effect' you get from lifting so fast is momentum! It's easier to go fast - try it some time and see. That's why you see some many men (I've never seen a woman do this) wildly swinging waaay too heavy of a weight at top speed. It's a good way to get hurt and the only ones they're impressing are themselves.

I once read that it takes four seconds to kill momentum when you're lifting, so if you really want a tough workout, try a four-second pause between the concentric and eccentric. But normally, a good lifting tempo is something like 2-1-2, with two seconds up, a 1 second hold, and 2 seconds down. Nice and controlled, with you controlling the weight rather than the weight controlling you.

It sounds like you're doing it exactly right. You can be sure that you're getting a lot more benefit from your workout than he is from his!

Speed work makes you stronger and more explosive, but isn't very effective for "bodybuilding". This "Dynamic Effort" work is not the same as the more commonly seen cheating Meg is describing.

The idea, however, is to use a very light weight and move it as fast as possible, and to terminate the set before you start losing speed. You also should be in full control and pause the reps to kill momentum at the bottom of the lift.

Speed benches for a 100# benchpresser, might be 8 sets of three reps using 50#. You are, however, pressing the light weight as hard as you can. For this reason, it is helpful to attach bands or chains to the bar to slow the weight at the top of the movement.

If you are an athlete, such as a sprinter or shotputter, you can see the benefit in training your muscles to move relatively small weights extremely quickly. Powerlifters do alot of speed work on the theory that they can develop momentum in the bottom of the lift to carry them through their sticking points.

Bodybuilders don't generally worry about developing power.

Sometimes there is a reason why someone is doing what he is doing. One older man lifts or pulls fairly quickly and uses his whole body to help him. I almost said something to him once, but then I learned that he has nerve degeneration in his arms and does not have the control for doing it slow. He uses light weights and at least, he is in the gym trying to counteract the degeneration. After watching him, with this information in mind, I believe he does know what he is doing and is doing it carefully.

I don't worry about the younger guys; they correct each other.

I live in fear of some of those speed lifters in the free weights area of the gym, I just picture them flying all over the place.

From what I've seen, the younger guys just encourage each other.

As Robert said, speed work can really complement a workout, as long as it's done in control. The next progression of speed work is plyometric- doing an exercise (with or without weight, depending on the exercise) using explosive force.

I try to add a lot of plyometrics into my workouts, often supersetting a strength exercise with a plyo exercise. Plyo's develope a very different type of strength.

For legs, it's fairly simple- jump, leap, etc. Other body parts require a little more creativity. Today I supersetted plyometric pushups with flat dumbbell presses, then for another combo supersetted regular pushups with incline explosive "bar throws" on the smith machine (don't use much weight and set the stops!)

Northernbelle- I've worked with several clients with nerve degeneration and that's really NOT the way to go about counteracting it! He really needs to find a trainer who has experience working with rehab clients.

Mel