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Q. I‚ve always heard that while weight training I should lift slowly. I notice that you train people with some very fast movements. What gives?
A. While all lifting should be done under control, it can and should be performed at different speeds. Muscular contraction exists on a continuum of velocity, known as the force-velocity curve. When the muscle moves a very heavy weight, it produces high force with low velocity, but when it moves a lighter weight, it produces less force but with more velocity. Contraction velocity is a specific neuromuscular quality that must be trained to be optimized. In the simplest interpretation: If you train slowly, you‚ll be slow, and if you train fast, you‚ll be fast. Additionally, training at higher velocities results in a high metabolic cost, meaning a greater amount of calories are consumed during the task. This translates to a body that is conditioned to work at a higher capacity and with higher fuel consumption. The benefits of training through the spectrum of force and velocity are that it prepares the body for work, play and life. Each of us is certain to remember those situations in life that require us to move quickly and abruptly, whether they were playful, or out of urgency. As beings of locomotion, we need to move, and sometimes we need to move fast. So we prepare our bodies (and mind) to do so with ease.
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