A Paradox of sorts???

[Over40]

Last year, and the year before I went through a high intensity weight lifting phase (which I have done on and off over the years). I am sure many of you are acquinted with Ellington Darden, Arthur Jones, etc. That was the route I took, and it went fine. Then I started reading more about slow cadence resistance training, SuperSlow, turtle reps, whatever you want to call it.

The premise behind this theory is that "true" exercise is dangerous, therefore you should make it as safe as possible. So there I was, in the high school Nautilus room, with a stop watch, doing 10/10 (ten seconds up, ten seconds down) reps and half my students thinking I'd gone nuts. Oh, and to avoid overtraining you only lift once a week. Rest the rest of the time.

I did this from Nov. 04 to Feb. 05. I did get stronger. But, I could almost feel what conditioning I had just evaporate. I couldn't walk up the stairs to the weight room without sucking wind. Skiing was a chore, and shoveling the sidewalk was hideous.

Hence the title of my thread, I find it paradoxical that people are pushing an exercise protocol that they are claiming is the apex of weightlifting systems (one book on the subject is called "Ultimate Exercise"), and yet after three months of doing it I was the most out of shape I had been in sometime.

Got to have balance.

Jon

[tglasco4]

Bravo Jon! I believe the principles of High Intensity will work but are not an end in and of themselves. As you correctly stated, there must be a balance. I have learned that we need both cardio and resistance for optimal fitness. I plan on utilizing the principles of HIT along with Peak contraction but also keep my running schedule of 3x per week (about 18 miles per week). I hope to be able to come to some definite conclusions about these principles after about 12 weeks. We'll see.

btw, Welcome aboard!!:)

Todd

[rawfigure]

The premise behind this theory is that "true" exercise is dangerous, therefore you should make it as safe as possible. So there I was, in the high school Nautilus room, with a stop watch, doing 10/10 (ten seconds up, ten seconds down) reps and half my students thinking I'd gone nuts. Oh, and to avoid overtraining you only lift once a week. Rest the rest of the time.
Jon

Welcome to the Forum.

I guess they must have some reason for this theroy ..but it sounds ridiculous to me. And as you say you tried it and you are proof it is simply a "theroy". The object of a training cycle is too see a benefit is it not ?

I tried the super slows 10/10 cadence, everytime I tried it I had to fight the Boredom. . therefore I never stuck to it long enough to see how it would work.

I am a believer in consistent weight training, good intensity and cardio. I think you get the best results when you mix things up. I like to do something for 12-16 weeks..then switch it around. And as far as Cardio, it is not just for fat burning, but is ESSENTIAL to cardiovascular health and should be done consisitently. I am a 4-6 times a week Gal. As soon as the weather breaks I am heading outside and I am adding the hand weights to my running, per Todd.

Have a good work out ..Leslie

So find your groove, and go for it !