I’m sure we’ve all heard the popular question (or thought it for some) “What exactly does doing slow reps offer our bodies that fast reps can’t?” Or in other words, what does doing slow reps do to our bodies compared to fast reps? Well, I have to say this before I say anything else, one of them is clearly better for control (slow reps) while the other is better for those who need a bit of power in the movement they’re performing. Besides those 2, very important benefits of performing both slow and fast reps they also offer 1 or 2 other by-products - which we’ll be talking about below.
*side note: when I was researching this topic I saw quite a few articles that had content in them that used verbiage that not only the laymen wouldn’t understand but some people who know the technical terms may not understand as well. So, I decided to simplify the content for digestibility.
Slow Reps
Tension (hypertrophy)
One of the basic tenets of bodybuilding is what lifters call “Time Under Tension”. This is essentially a term used to refer to the time that a muscle or muscle group is placed under stress. I won’t go into too much detail here (primarily because I’m not a bodybuilder) but if your aim is growth tension (or time under tension) is something you’ll want to pay attention to.
Makes the movement safer (kind of the same as form)
Something that I’ve been seeing quite often is that slow repetitions can take away some of the danger that comes with weightlifting.
*To see the difference between weightlifting and powerlifting click here.
Why? Well, Drew Baye over at Baye.com actually explained it in a way that made complete sense (at least to me). Basically, he said that by reducing the speed with which you move the weight you also reduce the load you’ll have to move on the rebound.
*this is similar to another article I read by (I forgot the name. I won’t lie) that said that some powerlifters tend to move slower when they move heavier weight (whether it’s a squat or bench doesn’t matter) because they understand that the faster they allow their bodies to go on the descent (the downward motion of the movement) the more force *the faster their muscles have to contract on the ascent - which can be very dangerous, especially with heavy weights.
Form
Generally, when people decide that they’re going to work on form they do 1 of 2 (or both) things they slow the movement down and they lift less weight. For this article, we’re going to focus on “moving the weight slower”.
Fast Reps
Power or explosiveness
So, this is probably what I would consider my specialty. Moving quickly through a movement (such as with the squat or the deadlift) helps lifters (or myself) gain power or explosiveness. This is a very vague answer but it’s also developed by lifting heavy weights (which requires speed anyway).
Conditioning
I once saw a powerlifter who goes by the name of Big Boi do a routine where he was required to do 30 reps with 50% of his deadlift 1rm while only taking a 20 second pause in between. He had to do these reps as fast as possible and said that doing them helped him with his conditioning up on stage.
Conclusion
If the above bullet points didn’t answer your question clearly enough the answer is that fast reps (if done correctly) help you develop power while slow reps help you develop muscle (hypertrophy). Do you know of a place that says otherwise? Place it in the comment section and we’ll make sure to add it.
Resources:
https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-lift-this-way-build-muscle-3-times-faster