Q: Why do you keep telling me to slow down when I lift weights?
A: THE most effective way to burn fat and improve body-shape is to build more muscle tissue.
Building new muscle increases your resting metabolic rate which allows you to burn more fat all day long.
But building muscle is not an easy or quick process, especially if you’re over the age of 30 and/or female. So, to build muscle (and therefore boost metabolism), you need to make sure that you exercise in a conducive manner.
Each time you lift and lower a weight, you are performing a concentric movement (the shortening of a muscle under load) and an eccentric movement (the lengthening of a muscle under load).
Slowing your rep speed not only increases your time under tension (therefore increasing the stimulus for muscle growth) but it also allows you to prolong the eccentric movement of each rep.
It is this eccentric part of the movement that sets off an amazing chemical reaction that plays a special role in stimulating your muscles to rebuild and grow (and therefore boost metabolism).
Rushing through your reps shortcuts this eccentric movement and therefore limits that all important muscle-building-signalling that should be taking place.