Are slow and long reps the key to efficient results when exercising?

[Swarog]

I’ve been trying to find out the most efficient way of exercising for some time and I’v etried hte circuit training, the heavy lifting, the cardio etc… etc… etc…

But I started recently on a routine that sems to be giving me results very quickly.
I lift weights that are a moderate weight for my ability, something like 40-50% of my max. And I’ll perform regular lifting exercising like curls or bench press, however I will do it EXTREMELY SLOWLY and I don’t allow my elbows to over extend or lock up.

I do maybe half of the exercising I would normally do, and my results so far have been very rewarding.

My question is this…

Are these slow and prolonged movements the key to successful results? Or am I missing something?

I have also been taking in the necessary amount of protein daily, which i had not done as strictly before as i do now.

About 0.6 grams per pound of body weight.

[DSeid]

What you are describing is the method advocated by various names, “slow burn”, “superslow”, etc. The sports medicine consensus is that it does not work any better than other speeds but that it is a reasonable bit of variety to through in and that variety works best.

Superslow strength training is a strength training technique in which you lift and lower a weight more slowly than usual — about 10 seconds to lift the weight and about 10 seconds to lower the weight. … Research hasn’t shown superslow strength training to be superior to other forms of strength training. However, superslow strength training is a reasonable tool if you want to vary your strength training routine. Muscle gains plateau when you do the same routine repeatedly over time. Superslow strength training may help you prevent boredom in your strength training routine while you challenge your muscles in a new and different way.

The College of Sports Medicine take:

it appears that training at moderate velocity (180-240°·s-1) produces the greatest strength increases across all testing velocities … The rate of energy expenditure is lower using an intentionally slow velocity (173). Substantially, less peak force, power, and number of repetitions performed were observed with “super slow” repetition velocity (10:10) compared with a self-selected fast velocity when matched for intensity (111). A 30% reduction in training load is necessary when using a “very slow” velocity (10:5) compared with a slow velocity (2:4) (141). Another study comparing “very slow” (10:5) to traditional velocity (1:1) showed that 37-40% reductions in training loads were needed to attain the same number of repetitions (129). These data suggest that motor unit activity may be limited when intentionally slow velocities at lighter loads are incorporated and ultimately may not provide an optimal stimulus for strength enhancement in resistance-trained individuals.Compared with slow velocities, moderate (1-2:1-2) and fast (<1:1) velocities have been shown to be more effective for enhanced muscular performance capacities (e.g., number of repetitions performed, work and power output, and volume) (161,189) and for increasing the rate of strength gains (113). …

Wading through it they advise fast for power development, a variety of speeds with a focus on lifts with heavy weights at 3-5 reps topped off with faster higher volume lower weight lifts for hypertrophy, and for endurance

It is recommended that intentionally slow velocities be used when a moderate number of repetitions (10-15) are used. Moderate to fast velocities are more effective for increasing repetition number than slow-velocity training (161). If performing a large number of repetitions (15-25 or more), then moderate to faster velocities are recommended.

For those like me who have no specific goal other than some nebulous concept of “fitness”, and desire to have strength and endurance and wouldn’t mind a little definition along the way, I can only take-away to keep mixing it up and not stick with any method long enough to get bored by doing it.

[PlainJain]

Mike Mentzer (Mr Olympia contender) was a big proponant of this method. His book on the subject, Heavy Duty, is a good read. Here is an article of a BB’s first hand experience:

Training with Mike Mentzer - My Workouts With Mike Mentzer

Mikes basic idea is that the bigger you get, the better this method works.