I’ve dealt with several injuries over the last few years and it has caused me to do more research on how to get jacked (more research than I ever wanted to do in my life). However, it’s allowing me to get bigger and stronger, while still rehabbing injuries. The secret to this success has been speed.
I’ve always been an extremely explosive lifter. I either crush a weight…or miss it. There has never been an in between. Through much research and experimenting, I’ve found that the old adage of go “slow to grow” is only half right. For myself, going slow causes great gains in size and improves my strength due to the utilization of my slow twitch fibers, which I never activate in normal training.
The other half of the truth is that people who are slow twitch fiber dominate- like some of my clients- respond horribly to slow training. Training slow just uses the same fibers they always use and causes no increase in size or strength, because there’s no new fiber recruitment. They never activate fast twitch fibers during their normal training, so they need as much explosive training as possible to activate their fast twitch fibers. The activation of their fast twitch fibers causes extreme gains in strength and size, as they are recruiting fibers that they typically don’t. It’s also helpful that your fast twitch fibers have the highest potential for diameter growth of any fibers. This is just one of a few reasons why sprinters are jacked and marathoners are twigs.
We all know people who use “x” program and get great gains from it, but someone else may use the same program and not get any results. While there are many factors that play a role in this, one that is very easy to control is the tempo of your reps in training. So if you want to really grow, it’s not as easy as going slow, it’s using the tempo that’s the most difficult for you. While it’s been said that, “Being yourself is cool,” training the opposite gets you jacked.
GET JACKED!
Moderate tempo "slow to grow"
Fast Tempo "crushing weights"