I gotta lose weight...superslow weight training, Body For Life, Smart For Life??

[BillyIdol]

I have to lose weight more for health reasons than tennis reasons. I am 5 foot 11 1/2 inches and weigh about 218 lbs. I am 42 years old. Surprisingly, almost everyone that I play comments on "how fast" I am. Yeah, I am fast but back in 2000 I was 197 lbs, and I was lightning quick. Obviously, I am not anywhere near world class. I played tournaments from 1999 to 2003, and am now at the 4.0-4.5 level. I want to improve my mobility.

Back in 2000, I did the Body for Life program. Man, this program worked well. I almost had a 4 pack. That program was so intense that I was sore all the time when I played tennis. I did Body for Life for 8 weeks and lost 28 lbs. From 226 lbs to 196. I was amazed. But I just don't think that I can maintain that type of intensity for the rest of my life.

I am reading some books about Super Slow (Power of 10 by Adam Zickerman, and Slow Burn Revolution by Hahn, Meades, and Meades) and also Body Rx by Scott Connelly. Connelly only recommends weighttraining and no cardio, and he has 5% bodyfat and it shows. I already get a lot of cardio from tennis.

I have also been investigating weight loss centers. I am starting to like Smart For Life and their cookie diet. Medifast also looks good. I guess if I could do it on my own, I would have already lost the weight. Smart For Life is medically supervised low cal diet. I am a bit worried about having low calories and playing tennis where you needs lots of energy. I am realizing that weight loss is mostly diet, and not so much exercise. If you eat too much, no amount of exercise will burn it off.

I guess my problem is that I get hungry, and I don't like to cook. I need convenience. That is the key. So, that is why I am leaning towards Smart For Life cookie diet/weight loss centers. I would also like to incorporate some weight training.

I don't know, this stuff is confusing. I want to drop the weight for health reasons, but I guess my tennis would also improve. I'm frustrated.

John

 

[Rickson]

I'm definitely not a fan of super slow weight training. SS training can be beneficial if you have some sort of injury and you're trying to rehab a body part, but for strength gains, ss training is counter productive. If you want to gain strength, quick concentric movements are much more beneficial than super slow concentric. Slow is good for the eccentric (pronounced eeh-centric, not ex-centric) portion or the negative because it helps you avoid bouncing and bad form, but concentric contractions should be done quickly. If you don't believe me, walk up the stairs in a super slow manner. See how much explosive strength you gained? The answer is none.

 

[seriousstrength]

I'm definitely not a fan of super slow weight training. SS training can be beneficial if you have some sort of injury and you're trying to rehab a body part, but for strength gains, ss training is counter productive. If you want to gain strength, quick concentric movements are much more beneficial than super slow concentric. Slow is good for the eccentric (pronounced eeh-centric, not ex-centric) portion or the negative because it helps you avoid bouncing and bad form, but concentric contractions should be done quickly. If you don't believe me, walk up the stairs in a super slow manner. See how much explosive strength you gained? The answer is none.

This statement is quite misleading. Slow weight training when done correctly is very intense and builds strength to a great degree. Quick concentric movements can only be done if the weight used is light. You cannot lift heavy weights for purposes of building muscle, quickly.

EX: If you do a set of barbell biceps curls with 100 pounds in a 1 second up 3 seconds down count and fatigue completely in 40 seconds you'll do 10 reps. If you want to fatigue in that same 40 seconds using a slow rep speed you need to make the weight 30% heavier.

Try it and see which set blasts your arms better. Then try this with legs.

Training fast to be fast has no physiological basis. It's a misconception.

 

[Kenny022593]

This statement is quite misleading. Slow weight training when done correctly is very intense and builds strength to a great degree. Quick concentric movements can only be done if the weight used is light. You cannot lift heavy weights for purposes of building muscle, quickly.

EX: If you do a set of barbell biceps curls with 100 pounds in a 1 second up 3 seconds down count and fatigue completely in 40 seconds you'll do 10 reps. If you want to fatigue in that same 40 seconds using a slow rep speed you need to make the weight 30% heavier.

Try it and see which set blasts your arms better. Then try this with legs.

Training fast to be fast has no physiological basis. It's a misconception.

you obviously dont know about rickson do you?

 

[seriousstrength]

you obviously dont know about rickson do you?

No I don't. But the photo of the late, great Bruce Lee tells me something.

 

[r2473]

Back in 2000, I did the Body for Life program. Man, this program worked well. I almost had a 4 pack. That program was so intense that I was sore all the time when I played tennis. I did Body for Life for 8 weeks and lost 28 lbs. From 226 lbs to 196. I was amazed. But I just don't think that I can maintain that type of intensity for the rest of my life.

Why not just do what you did before? After losing the 28 lbs. (I hope that is fat loss and not muscle loss), just eat and exercise sensibly.

 

[Rickson]

Thanks for the intro, Kenny. I definitely think that super slow training is a waste of time for most people, but it can have its place with some rehab patients and the elderly.

article on super slow training

 

[netman]

It really is very simple. Calories burned greater than calories consumed = weight loss.

A neat trick I learned is to use meal replacement shakes. Keep a big container of pure whey protein around (Whole Foods has some of the cleanest you can get). When you get hungry, shake some whey protein and water and drink up. If you have to munch, keep lots of crisp veggies already cut up and easy to grab. A real wonder food is Kimchee, but not everyone can stomach it. The Mat Kimchee, which is made with cabbage, will fill you up and provide a nice dose of probiotics and spice.

 

[Rickson]

Don't forget the rice!

 

[cncretecwbo]

when you lift weights, you strengthen them in the fashion that you lift. If you lift HEAVY weights, your body will adapt to produce as much force as possible. If you life explosively, your body will adapt to be as explosive as possible, If do only the "up" portion of a squat, your starting strength will increase, but your reactive strength wont improve as much.

similarly, if you lift very slowly, you wont get as great power or explosive gains because you wont be teaching your body to work in that fashion.

it can help, though, if you have weak portion of a certain lift and want to improve that part.

also, super slow lifting cant tax the CNS sometimes much more than other lifting so its easy to overtrain.

 

[Rickson]

Good post, concrete. Super slow will definitely hinder progress of explosive movements although super slow has been shown to be effective for new, elderly trainees. If you're used to hitting the weights, super slow training is not for you. If you're over 50 and have never touched a weight before, super slow can give you a beginning routine, but it's just for the learning stage.

 

[Kenny022593]

Thanks for the intro, Kenny. I definitely think that super slow training is a waste of time for most people, but it can have its place with some rehab patients and the elderly.

article on super slow training

haha your welcome i took alot of your advice from reading these threads

 

[JSE]

Check out Weight Watchers. I lost 67 pounds in about 6 months with them. I did not go the "point" system route but instead used the "Core" system. You basically cut out white rice, enriched white flour, sugar, cheese, butter, oil (olive oil is ok in moderation) and fried foods and fatty meats

I just switched to whole grains for bread, brown rice, lean meat like chicken breast, pork loin, sirloin steak, fillet, flank steak, etc. Fried food was my biggest change. Just cutting that out helped tremendously.