Fitness

How fast should I lift weights?

Some people say to push weights fast, others say to take it slowly. What should I be doing to build bigger muscles?
Michael Price, West Sussex

Jason Anderson replies: You need to train slowly to develop bigger muscles. It allows you to maintain constant tension throughout the movement, which increases fatigue and stimulates subsequent muscle growth. That said, as your workouts progress you need to increase the speed of your exercise to improve all-round performance because outside of the gym we move relatively fast. So if you want to look good and function more effectively you should do a combination of the two.

To control the weights at speed, you must gradually reduce the weight and increase the speed of contraction. Try doing a muscle-building day, controlling heavy weights at slow speed, followed by a speed day when you control lighter weights at faster speeds. You can also combine the two types of training. For instance, do your normal bench press (eight to 12 reps, one minute's rest) to build muscle and then do some clap press-ups to add an element of power (three sets of six to ten reps, two to three minutes' rest).