Slow and Heavy results

C

clareMc

Cathlete
Hi:

I have started training with Slow and Heavy as my Summer challenge.

I want to increase my strength. I am finding the pace of these workouts to be excellent, I like the slower pace, and am enjoying challenging myself and have no difficulty focussing on them. I have no idea why I put off trying this series out for so long, what was I afraid of?!?!?!

Can I ask devotees of this series a few quick questions?

1. Did you experience significant soreness with these tapes? More or less than with other routines?

2. What have your results been like? Basically, have you significantly increased mass, or just your strength? Have you had to go buy larger clothing?

3. Did you get those results from working each muscle group once or twice per week with the Slow and Heavies?

4. and finally, did you train for endurance in the same week as the Slow and Heavies, or did you leave that til after the 3 weeks was up? If you did leave it til after the 3 weeks, what then were your results?

While I realize that no 2 bodies are alike and cannot predict mine will respond as yours did/does, I would love feedback on what I might be able to expect! I'm more your tall, lean, ecto type of athletic build type person, so if any of you are too, it would be great to hear of the results you obtained. But I'd love to hear from all body types....

Thank you all so much for the time you may take in letting me pick your brains and I look forward to hearing from you,

Clare :)
 
Hi Clare,

I'm a big fan of the Slow and Heavy series. It's so radically different from the weight work in everything that I always see a little more progress afer a rotation. I'm a classic endo, but here are my answers to your questions:

>1. Did you experience significant soreness with these tapes?
>More or less than with other routines?
>
The upper body soreness wasn't really any different...maybe a little more at first. The legs had less soreness than usual.

>2. What have your results been like? Basically, have you
>significantly increased mass, or just your strength? Have you
>had to go buy larger clothing?
>
I had the best results in my upper body. Biceps and shoulders the most (my biceps totally popped out!! It was way cool!), but triceps, back and chest showed progress too.

I didn't see much change in my legs. In my case, I'm a mogul skier and I've always worked my legs pretty heavy year round. My hubby says I have speed skater quads. :)

I didn't have to buy bigger clothes, but I did gain a couple of pounds during this rotation.

>3. Did you get those results from working each muscle group
>once or twice per week with the Slow and Heavies?
>
>4. and finally, did you train for endurance in the same week
>as the Slow and Heavies, or did you leave that til after the
>3 weeks was up? If you did leave it til after the 3 weeks,
>what then were your results?
>
I did each S&H tape once a week. Some weeks I'd also work in a day of Power Hour. During my last rotation of it (I did four weeks of it in the spring) I kept the cardio to longer, less intense sessions. During this time I was also skiing one or two days a week, and would count that as a cardio day.

One thing I did right after this last rotation was to take a week off from all structured workouts. This was mostly to get through the first part of allergy season. I still skied, however. I found that progress kept happening right through this recovery period...like the muscles took the time off to build. It was very cool.

Hope this helps and good luck with your summer challenge!!
 
Hi Clare!

S&H is one of my favorite series. I did the series this week and was reminded of the great benefits. I did S&H (one tape a day) Sunday through Tuesday with 45-60 minutes cardio each day; Wed. I did IMax2; Thursday PUB plus cardio and today I finished up with PLB. I think I will do one or two more weeks like this and then move back to endurance work. I might try incorporating each S&H tape in twice a week rather than the pyramids. I'm not sure if that would be too much muscle building for me or not, but I guess I'll just have to try it to find out. I’m not sure what body type I am…I think I’m a cross between Rhonda and Brenda from the videos. Not as slim as Rhonda, but taller than Brenda.

Anyway, I completely agree with Gayle. My biceps and triceps are noticeably pumped...its awesome! The upper body work leaves me feeling like jello (especially biceps) and I love it. The leg work is the weakest section for me...probably because I really need heavier weight but can't lift much more than the 50 pounds over my head. But I still love the work out! This series gets me motivated...I even bought my first Muscle Fitness Hers mag a few days ago.
 
Hi Clare,

I am an ecto with long lean limbs. My torso isn't as lean as I'd like it, but after two children, it's a work in progress. My upper body is sort of scrawny and weak, but my lower body is in decent shape.

I love the S&H series. I have done it several different ways, and will answer your questions.

1. Soreness - During the first few rotations of S&H, I experienced heavy DOMS after the first Chest&Back workout of each rotation, but very little from the other two S&H workouts. I am actually doing S&H this week for the first time in a few months, and did not get sore at all. I think it's because I've been doing the Pyramids, and PUB keeps my upper body muscles in condition for the S&H type of work. On the other hand, my legs have NEVER been sore from S&H. I think that gaining strength from slow lower body lifting requires more weight than I can get over my head. I use a 50 lb barbell, and strap two 5 lb ankle weights around my waist, and it isn't very difficult to do all of the reps. I'm fairly happy with my leg muscles and strength, and tend to focus on endurance workouts for legs, anyway.

2. Results - I don't build muscle very easily, but I have gotten slightly more defined in the upper body over time. I can now see my shoulders and biceps, even though they are small! The biggest results I've gotten have been in strength. I was able to use 20 lb dumbbells this morning for the first set of bicep work in S&H, and dropped to 15 pounds for all of the rest of the dumbbell exercises. When S&H first came out, I could barely lift 15 lb dumbbells one time, and had been doing CTX, MIS and PS for ages.

3. Rotation - I've only ever done each S&H body part once a week. I think that any more than that would be too boring for me. I love variety!

4. Endurance Mix/Rotation - First of all, I only did a 3 week S&H rotation ONE time. After doing it the first time, I did Power Hour the following week, and almost died because my endurance level had decreased so much. I then decided to change how I used S&H to get endurance mixed in. Whenever I used S&H, I would alternate S&H weeks with endurance weeks for a total of six weeks, and didn't notice any trouble with my performance in either area. A couple of times, I did a three week rotation of one S&H body part and 30 minutes of cardio a day for 5 days, and then on the sixth day, did a cardio/weight routine such as BootCamp or BodyMax. This summer, I plan to do the M&F 8 week rotation that has been discussed at VF. It has two S&H weeks out of 8. The other 6 weeks are made up of circuit workouts, endurance workouts and superset workouts. I'm trying to lose the bodyfat around my middle, and hope that 8 intense weeks of 90 minute workouts will help!

Good luck!

PennyLaney
 
Hi Clare,

I've just started a S&H rotation, too. I hadn't used this series for quite some time. I'm a petite ecto who finds it very difficult to gain muscle mass. Maribeth, one of our resident experts, advised me to work each body part twice a week - once for strength and once for endurance. I've seen great results combining S&H for strength with CTX UB and LL for endurance. Also, I turn the S&H workouts into pyramids by lifting medium, heavy and as heavy as possible for the three sets.

I have experienced soreness from these workouts, but I understand many don't - probably due to the relatively long rest periods. My soreness has been mostly in the chest and in the upper hamstrings and inner thighs - weak areas for me.

I have seen visible increase in muscle size - particularly biceps and shoulders - and have been able to lift heavier than I can with PUB/PLB.

HTH,

Angela
 
I followed a modified version of Cathe's June rotation. I'd also done a couple of weeks S&H in late April.

1. Less sore than endurance work. Probably because of the 1 min breaks with more stretching.

2. By 3rd week of June rotation, I was certainly stronger. I've actually lost a few pounds & clothes are looser.

3. I did not throw in any endurance work. Just 1 body part per day. My Pilates work includes some resistance work. Usually I did Pilates instead of Cathe ab work.

I do outdoor cardio. A mix of running, cycling & fitness hikes. I don't follow the minimal cardio trend. I didn't find it impaired results.

I was not strict with diet. Life has been quite chaotic & I've actually been doing a lot of stress snacking. I do eat healthfully & buck the high protein trend. So the wt loss is a surprise.

Last, I'm a pear.

Debra
 
Gayle,

thanks for responding, this sounds very promising and I agree, it's pretty cool your muscles taking the rest time to grOW!!!!!

I am inspired to keep on trucking with my challenge

Clare
 
Rachel:

thank you for your reply. You work out a lot!!! I am not sure I can spare the time to do 60 mins cardio and a full SLow and Heavy tape several days per week, but it seems from your post that the long cardio sessions didn't interfere with your muscle building, which is good news. I am combining them with the CTX cardios this week and doing just one body part per day, just to see how it goes because I remembered reading posts where people said they were so tired with the slow and heavy series and I didn't want to overdo it on my first week and then crash!!!

Glad to hear you have been so inspired,

Clare
 
Hey Penny:

I like the way you say your torso is a work in progress! I feel the same after my two children. I think I will be a work in progress now for the rest of my life!

Awesome news that you can now bicep curl 20 pounders!!!! I'm at exactly the same stage as you, it's uncanny. I am comfortable on the 15's now, thanks to the PUB, which has also done wonders for me with improving strength, and I am hoping to get to 20 pounders for biceps after the slow and heavy: maybe it will take more than one rotation of 3 weeks to achieve this? I will have to see.

That is an excellent idea about including the S&H with LL and CTX upper alternating one week heavy, one week endurance for 6 weeks. I may just copy this idea of yours, because I too have been focussing a lot on strength recently and I know my leg endurance has decreased slightly, i.e. power hour would be very nasty right now!!!

Thanks for your help, and keep going with the training, you are getting fabulous results!

CLare
 
Hi Angela:

thanks for responding. I often read your posts in the ectochicks threads, to find out how you are doing and if you are feeling better, I send you my best wishes for continuing improved health.

I like your idea about using these tapes as pyramids. When you do this, for example with chest press or bicep curls, what three weight selections would you typically use? Do you start with the medium and work up or do you start with the heaviest and work down to medium?

I'd love to hear more from you if you care to respond and answer my questions! Thank you in advance!

Clare
 
Debra:

thanks for posting. I am glad to read your comment about minimal cardio not mattering all that much. I love cardio and sometimes a heavy sweat session is just what's required so I am glad I don't have to forsake it for the sake of muscle building!

Take care

Clare
 
Hi Clare,

Thanks for the good wishes on my health. It's an ongoing struggle for me, but I'm feeling pretty well right now. November through March is my "Danger Zone," when I'm most likely to be having problems.

I always pyramid up on S&H. I start with the medium weight, then proceed to the heavy and end with the heaviest. For example, bicep curls might be 8 pounds, 10 pounds and 15 pounds. I try to do eight reps on all three sets, but if I feel like I'm struggling too much on the heaviest round, I may cut back on the reps in the same way you do less on PLB and PUB with the higher weights.

I almost always do the pyramid up premix on PLB and PUB, too. Because muscle strength and size are my priorities, I want to push myself as heavy as possible and that means I usually can't handle the fourth and fifth sets that go back down.

I love what this S&H rotation is doing for my arms and shoulders. Wish my legs would respond as easily. Incidentally, on the front shoulder lifts, I've been using 10 pounds for my heaviest set, which is pretty difficult for me. I found lifting one arm at a time, alternating, helps me work as heavy as possible. I find I can lift heavier with a single arm lift.

Angela
 
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