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Sitting at a computer for most of the day, I’m constantly fighting to keep my weight at a reasonable level.  At the beginning of February, I started my yearly ritual of shedding the holiday pounds.  I threw myself into the Metabolic Diet, and started lifting weights in the morning.  I was making a dent in my weight loss, dropping 20 pounds in two months.  I also increased my bench press and deadlift by 25 pounds, and I felt like I had made real progress.

Then, disaster struck: I hurt my wrist at the end of March.  I tried resting it, which showed no improvement.  So, I cranked it up, and started lifting again.  Another mistake.  I laid off the weights for a couple more weeks, but stuck to my diet.  Then, I reached back for something from my past: the SuperSlow Method.

Originally developed as a rehabilitation protocol, the SuperSlow principle seeks to take velocity out of the exercise.  Weights are lifted for a count of ten seconds, and lowered at the same count.  The goal is to keep the muscle under tension for 100 seconds.  This is accomplished in five repetitions, or reps.  The weight used is one half of your one rep maximum.

For example, if my one rep max for the bench press is 250 pounds, I’d load only 125 pounds onto the bar.  I’d unrack the barbell, and lower the weight for 10 seconds.  Once I’d reach the bottom of the lift, at the count of ten, I would push the bar up for another count of ten.  I’d repeat the sequence four more times, counting to 100 in the process.  The slow speed gives you excellent control over your form, and minimizes any potential for injury.

I can happily report that I’m back to lifting weights again.  Even though I’m using only half of the amount that I’d normally lift, I can tell that I’m making progress, all without taxing my wrist too much.  It still hurts occasionally, but not to the degree that I can’t lift weights.  I’d recommend trying SuperSlow, if not for rehab, then for a change of pace to your exercise regimen.

If you’re interested, check out these links:

SuperSlow website: SuperSlow Zone

Metabolic Diet website: MD+

Follow me on Twitter: CorpBarbarian

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