Embracing the Slow Burn
Strength training has done wonders for my hiking! Washington Park, Anacortes, WA
When thinking about strength training in conjunction with Alexander Technique, I am usually focusing on only working the muscles that are intended to be worked. For example, not getting the neck involved in bicep curls, or not arching the lower back when doing overhead press. It’s easy to over-involve other body parts if your only goal is to sling the weights around, and staying aware of good use is tricky when working out isn’t your favorite thing and you just want to be done with it. However, if you are comfortable with mindfully multitasking your way through your workout and would like a new challenge, I have just the thing.
I have been working out with Coach Jessica Sprenkel since 2019, and have been able to continue on Zoom since we moved. She currently has us on a 6-week cycle of circuit training and weeks 1-3 are set up to use the same weight for increasing numbers of repetitions each week (8, 10, and 12 reps). Weeks 5-6 reduce the reps but increase the weight. And Week 4 is tempo week - deliberately slowing down the lowering or lengthening part of the move and keeping the lifting/contracting part at the normal speed. Jessica was kind enough to help me dig deeper about why she uses tempo workouts and why they are so effective!
There are different tempo variations out there but Coach Sprenkel has settled on 3:1 - in, say, a regular squat move, you would go down into the squat and come up out of it at about a 1:1 ratio, so both parts of the move happen at the same speed. With 3:1, you count 1-2-3 on the way down and then come up in a count of 1. So “down-2-3-up, down-2-3-up”. Why slow down in that part of the move? Sprenkel says, “It allows for isolated muscle work and increases time under tension. It's time under tension that contributes the most to muscle growth, and is more important in the eccentric [lowering] phase of the movement than the concentric [lifting].”
I also wondered about the timing of the tempo week - why week 4 instead of earlier or later? “Using it at the four week mark of a cycle gives 3 weeks of getting used to the movements without adding that extra think piece of tempo” (Mindful multitasking again!) “We try to only change one progressive overload each week…So we increase reps for the first three weeks…Then in the fifth week we keep reps low, go back to 1:1 tempo and suggest an increase in weight. In week 6 we encourage staying at the new higher weight and adding 2 reps.”
Having been in more than a few gyms where people celebrated the end of their circuits by throwing the weights on the floor, I’m already a big fan of anything that would encourage thoughtfulness in the weight room. I did a very quick Google search and it looks like there are some definite benefits to slower workouts:
Study with men and women aged 65+
However, I saw some comments about participants having a hard time sticking to the slower workouts, and Sprenkel agrees, saying that “I find most people don't love tempo work - too much thought / effort”. So, here, finally, is the chance for Alexander Technique teachers and students to make a name for ourselves! We are used to thinking in action and paying close attention to our movements; let’s embrace the slow tempo workout and astonish everyone with our amazing strength AND our ability to stay thoughtful all the way through.
Hiking photos are more pleasant to look at than photos of the gym. Snow Canyon State Park, Utah
