The idea with muscle growth and strength is to train every type of muscle fiber. The nervous system gets worked when we develop speed because it trains the nervous system to contract the muscle fibers faster and more efficiently. This not only helps develop strength but supports the type of movement needed for most sports activity.
Elite powerlifting coach Louie Simmons has his people incorporate a speed day for deadlifting, squatting and benching. They use submaximal weights for maximum speed. He says it develops a fast rate of force in minimal time. They change the method for these speed days around to develop strength at the beginning of a movement or at the end of a movement.
The idea is to push the weight (or pull it) FAST during the positive part of the movement with little or no resistance on the negative part of the movement. This is counter-intuitive to how you may have trained on traditional bodybuilding programs and takes a few workouts to get used to. I recommend using this technique only once a week.
The interesting part is, not only will this develop strength but according to a study from the Journal of Exercise Science weight training with moderate intensity and explosive contractions produces greater calorie expenditure than high intensity and slow contractions.
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