“Versus” is in quotes in the title here because there is really not any competition or basis for comparison between these two things.

FastFit is a technology, or a tool. Fast Fit can perform any possible resistance training protocol.

SuperSlow is one of those protocols, and can be performed with a wide variety of tools.

So FastFit and SuperSlow are not in the same category, which means they are not really at odds with each other.

Nevertheless, I get many questions along the lines of, “Is FastFit better than SuperSlow?” or “How is FastFit different from SuperSlow?”

So here’s a bit of clarity!

When SuperSlow is Your Protocol of Choice

If you have made the determination that SuperSlow is the protocol you’d like to perform, you have several options regarding the tool that you’re going to use.

On one hand you can use free weights. You can also use a weight-stack or plate-loaded machine that varies the resistance through the range of motion. Popular tools in that category are Nautilus, Hammer Strength, MedX, SuperSlow Systems, and others. They all have their pros and cons.

FastFit is yet another tool you can use to perform a SuperSlow protocol, and there are several reasons that FastFit is the best tool for this purpose.

So “FastFit vs. SuperSlow” is a bit of a misnomer. FastFit vs. Nautilus vs. MedX etc. etc. is a more accurate comparison. From here on out, the free weights and weight-stack (or plate-loaded) machines will be referred to as “gravity-based” forms of resistance—since they all depend on gravity—and FastFit will be referred to as “responsive” resistance—since it responds in real-time to the user automatically.

Why is FastFit the Best Tool for Performing The SuperSlow Protocol?

1. Matched Resistance

The first reason that FastFit is the best tool to use for SuperSlow is that FastFit is the only available tool that provides perfectly-matched resistance against which to contract the muscles. To begin with, our potential strength changes in three primary ways during a set of exercise:

• At each different joint angle: we are stronger at some points in the range of motion than others. Throughout any range of motion, we experience leverage advantages and leverage disadvantages. As well, inside the muscles, we experience varying degrees of muscle fiber overlap that results in “insufficiencies,” with the greatest force output being seen in the middle of the muscle’s range of motion, the position of “maximum fiber overlap.”
• In each of the two phases of motion: every repetition involves a concentric action (when the muscle shortens under tension) and an eccentric action (when the muscle lengthens under tension). We are far stronger in the eccentric phase of motion. E.g. we can control the descent of a far heavier weight than we could have lifted in the first place.
• From the beginning of a set to the end of the set: we are always capable of greater force production at the beginning of a set before fatigue sets in. Our strength is then reduced as fatigue accumulates.

If a strength training tool fails to accommodate any of these three factors, there exists a mismatch between the user and the tool that introduces problems of inefficiency or injury risk. In SuperSlow, safety is key and the primary goal is deep, rapid levels of muscular fatigue, or “inroad.” A failure to match the user’s strength curve is an impediment to both.

We’ll address gravity-based resistance vs. responsive resistance point by point.

Different joint angles: some well-designed gravity-based machines vary the resistance through a range of motion using a cam (non-circular pulley), a four-bar linkage system, or other mechanical means of altering the leverage.

This is better than a free weight, but still does not match the user perfectly. My strength curve is unique — as is yours — due to limb lengths, muscle pennation angles, and tendon insertion points, and while strength curves follow the same general pattern, a gravity-based mechanism can never match everyone perfectly.

As well, even if it were perfect for some hypothetical user, it becomes obsolete after just one repetition. We know that our eccentric strength fatigues at a slower rate than our concentric strength. So the relationship between the two is ever-changing due to fatigue, repetition by repetition.

The cam you’ve used to “perfectly” match this user is now mismatched. Also, our strength curves change over time, becoming steeper as we gain strength. Some have invented adjustable cams to accommodate this, but while it is an improvement, it is still a guessing game prone to human error.

FastFit, on the other hand, instantly applies the perfect amount of force to the user in response to the user’s output. The user’s unique strength curve is accommodated perfectly every time and always, regardless of limb length, muscle insertions, training status, strength curve shape changes over time, rate of fatigue, or any other factor. Smart!

Concentric vs. Eccentric: No matter how good of a cam you have in your well-designed machine, gravity-based resistance still applies the same resistance on the way up as it does on the way down (in the case of variable resistance, it’s the same pattern in reverse on the way down).

This results in “underloaded” negatives on every rep. And even if you devise a mechanism to increase the resistance in the eccentric, by how much are you increasing it?

Did you know that different people have different variations in their concentric/eccentric strength ratio?

And that that ratio changes each repetition as fatigue sets in?

How can you accommodate all those different people?

Again, responsive resistance is the answer. It provides perfectly-matched resistance in both directions, so that the user is no longer underloaded on the way down in the eccentric. This results in far greater levels of tension, inroad, and muscle damage in complete safety.

From the Beginning to the End of a Set: If you choose a weight that properly loads you (that is, the resistance perfectly matches your existing level of strength), that’s called a one-rep max, and it’s over very quickly. One of the principles of SuperSlow, though, is that there are desirable adaptations that require constant tension on the target muscles for 60–120 seconds (roughly).

So what do you do? You compromise by purposely choosing a sub-maximal weight, not because it’s more effective, but because if you didn’t, your set would be over too quickly.

The only time you’re properly loaded (the resistance perfectly matches your existing level of strength) is right at the end, when you reach momentary muscular failure.

The problem is that you have to perform 60–120 seconds of foreplay just to get to that point, and during that foreplay you’re under-loading the muscles, which is inefficient.

It’s the best you can do with a gravity-based resistance, true, but inefficient nonetheless.

Responsive resistance gives you the intensity of the “failure” moment right away—from the very first rep, and then allows you to continue, perfectly matching your increasing levels of fatigue and never under-loading the target musculature. This means that 100% voluntary intensity is always possible, which allows you to produce the deepest-possible, fastest-possible inroading of which you are capable.

So that’s the first reason FastFit is the best tool available for the performance of a SuperSlow protocol: it provides perfectly-matched resistance to every person, every time, no matter what. Gravity-based tools, well-designed as they may be, fail to accommodate the user’s changing strength throughout a set of exercise.

All the goals of a SuperSlow workout are achieved more effectively, more safely, and more efficiently when the resistance perfectly matches the user’s momentary level of strength.

2. Safety vs. Effectiveness

SuperSlow is far, far safer than other alternative resistance training protocols. Moving slow, on purpose, eliminates the largest cause of injury from exercise.

There’s a problem though: in order to move more slowly and receive that safety benefit, you must reduce the weight that you’re using for the exercise. You must under-load the muscles to such a degree that you can smoothly control the weight at all times.

In resistance training, mechanical tension is King. It leads to all the downstream effects we’re after.

The greater the tension, the greater the rate of fatigue, the greater the metabolic stress, the greater the degree of inroading, and the greater the damage to the muscle fibers. In fact, that’s the entire reason SuperSlow seeks to increase the weight you’re using over weeks and months: heavier weights place greater demands on the muscles.

So on one hand you want the heaviest weights possible

BUT

Heavier weights make the exercise less safe even as it becomes more effective

AND

It can’t be so heavy that your set is over too quickly.

So what is one to do? Well, you compromise.

You diminish the effectiveness of the workout (reduce the weight) in the name of safety, which is exactly the right choice. When your only tool is a gravity-based weight, it’s the smart thing to do, and a tolerable trade-off.

But what if you could get maximal amounts of tension—which, again, is King in resistance training—without moving quickly, explosively, or rapidly? What if you could move at the same safe, controlled pace while exerting with 100% maximal voluntary intensity?

With gravity-based tools you have to under-load yourself on purpose. With FastFit you are free to exert at maximum, right away, in complete safety.

With gravity-based tools you only work “as hard as possible” right at the end of a set when you hit muscular failure. You never get to produce maximal amounts of force though, because by the time you’re working “as hard as possible” you’ve fatigued yourself to the point where you’re well below your starting level of strength.

With FastFit, you work “as hard as possible” right from the beginning and the whole time. You get to produce maximal amounts of force while also reaching deeper, more meaningful levels of inroad by the time the set is over.

So with FastFit, there is no compromise. You get maximum tension, maximum muscle damage, and maximum levels of metabolic stress and inroad, in complete safety, automatically, every time.

Smart!

Checking All My Boxes

I am SuperSlow certified myself, and I just thought I’d share all of the hassles/headaches that are solved now that I use FastFit instead of gravity-based equipment:

• No manila folders, clipboards, trip counters, or stopwatches. All of the clients’ data is saved in the FastFit software automatically.
• No more coaching turnarounds, speed, or counting backwards from 10. The range and speed of motion are pre-set, and cannot possibly be performed incorrectly.
• No chatting during the first 60 seconds of a set. In order to reach a 120-second time under load, the weight has to be so low that the client does not have to produce much effort or focus at first, and would often try to engage me in conversation when they should have been focusing on the target muscles. The fact that FastFit permits maximal effort instantly from the first second—and the fact that the software has you competing against last week’s performance—commands the focus and best efforts of the client instantly.
• No setting up all those machines. There are only two FastFit machines, and an entire SuperSlow workout can often be done from just one of them. There is minimal setup involved in switching exercises.
• Greater effectiveness now that the client is never underloaded; there is no more doubt that “it’s working.”
• No more guessing at weight selection. When it’s time to increase the weight, why is 5% the standard recommendation? Why not 6.3%? What about 11%? How do you know the client is not actually a bit weaker this week due to life stress or lack of sleep? With FastFit, the resistance is completely up to the client. They are not overwhelmed by an ambitious trainer, nor are they robbed of work they could have done by an overly-cautious one.
• Instead of showing a client an indecipherable chart of numbers, I get to show them pictures in the FastFit software of their long-term progress, with % change clearly marked and numbers clearly crunched.

Bringing It Home

SuperSlow is a highly-effective, super-efficient resistance training protocol that prioritizes safety and deep levels of fatigue to place a demand on the body which then produces highly-desirable metabolic and muscular adaptations.

The reasons FastFit is the best tool for the application of the SuperSlow protocol are:

• Perfectly-matched resistance
• Safety without compromise
• Deeper levels of inroad
• Greater levels of mechanical tension
• Greater amounts of muscle damage
• Far more convenient, with far less setup and guessing involved
• More precise data tracking
• Real-time biofeedback to improve client focus

And there you have it! If SuperSlow is your protocol of choice, then FastFit is the tool that you should be using.

We’re not sure what’s in second, but it’s not close!

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Originally published by Jim Keen, Director of Education, on Medium.com