Lovin' It Low Carb

Slow Burn Update: 2 Weeks and 4 Workouts Later…

 

 

 

The Slow Burn Fitness Revolution:
The Slow Motion Exercise That Will
Change Your Body in 30 Minutes a Week

by Fred Hahn, Dr. Michael Eades
and Dr. Mary Dan Eades

 

 

 

The main idea behind SLOW BURN is to move slowly enough that your muscles do all the work, unaided by gravity or momentum. The second principle is to work each muscle group to complete fatigue in 3-6 slow motion reps within a window of about 60-90 seconds.

None of the exercises are new apart from the slow motion approach. However, some of the lifts have been modified for greater safety or support, or to isolate a muscle group.

My notes on the slow burn technique and my first workout are here.

 

A home slow burn workout consists of

pushups
doorknob squats (using a doorknob to keep your balance)
side lying leg lifts
single leg curls (similar to a bicep curl, but for the hamstring)
side (lateral) shoulder raises
overhead press
single arm back pullups
biceps curls
shoulder shrugs
abdominal crunches
heel raises

I have done four SLOW BURN workouts now, and I can report that I am definitely getting stronger.

Workout #1: Friday, March 19
Workout #2: Tuesday, March 23
Workout #3: Friday, March 26
Workout #4: Tuesday, March 30

 

Here are some highlights of my progress:

Upper Arms and Back
These are my best exercises, the easiest ones for me to get “on form”

I started all the arm lifts with 5-lb weight, because that was the heaviest one I had. Even in my first workout, I knew I was going to need heavier weights right away for a couple of the lifts. So, in my first workout I tended toward 3-4 reps, and reached fatigue in about 75-90 seconds.

For my second workout, I had 10-lb weights. I wasn’t sure if I should increment up to only 8, but I like to workout, so I “went for it” as they say! I couldn’t do the lateral lifts (side shoulder raises) at all with the 10s, so I did that one with the 5s again, and used the 10-lb dumbells for the others, and fatigued at 2-3 reps. Strangely enough, I could do only 2 biceps curls, and pooped out at only 60 seconds. Maybe because that is one of the last ones. Historically biceps curls have been one of my stronger lifts…

My third workout is when some of these lifts really “clicked” for me. I felt the muscles realy work, fatigue and then give up, as I imagined they should be feeling. I used the 10s for all exercises, did 3-4 reps each, and reached failure at about 65-80 seconds pretty much across the board. But I was doing the minimal range of motion on some of the lifts

This morning, during my fourth workout, I was able to gain a lot of height or reach a fuller range of movement in all of these lifts. I did not go much longer, but I was able to do an additional rep on the biceps curls. I worked harder than last time because of the extended distance I was lifting.

Check out my 10-lb weights, with the famous yellow price tag!!

 

Pushups
Down-Only, From the Knees
Pushups is one of my worst exercises for performance, but my form is not too bad.

In each workout, I attempted two pushups, down only:

Workout #1. Failed in 10 seconds
Workout #2. Failed in 20 seconds
Workout #3. Failed in 25 seconds
Workout #4. Failed in 35 seconds

Today, I actually made it almost all the way from up to down on my first pushup!

 

Leg Lifts and Heel Raises

Single Leg Curls have been a little bit of a challenge, due to struggles with my ankle weights. I have them completely loaded up, and they still aren’t heavy enough to drive my muscles to failure. I thought I could wear both cuffs on one ankle, but my leg is too thin to couple them together, and too fat to wear both cuffs, stapped on separately. I have gone about 2 minutes each time with these, and had some success working the muscles to fatigue, but I really need to find a way to get more weight on my ankles.

Today, I managed to combine my weights to get 8 pounds on each ankle. With 8 lbs, I did 4 reps and failed in 75 seconds. Progress, I think! When I get a chance I’m going to buy something to solve this.

Side Lying Leg Lifts is another one like pushups. I think my form is maybe a 4 on a scale of 1 to 5, but my strength is more like a 2. During workout #3, I felt I “clicked” in a little on this one, too. I was able to lift my legs a little higher than before. I “felt the burn,” and felt the muscles fail. So, I just have to keep up my form and build up strength, even if slowly.

Today in workout #4, I gained a little more height on my leg lifts, though I still failed in only 75 seconds, (60 on the second leg). This one is really a hard lift for me, my muscles are so weak! But I am improving each time.

Heel Raises were very easy for me from the start. Formwise, not strengthwise. I did these in physical therapy after foot surgery. But that was a long time ago… so my calf muscles are just as weak and useless as the other muscles I have been describing… For the first three workouts, I started on the floor.

For workout #4, I added the towel under my feet to increase the range of motion, and I seemed to get a better workout this way.

 

Squats and Ab Crunches
by far my worst exercises, my strength is so low that I cannot even seem to get the form right for even one rep

Squats
By my third workout, I did get the form marginally right. I will keep working on this. I “felt the burn” on in my second workout, but my “squat” muscles are definitely getting stronger. Before too much longer, I’ll be able to do them properly, and build even more strength! Today I did one good squat, down and then up! I couldn’t do a second one, but I did finally do ONE GOOD ONE.

Ab Crunches
By my third workout, I could crunch my abs and breathe at the same time, and focused hard on the muscles I was working. I’m not sure I really acheived a good burn, but I fatigued my abs more than I was able to on my first two workouts. So, I have seen improvement in only two weeks.

This one, I couldn’t do at all today. I admit that I gave up too quickly on this one. I didn’t sleep well, and just couldn’t make myself do it.

Is it Working?
My opinion is that slow burn is making me stronger than other exercise programs I have done, and it’s doing it faster. I admit that this is a subjective assessment. I have no documentation to show how much strength I failed to gain on other exercise programs, or anything like that. I am also in the worst shape of my life, so weak and out of shape, that literally any strength training that does not injure me should be able to make me stronger.

When I was in physical therapy after my foot surgeries, I had to re-learn how to shift weight between my feet, as I started walking again. It has been very hard for me to shift my weight and balance since my foot injury. To watch me, I usually look like I am half stumbling — especially when I’m walking through narrow spaces (or on a cruise ship!). Doing just two weeks of slow burn has made me feel like I am starting to regain some of that walking ability I lost in that injury and the subesequent surgeries. I am able to balance better as I shift my weight, and I feel less “stumbly.”

I’ll keep you posted…

 

If you would like to see slow burn in motion, watch Fred Hahn’s 7-year old daughter doing a slow burn lift:

 

For more information about Slow Burn Fitness
Check out Fred Hahn’s Serious Strength websites:
Slow Burn Fitness
Serious Strength

from my blogs:
my first slow burn workout: Slow Burn Fitness
book review: The Slow Burn Fitness Revolution
video review: The Slow Burn Home Fitness Program DVDs

Both the book and the DVDs are available at Amazon:
The Slow Burn Fitness Revolution: The Slow Motion Exercise That Will Change Your Body in 30 Minutes a Week
by Fred Hahn, Dr. Michael Eades, Dr. Mary Dan Eades
The Slow Burn Home Fitness Program
produced by Serious Strength

 

Lovin’ It Low Carb
Ramona Denton