Along the line of approaching exercise and fitness from differing angles is the concept of lifting weights slowly. It’s good to vary swimming, cycling and running so we don’t get in a rut and develop overuse injuries. It is also good to vary our weightlifting.
Weightlifting for older athletes, triathletes and for most people could be diagnostic and rehabilitative. Weightlifting doesn’t have to be about adding muscle that is hard to carry and move. There are many weightlifters that would find it difficult to stay with sixty year old triathletes for more than fifteen minutes on a run. The benefit that you could seek from weightlifting is similar to the benefit that a physical therapist seeks for a patient: strengthen the weak and injured muscles.
The most common approach is lifting a weight with a high number of repetitions, usually more than eight repetitions.
Noticing how you breathe while lifting the weight is worthwhile. Some favor breathing only on the lift. I like to breathe or inhale on the lift and on the descent to notice the opposing muscles for a greater understanding of where my strength and weaknesses are.
Working muscles from differing angles has value. The back muscles can be worked by pulling the weights towards your back from angles that are low to the the floor, higher above you and straight towards your back in a rowing motion.
Lifting a light weight slowly is diagnostic and rehabilitative. Instead of lifting the weight eight or sixteen times in the period of one minute, try lifting the weight two or four times by slowly lifting and then slowly releasing the weight throughout that one minute. Rather than fast, jerking motions up and down change it to two to four slow motion lifts.
The amount of time you spend lifting will be the same. The difference you will feel is in the strength of a muscle throughout the lift. You might notice that a muscle is not equally strong throughout the duration of a lift. Perhaps that is a weakness that you could work on to gain more strength or avoid an injury.
As a runner and a cyclist, the hamstring muscles are particularly susceptible to weaknesses in more than one area of the hamstring because it is such a long muscle. Going slowly with a weight that you could lift eight or sixteen times yet lifting that same weight just two or four times reveals where in your hamstring you have a weakness to rehab. Try this approach on all muscles, even the small ones.
To vary your weightlifting, lift slowly, diagnostically and therapeutically on a regular basis. Do it at least once a month. Once a week or every other week works too if you are healthy. When injured, you will be lifting this way with light weights as low as five pounds or lower while rehabbing an injury.
