Slow and Heavy: Chest and Back

Cathe Friedrich
Year Released: 2001

Categories: Circuit Training (cardio and weights)


I was very excited to try the Slow & Heavy series and I chose to do the larger Chest and Back muscle groups first. It took me a while to get used to the new pace - without thinking, I started out by doing bench presses 2 counts down, 2 counts up until I remembered this is Slow & Heavy! This entire workout was done with dumbbells, which is good because it forces both sides to work evenly, but it also requires that you have a pretty good variety of weights. I have adjustable dumbbells that go from about 8 to 18 lbs plus regular dumbbells in 3, 5, and 8 lbs. That was fine for this workout but I may need to get additional plate weights when my strength increases. The basic format of the workout is 3 sets of 8 slow reps (2 down, 6 up) with a 1-2 minute break in between sets. The entire workout is about 60 minutes, and you could easily break it into 2 30-minute workouts of one body part each.

First was the chest work. We do bench presses and flyes, and then repeat that on an incline. Throughout the reps Cathe gives lots of form pointers and she also lets us know when she is dropping her weights when her chest is feeling more fatigued. Then there are 2 optional sets of Slow & Heavy pushups. I felt pretty good so I went ahead and did the pushups, but my second set was on my knees. Because the reps are slow and the breaks are pretty long, I didn't feel much of a burn after doing chest and thought maybe my weights were not heavy enough. However, 12 hours later the soreness started to set in in my pecs. I also felt a bit fatigued in my shoulders.

Next is back. Again, everything is done with dumbbells - rows, pullovers (this works your chest a little too) and deadlifts. For the rows, you keep your arms at the same angle as you pull up rather than collapsing at the elbow. I'm not sure what this is supposed to do but I felt it more in my rear delts. Then Cathe goes on to work your lower back some more with superman (she says you can make it more difficult with ankle and wrist weights, but no one in the video chooses this option!) and planks. There are three sets of planks - face down on your forearms, with straight arms (boy was I shaking during this one because my arms were so tired by this point) and then face up. This last version was a bit hard on my wrists and I couldn't hold the position very long. Cathe suggests choosing one of the other plank positions if you experience wrist pain.

Overall a great workout. It's very different from other strength workouts I have done because it requires concentration to maintain good form and the slow speed. I did not sweat very much and it didn't give me that burning feeling - more like a slight ache and some fatigue. I felt pretty sleepy that day and like I mentioned before, the soreness kicked in by the end of the day. The format of this workout really allows you to work your muscles very thoroughly - the emphasis is on quality, not quantity - and I can tell already that I will be very pleased with the results. The hardest part is making myself take sufficient rest between S&H workouts, because I really look forward to the next one!

Instructor Comments:
What can I say? Cathe just seems to get better every time. Lots of great form pointers and ideas for modifications. Cathe also seemed very human - she let us know when she noticed her form starting to suffer and had to drop to a lower weight - no showing off here! She looks great too. Although this is a very intense workout, Cathe keeps the tone light by making little jokes here and there.

Caroline Kim

08/29/2001