Explosive.

So says a new study published this month in the International Journal of Sports Medicine. It was only a short (three week) study involving twelve participants, but it is not the first time that a faster rep speed has been shown to be superior to a slower rep speed.

In the study the participants were split into two groups of ten with different speeds of pushing on the bench press. They benched bi-weekly for the study, and thankfully they were already resistance-trained to avoid any conflicting “newbie” gains.

Over the three weeks those that benched fast saw more noticeable improves in strength. If strength progression is your aim, and it really should be for the majority of you reading this, then faster lifting should be a standard for your big lifts, not just on the bench.

The more effort you give the more muscle fibers are recruited and the larger the response to the training stimulus. Get stronger, get bigger, be diesel etc.

If this interests you then be sure to read about it in much more detail in the “Workout Dynamics” articles: Load, Tension and Speed and “Rep-centrics”.

Source: Padulo J, Mignogna P, Mignardi S, Tonni F, D'Ottavio S. Effect of Different Pushing Speeds on Bench Press. Int J Sports Med. 2012 Feb 8.