hi everybody,
have you ever heard of Slow Burn work out? A book explaining the method was just released here and it's the workout used by the italian zoner who write in the italian forum.
It is a method that recommands heavy weights to lift using or not machines for few repetitions up to ehaust the muscles. You don't have to be able to lift the weight any more at your last repetition. It just lasts 30 minutes a week.
bye

YES, I have heard of it. It has been around a while, at least in USA.
We have a copy of a book, some where. When I find it, I'll post.

Found it:
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" Power of 10 - The once-a-week slow motion fitness revolution by Adam Zickerman and Bill Schley" (copyright 2003)
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There is a nutrition chapter in this book; however, it is general:
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Begin QUOTE:
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" Power of 10 nutrition is based on the following two ideas plus a single rule. ... trade the fat-making foods --- sugar filled soda pop, nachos, super-sized fries, and monster cookies --- for healthy muscle and cell making foods like delicious healthy proteins, healthy fats, whole foods, and fiber. Second, a nutrition philosophy must be simple to follow, give the least sense of sacrifice, and allow real flexibility. ... That's the two big ideas, now here;s the rule: never diet.
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It goes on to talk about sugar and to some extent flour as culprits.
Then it provides a 30 second version- before providing additional details.
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30 Second version - Power of 10 Nutrition:
* Sugar is a poison, don't eat it.
* All starchy "white things" (flour, potatoes) equals sugar.
* All junk food snacks are made of 1 and 2 above.
* Eat lean protein with every meal/snack.
* Eat plenty of green leafy vegetables.
* Include (via vegetables and fruits) 20-25g of fiber every day.
* Eat good fats, especially Olive oil.
* Eat 6 times per day.
* Balance every meal.
* Drink 2 to 4 quarts of water, daily.
* Flexibility, cheat for one whole day each week.
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"
END Quote
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Although the book is mainly on a type of exercise routine, as with most exercise books - it includes a nutrition/eating plan. I included the summary of its nutrition plan to verify that the ZONE indeed does fit very well into this "slow Burn" exercise methodology.
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Hope that is helpful.

Thank you John,
I skipped the part about nutrition in the book as I was not interested in it. In the italian forum they have been talking about this workout for a long time. The Doctor who manages the site is a fan of this method and I bought the book. It is not as fun as crossfit is in my opinion and for a person who is used to sweat andfeel axhausted in a workout routine as I am maybe is a bit of a revolution, but I am giving it a try. I still do my usual training but I added it twice a week, let's see if I'll transform imyself in a definite athlete.

Sounds interesting, I will look into the details further but it sounds similar to the Max Effort days. In CrossFit you should be seeing days that are a strength day or heavy day. Once you have learned lifts you should be trying to find what your 1 rep maximum is or your 3 rep or 5 rep.

The workout may look something like this. I have a 395# 1 rep deadlift personal record. I want to do 5 sets of 3 reps to find my 3 rep max. After doing a warm up and then simulating the movement with little to no weight I would then do my first set of 3 maybe 200#, then progess up adding 20-30 lbs each time and resting 3-8 minutes between sets. By the 4th set I would be very near my maximum weight I can handle for 3 consecutive reps. If you increased too much and can't get 3, you drop the weight down and finish the last set.

So here are my real numbers. 205# x3, 245# x3, 275# x3, 315# x2F, 295# x3 PR.

Here are my notes from that workout and what my plan will be next time. 205 felt light, 275 felt ok, 315 took a lot out of me, the 3rd rep came off the ground but I couldn't finish it. Next time I will be shooting for a 305# on the 4th set. Probably go 225, 225, 285, 305, ???.

Depending on how I feel if I hit 305 I may or may not do the 5th set. I usually will not let my athletes do another set once they have broken a PR. If they are new lifters this doesn't apply so much because their technique and strength are ever increasing at a rapid rate so they will be setting PR's almost everytime they go heavy for them.

That is the long winded version of a CrossFit slow day. If you are doing CrossFit you should be seeing days like this from time to time.

I will look for the Power of 10. I believe I may have looked it over once but didn't dig deeper. There are so many lifting programs out there and they all have pros & cons. It really depends on your goals and needs.

Matt

I really have problems with numbers. I get lost when it comes to calculate or just even read the number of weight you lift, or I lift. I am trying this slow burn following the workout explained in the book but also adding new exercises as I read it is possible, always respecting the maximum weight I can lift and the very slow time of doing the movement.
sometimes I think I don't want to get confused. I have been an enthusiast of crossfit and I enjoyed looking up to the exercises and finding the way to scale them to make them possible for me. Now this new thecnique of using machines again in the gym. I love experimenting; I just hope not to make a mess...

I am also trying to slow down. I mean, I train a lot and hard and maybe also strong, feeling guilty when I do not exercise for a day. Maybe this new philosophy of workin out will do me good, teaching me that I can also train just for half an hour and that it will me do good. I hope...

I did a bit of Starting Strength in July and August of '09 and dropped out of the Zone a bit to add a ton of other food to keep up with my calorific expenditure. Well, long story short I couldn't. I was working out only 3 days a week, doing 3 lifts each day. No matter how much I ate, glasses of milk I drank, even bad foods, I actually lost a bit of weight, despite noticing an increase in my leg size and strength. A workout based on doing strong lifts can definitely help with weight loss, but be careful: If you don't eat enough calories / protein to keep up with your demands, you'll actually lose muscle mass, and maybe not so much fat. Furthermore, this type of exercise won't help you cardiovascularly, so you might become stronger, but you'll get winded sooner. This is why CrossFit is so good in this respect as it builds your strength at the same time it increases your endurance.

Diego

Maybe I am a bit confused but what you are talking about sounds like a pseudo H.I.T method of training popularized by Jones and Darden. I think before doing anything you may want to first state your goals to see if this program fits in with what you want to accomplish. I will assume you are speaking of H.I.T. type of training.

Does it work for hypertrophy? Sure does, however the cns can only handle so much before you need a break. Example; bech press-when I got really strong years ago I did this:

1 set of becnh press

straight set of 4-5 reps-tut-2/4
then 3 or so forced reps-tut-2/4
rack the weight for 5-10 seconds (long enough for partners to add 6 10 pound plates a side)
The do 5 second negatives-when I couldn't do negatives for more than 3 seconds I would have a 10 on each side stripped until all 10's were gone

Move to the power rack-isometric holds with an empty bar
10 sets of 7 seconds each with a 15 second break between sets

Trained each bodypart once every 10-12 days

I got extremely big and strong doing this but I also got injured a lot.

Now this a bit extreme, but eseeentially works under the same premise of H.I.T. in that it is extremely brief but to complete and utter failure; not sure if that is the same for you.