If you're new to lifting and do squats slowly on the way down (4 seconds instead of 1), your front thigh muscle gets bigger faster after 7 weeks.

54

Pro

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Against

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

54

Community contributions welcome

54

The effects of eccentric phase tempo in squats on hypertrophy, strength, and contractile properties of the quadriceps femoris muscle

Randomized Controlled Trial

Human

2024

The study had two groups of people who had never lifted weights before do squats for 7 weeks — one group lowered the bar slowly (4 seconds), the other quickly (1 second). The slow-lowering group ended up with bigger thigh muscles, especially in the part called the vastus lateralis, proving that going slow on the way down helps muscles grow more.

Contradicting (0)

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No contradicting evidence found

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According to GRADE and EBM methodology, here is what ideal scientific evidence would look like to definitively prove or disprove this specific claim, ordered from strongest to weakest evidence.

Source Study

The effects of eccentric phase tempo in squats on hypertrophy, strength, and contractile properties of the quadriceps femoris muscle

Score: 54

DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2024.1531926

Similar Assertions

If you're a young adult who hasn't trained much before, doing squats slowly on the way down (4 seconds) for 7 weeks will make your front thigh muscle grow more than doing it quickly (1 second).

54

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If you're a young adult who hasn't trained before and you do squats with either a slow (4-second) or fast (1-second) lowering phase for 7 weeks, your thigh muscles will grow about the same amount either way.

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If you're a young adult who hasn't trained much before, doing squats slowly (4 seconds) or quickly (1 second) on the way down for 7 weeks will make your thigh muscles grow about the same amount — so how slow or fast you lower yourself doesn't really matter as long as you do the same total work.

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If you're new to lifting and do squats slowly on the way down (4 seconds) instead of quickly (1 second) for 7 weeks, you'll likely get stronger faster — at least according to this study.

54

0

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If you're new to lifting and do squats slowly on the way down (4 seconds) for 7 weeks, you'll get stronger than if you do it quickly (1 second)—slowing down the downward part might help your muscles and nerves adapt better to lift heavier weights.

54

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83%