Paul Rosenberg, MD, Ph.D: Senior Associate in Neurology of Neurology Children's Hospital

Dear Cutting Edge,

I'd like to give you some feedback about my experience at Cutting Edge Fitness. I had been running for years, and then about 17 years ago began to realize that I was losing a lot of upper body strength and muscle mass. To prevent and revers this loss I joined a health club to train using machines. I was given a plan by the trainers at the club, but there never seemed to be much of a rationale for the plan I was given. Then I came across some articles in the New York Times about slow cadence training, and this made sense to me. It was also very appealing because of the promise of substantial return on a small amount of time spent each week training. I emailed Adam Zickerman, a slow-training expert out of New York, about finding a slow cadence trainer in the Boston area, and he referred me to Cutting Edge Fitness.

Now I have been training for about 7.5 years and I continue to be impressed. I started with shoulder and knee pain, and the trainers were very careful and genuinely concerned about not doing anything to aggravate these problems. After several months, there was dramatic improvement in both the shoulder problem and the knee problem. In the beginning we had to limit the range of motion in machines aimed at developing shoulder strength, and now, that isn't necessary. Beyond this, there was the chronic pain in everyday activities that is now gone. With respect to the knee pain, I used to have pain on standing up from a squatting position, but this has now disappeared. This experience makes me think that is is important to maintain and strengthen muscles around joints to protect the joints, and that one reason joint pain develops as one ages is because of loss of muscle mass and the protection of joints provided by muscle.

The experience at Cutting Edge is very different from that in the health club. At Cutting Edge, the time is used efficiently, and of course, there is no waiting for machines. In addition, it is actually a friendlier atmosphere at Cutting Edge, because at the club most people seemed to spend a lot of effort pretending the others in the club did not exist (and often acted as if the others did not exist). Probably this is because most people really would like to have privacy while working out for a variety of reasons.

Ultimately the bottom line is whether a particular approach works or not. Within the fist 10 months of starting at Cutting Edge, I noticed a significant increase in muscle mass in some areas, and since I've also become aware of significant differences in relative strength in different regions or muscle groups. I think this becomes clear as one pushes muscles to the limit, but would not be so clear if one were just moderately exerting oneself in the different exercises. The result is not just increase in strength but exposing areas that need work where one may have for some reason lost more strength that in other areas.

One of the big attractions of slow cadence training is the efficiency of it - the promise of being able to have a good strength building routine that doesn't seriously affect my schedule. I stop by the studio on my way to work, don't need to wear special clothes, and don't need to shower afterwards. There is minimal impact on my work day.

Finally, I should emphasize specific virtues of Cutting Edge - the very attentive, focused, upbeat trainers, the cleanliness of the studio, the upkeep of the machines, and the remarkable ability of everyone involved to stay on schedule.

Last, but not least, a thought. After some point as one grows up, most people never really exert themselves physically to the limit. I have a hunch that this ultimately is not healthy - or put another way, my guess is that there is benefit in pushing oneself to the limit, physically. This is what one does every workout at Cutting Edge. I wouldn't be surprised if one day this were found to be beneficial in warding off a number of problems associated with aging. We are told that continuing to challenge one's brain is important to successful aging; I suspect that challenging one's body is important as well.

I hope you have continued success in helping people to help themselves.

Best Regards,

Paul Rosenberg

Chris Arcudi

I came to the practice of SuperSlow after I had already been teaching yoga in California for over 5 years. When I was first introduced to the technique and machines utilized in the SuperSlow method of high-intensity slow-moving weight training my initial reaction to the protocol was highly suspect. Yoga had had a healing and cathartic effect on my body and I did not believe that moving weights so slowly and for just 30 min. once a week could be of any great benefit.

A trainer/friend who I had met during a yoga class offered to put me through a workout. After one workout came another, and in the space of 6 months I decided that in addition to teaching yoga I wanted to become a SuperSlow trainer. She offered to apprentice me and one year later after working with her and completing the SuperSlow certification I was working @ her studio in Brentwood.

The myriad of benefits from this form of weight-lifting was startling. I began to put on and keep muscle mass. My pain and injuries decreased while my strength increased. My endurance increased - my abilities in yoga increased, and my overall sense of well-being improved.

And what I found even more remarkable during the 7 years I have been training others in this modality - is that these gains were possible not just for the 20-year olds or 30 or 40 or 50 year-olds but to anyone. Over the years I have many many many clients in their 60s 70s and into their late 80s and all have been able to see exceptional consistent results brought about in a safe and very time effective manner.

The principal itself is simple - applying perfect form and alignment - the muscle is worked to exhaustion while the body is kept safe and protected from excessive joint fatigue and injury. The body is allowed to recover - and amazing strength gains are made.

I am an advocate and believer that this system of lifting will help you gain and maintain a level of strength and health that heretofore you might not have believed possible for yourself. I look forward to meeting you - working with you - and helping you to a healthier stronger life.

~ Chris