Slow. Slow. Gentle. Slower. Now hold it.

These are words people love and hate to hear while performing Super Slow, a weight-lifting program that has received a lot of attention over the past year.

Laurence Cohen, a 47-year-old attorney and triathlete, has been a slow lifter for about a year and says he loves it. And why wouldn.t he? Within one to two months of starting Super Slow, Cohen says everything on his body began to look tighter. "I know it.s the Super Slow," he ascertains.

The same goes for Charlie Robert, a 42-year-old systems analyst for Aspen Technology. He has done Super Slow for two-and-a-half years, and he says his fitness level continues to improve, even though he.s cut down on his running, "I used to run 5K and 10K races, but I don.t anymore."

The premise behind the Super Slow workout is to lift weights at an extremely slow pace . 10 seconds on the push and 10 seconds on the retraction . with a precise level of intensity, safety, form and recovery time. It.s a lot harder and it hurts a lot more than you might think.

"The first time, [my trainer] had me screaming like a school girl during squats. I was almost in tears because it hurt so bad. But I love how intense it is. I know it.s working," Cohen says.

If you.re asking yourself why it.s worth that much pain, the Super Slow method has another claim that might get your attention: 30 minutes of exercise once a week is all you need for total fitness. That.s right. It takes only a half hour of exercise once a week for you to look and feel better and to increase stamina and strength. That.s the claim the Super Slow method stands by, and its devotees stand behind it.

Charlie Robert says he notices now, "I can do things pretty easily while other people.s hearts

are pounding." And Laurence Cohen says, "I.m able to run just as fast without as much training." The only thing he.s added to his routine is Super Slow.

I called John Kelly, co-owner of Ultimate Fitness and a trainer there, and he summed up the Super Slow method in two words: "Brutally efficient."

Kelly has done Super Slow for 20 years, and he knows a thing or two about its results. "You get stronger and more toned. You increase muscle mass. This increases metabolism, and this increases your capacity for leanness."

The key to the workout is cutting out momentum entirely. "You lift [the weights] at a snail.s pace, always heavy. But, it.s not just a matter of slowness. It.s a matter of frequency, duration, sequence, form and intensity of exercise."

Kelly adds that you can.t just go to a gym and lift weights slowly to correctly perform Super Slow. You need to take into account safety and maximum intensity and give the body adequate time to recover . that.s why you need to workout with a trainer.

So, I report to Ultimate Fitness at 8 a.m. on Thursday morning for my first workout with John Kelly. It.s a friendly place where you.re greeted with a smile. My guess is they have to be nice to you because you are about to encounter pure hell.

The first machine we use is the leg press. I think, "Easy, I.ve done this before." My mistake. I could complete only one set of six repetitions. I feel a hot burning sensation coming from quadriceps so deep in my legs that it feels like lasers are cutting through my bones.

But the payoff is that one set of six reps is all I have to do. The reason why you have to do only five or six repetitions on each machine is because you are working your muscles to utter fatigue. "If you workout as hard as you can on each muscle group, the workouts won.t be very long. There are no warm-up sets and no need for multiple sets. These serve only to dilute intensity. Maximal intensity is needed for optimal results," Kelly explains.

"When you go to a gym and lift weights without challenging your muscles, you.ll never see any improvements," Kelly says. It.s only for 30 minutes because it.s so intense . you can.t be that intense for too long. It.s only once a week because you need to allow recovery time for your muscles. "People who slow down their speed and continue working out two to three times a week will not see optimal results," he says.

But still, it.s the slowness that gets you. I probably could have completed 15 repetitions pumping through the same weight at a fast pace. But six reps at the slow pace make all the difference. No momentum is helping you.

You don.t let the weights hit each other at the top and the bottom of the reps, and then you have to hold it there. You hover and hold. That hurts, too. It was so intense, for a minute, I thought I might get sick . a feeling, Kelly tells me later, that is not uncommon.

And then, as if working out only once a week for 30 minutes isn.t good enough, Kelly adds that his advanced clients workout only two to three times a month, and they continue to get stronger. Charlie Robert agrees, "I used to do 30 minutes a week, but now I only have to do 30 minutes twice a month, and I haven.t noticed any drop off or slow down [in my fitness level]. In fact, I do no cardio at all."

All this time saving and increased strength is great, but it doesn.t come easily. "There.s no free lunch. It.s shorter and less often, but you have to work hard. You.d be amazed at how hard you can workout. That.s how you get results .workout harder," Kelly says.

"In conventional Super Slow protocol, the goal is to take the body beyond a certain threshold that forces adaptation. If you take the body past its threshold, that.s all that.s needed for improvement," Kelly says.

"Usually the more skillful you are, the easier the workouts are. Here, as you become more skillful, the workouts get harder," Kelly says. And that.s because the weight machines are different from typical weight machines. Ultimate Fitness. weight machines follow the body.s natural arching motions. You can achieve a level of fatigue you can.t get with other machines because the weight actually gets heavier and lighter as you extend and retract. "Some men use 700-pound weight stacks," Kelly says.

Slow lifting was originally classified as a rehabilitation exercise. It was created for osteoporotic women in their 80s who were constantly getting injuries with regular weightlifting. "It didn.t injure them," Kelly says.

"The less momentum, the less acceleration, the less force and the less likelihood of injury. "Baby boomers lose about 10 ounces of muscle a year. They can stop this from happening and reverse the process. Or, they can just grow old gracefully," he muses.

"Men in their 30s and 40s who come here want to be able to do what they did in their 20s without injury. The goal here is to be as strong as possible."

But this workout isn.t limited to little old ladies with fragile bones. "Just to prove a point," Kelly continues, "I don.t do this anymore, but some people used to come in here with the attitude, .I.ll do your little program.. I.d make them throw up."

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