Tempo: the rate or pace at which you perform each exercise
In this part we are going to talk about Tempo and the different ways we can use it to make the exercises you already know and love feel completely new. Alrighty so let’s get into it, Tempo is the rate or pace at which you perform each exercise. It’s probably THE most underused and overlooked variable when training for outcomes. Manipulating the tempo can completely alter the intent of an exercise or training program.
Types of Muscle Contractions
To make sure everyone can properly understand what we’re going to talk about going forwards you need to be able to understand 3 different kinds of muscle contractions. These are Eccentric, Concentric, and Isometric contractions.
Eccentric: This is where the muscle is lengthening under tension. Example: the lowering portion of a squat or a bicep curl
Concentric: This is where the muscle is shortening under tension. Example: Standing back up during the squat or raising your arm back up in a Bicep Curl
Isometric: This is where you are generating force or tension while not allowing the muscle length or your joint angles to change. Example: Holding the squat or a bicep curl half way through the full ROM
Now let’s apply this to 2 different examples and how it would be translated.
Squat
3 seconds down, lowering yourself and/or the weight
2 second, pause at the bottom
1 second, on the way up
0 second, pause at the top before going back down again
Lat Pulldown
3 seconds down, seconds to control the weight on the way back up, lengthening the muscles of your back
2 second, second pause at top
1 second, second to pull the weight back down, shortening the muscles of your back
0 second, pause at the bottom before controlling the weight back up again
So as you can see, it’s not always simply the 1st number means “On the way down” or the 3rd number means “On the way up”. It’s much more effective to think about what’s happening with the muscles that you’re targeting to make sure you’re interpreting the tempo correctly and getting the most out of your exercise
Asad Sayal
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