How tempo training can make your workouts more effective
My previous article, "7 ways to add variety to your training," pinpointed some simple, yet scientifically proven ways to shake up your training workouts to bring you closer to your ideal body shape. One of the acute variables I mentioned was Tempo and I briefly explained how it affects your training. To summarize and reiterate, tempo is a term which refers to the speed of the movement (exercise) being performed.
A muscle contraction can occur in 3 different ways:
Eccentrically: A contraction while the muscle is lengthening is an eccentric contraction. Ever hear of a "negative rep", that's your eccentric portion. This can be thought of as controlling a weight to the floor from the rack. Eccentric contractions are the strongest form of a muscle contraction. It is well studied that slower, controlled, eccentric contractions can help build muscular endurance, prevent muscular strains, strengthen connective tissues, and increase overall time under tension which plays a big role in building muscle mass. When you're training slower eccentric movements the nervous system is highly stimulated creating better stability and overall bodily control. Eccentric movements can be anywhere from 2-6 seconds in length.
Isometrically: These contractions do not alter muscle length, they stay "static". Think holding a bench press two inches off your chest for certain amount of time. This is great way to get comfortable with heavier weight at the bottom or sticking point of a movement. Isometric-only training is as outdated as it gets, but what is very effective is isometric training within a movement. An example of this is pausing for 1-2 seconds at the bottom of a movement. These are popular with competitive weight lifters in movements such as the squat (pause squats). This is key to increasing work load and getting more familiar with each end of a range of motion. Weight training is about controlling the load through a complete range of motion- not just 'lifting weights'.
Concentrically: Concentric training is what we all know and love, the actual lifting phase of a movement. Previously, it was speculated that slow concentric tempo training was beneficial to incorporate into training programs; this has since been well disproved. The concentric phase should always be done in a rapid yet controlled manor. The only time this will be slower is when the load is near maximal or acute fatigue is setting in. While keeping the load, and your body, under control the weight should be lifted as fast as possible to return to the start position. In fact, some athletic training programs keep their loads very light for the exact reasons of creating higher velocities in their movement, which can sometimes closer, emulate their sport.
So let's incorporate this information to a more user-friendly guide to your tempo training:
- The eccentric phase can be anywhere between a 2-6 second count. This could be changed on a monthly occurrence to keep your training fresh and yield more consistent results. Start with 4 seconds, then next month 2 seconds, then finish with a week or two at 6 seconds
- Isometric phase is great to recruit more neuromuscular stimulation, but often isn't all that variable. Start with a 1-2 second hold at the bottom of each movement. Then work on <1 second transitions which displays quick changes of direction and higher levels of power output.
- Concentric is always as fast as can be controlled, period. Don't try to fix what's not broken. Focus on making the weight travel through the same exact path for each rep at relatively high concentric speeds.
This is often an overlooked aspect to make your workouts more effective! You don't have to spend time researching to find the sexiest exercises out there, just focus on strong, variable tempos and you training will quickly become far more effective.
AJ Lamb, CSCS, CSS, PES, is a training manager at Motivate Fitness in Ambler, Pa. He is a guest contributor on Sports Doc.
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