Lifting Tempo Revisited

[Guest guest]

Dan Fichter<Djtrigger1@...> sent us the following article for comment.

Note that our archives should also contain a few letters on this old and

rather limited training approach, so do consult them for more information.

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How Important is Lifting Tempo?

Mike CSCS

(*About the author: Mike is a physical preparation consultant working

in the UK*)

In order to fully address this question it is first important to clarify what

is meant by tempo. During most lifts there is potentially an eccentric

action, an isometric pause following the eccentric, a concentric contraction

and a pause in the top position. The cumulative time it takes to do each

phase of a given lift refers to the lifting tempo. The general advice given

by coaches and instructors across the industry is to lower the weight under

control and accelerate the weight back up. Now this is fairly sound advice,

but as I will explain, there is a whole lot more to lifting speed.

I will not attempt to cover every aspect of tempo and how it interacts with

stages of periodization, the stretch shortening cycle and exercise and load

selection but I will offer a basic review of its importance.

The desired training response plays a vital role in determining the lifting

tempo and the time under tension (TUT; the total duration of the set) of the

working set.

If your training goal is speed strength or maximal strength then the TUT

should not exceed 20 seconds.

If maximal strength and hypertrophy is the goal then the TUT should be

between 20-40 seconds and for hypertrophy and endurance the TUT should be

between 40 - 70 seconds.

As illustrated here there are overlaps in training responses as expected.

Muscular endurance TUT can of course extend past this limit (70 seconds). I

have emphasized the word 'should' because there is not a cut and dry (sic)

approach to strength training and TUT. There are of course guidelines based

on empirical and scientific foundations, but I encourage people to make up

their minds from their own experiences.

Many strength coaches use a 3-4 number system attached to their training

programs to indicate lifting tempo. Examples of this would be 301, 4211 and

6130. The numbers refer to seconds and the order of the numbers refer to the

eccentric phase, the isometric pause after the eccentric phase, the

concentric contraction and finally the pause in the top position of the

movement, respectively. For example, in the bench press, 301 equals a 3

second eccentric phase, no pause as the bar touches the chest and 1 second to

lift the weight back up. 4211 would mean an eccentric phase of 4 seconds, an

isometric pause of 2 seconds, 1 second to 'lift' the weight and another 1

second pause at the top position.

Now who came up with this? As far as I know, Ian King, one of the worlds top

strength and conditioning coaches and someone whom I am honored to be

associated with, first started using tempos in his programs. This was then

popularized and brought to the world by Poliquin, the famous Canadian

strength coach.

[Actually, the first one who came up with a scheme like this years before

King was none other than the irascible Arthur , who designed the

Nautilus range of training machines. If you read old material or some

Nautilus sponsored books, such as those written by Ellington Darden and Wayne

Westcott, you can check this for yourselves. Interestingly, the four

component version suddenly appeared after I had pointed out on several

discussion lists and at conferences that anyone using a simplistic three

phase tempo system seemed to be forgetting the very obvious fact that there

are not three, but four, phases to any resistance exercise! Mel Siff]

Using the bench press as an example again, if the training goal was to

increase speed strength, as is for most athletes, then the set duration

should not exceed 20 seconds. Suppose that the desired number of reps is 3

per set, then each rep must last a maximum of 6 seconds (20 seconds divided

by 3 reps). The tempo therefore may look something like this, 2011. The

eccentric is kept fairly strict and the concentric fairly quick (remember

that force applied to the bar will be maximal but the bar may still move

fairly slowly, re force-velocity curve).

[some terms need serious attention. Force will be " maximal " ? And " re

force-velocity curve " ? This disconnected jargon has been thrown in for what

purpose? Mel Siff]

A pause can be taken at the top position in order to relax the tension from

the muscle in preparation for the next rep. Again in this example only, there

is no pause after the eccentric phase in order to use the elastic energy

stored in the muscle to accelerate the weight back up.

Using the stretch shortening cycle (elastic energy) is a valuable tool in

athletic training and is also in most cases far more sports specific. But if

hypertrophy were the training goal, as with bodybuilding, then measures to

negate its effect could be used. Using the stretch shortening cycle to lift a

greater weight is not desirable in body builders as this decreases the amount

of work the muscle has to perform in order to lift the weight. If the muscle

is doing less work, then less motor units are recruited and there is less

stimulus for muscle fiber hypertrophy.

[some very dubious information on what stretch-shortening and elastic energy

are and what they do. The comment about work and hypertrophy is also

incorrect and misleading. One can do a huge amount of work by exercising

with a light load for several hours, but that will not necessarily produce

any increase in hypertrophy. Similarly, very brief episodes and reps of

explosive type training by weightlifters is responsible for their

hypertrophy, which can be quite impressive among some of them. Mel Siff]

In order for the elastic energy to be completely dissipated prior to a

concentric contraction, there must be up to a 4 second pause in the stretch

position. Now this considerably lengthens the rep time and adds to the total

TUT of the set resulting in fewer reps being able to fit into the set.

Bodybuilders commonly use 8 -12 reps as their rep range and therefore using a

full 4 second isometric pause is just not practical or comfortable!

[The pause at the top or the bottom is not necessarily " isometric " for all of

the mobilising muscles concerned , but often provides a short period for

recovery. He is also forgetting about the deliberate and common bodybuilding

use of pre-stretch before the concentric phase of the exercise, which can

facilitate this concentric action even without the use of stored elastic

energy. This is another limitation in the use of the 204 or 2042 or whatever

tempo counting system is used - it always presumes either a rest period or an

isometric phase as the transition between the eccentri and concentric phases,

but it entirely ignores the possibility of intentional use of a very powerful

prestretch, an action that can have profound effects on the entire exercise.

I have written quite extensively about this in " Supertraining " and in a few

letters on weightlifting technique on this list. I wonder how long it will

take for this comment of mine to once again surreptitiously alter the " tempo

counting " rules? Mel Siff]

A 1 second pause however will dissipate some of this elastic energy (about

55%) and will result in more muscle fibre recruitment. An example of a

typical lifting tempo for a bodybuilder may look like this. 10-12 reps, tempo

3110, TUT equals no greater than 60 seconds (12 reps x 5 seconds per rep).

[He is relying on bench press research done by my colleague, Greg (see

" Supertraining " Fig 5.6) - this 1-second pause information applies to the

bench press, but not necessarily to other exercises and other muscle groups.

Mel Siff]

The pause in the top position, following the concentric contraction, is

another important variable for training. A pause in this position of the

bench press, with the arms at full lock out, releases the tension on the

muscles. However pausing just short of lock out maintains that intramuscular

tension and fatigues the muscle more. So which one is best? Neither and both!

If strength is the training goal then a pause in the full lock out position

in bench press, squats, etc., may enable the lifter to be potentially

stronger in the next rep and is therefore desirable. But if hypertrophy is

the goal then a pause just short of lock out or no pause at all would

maintain muscle tension and potentially elicit a greater hypertrophy

response.

[Once again, the additional alternative of prestretch has not been considered

or another alternative involving small oscillations or ballistic jerks in the

pre-concentric phase or throughout the whole exercise (see " Supertraining "

for more on this technique. In addition, no mention is made of how " tempo

counting " can be of value during " cluster training " which requires one to

rest the bar for a brief instant on a rack between phases of the exercise,

between each rep or between every few reps (also desrcibed in

" Supertraining " ). As may be seen from my brief remarks here, tempo methods

contain some major shortcomings that limit its use to only very basic

training conditions. Even then, it is not only Time Under Tension (TUT) that

counts, but Time above a certain threshold muscle tension that is of far

greater significance. Shall we call this TATT (Time Above Threshold

Tension)? Mel Siff]

Of course neither method is 'right' or 'wrong,' rather variables can be

manipulated to produce a more optimal result.

[There is no such thing as " more optimal " - optimal is optimal! Mel Siff]

Desired training response, time under tension, load selection, sport

specificity/transfer and exercise selection are all variables which affect

lifting tempo and should be addressed by strength and conditioning

professionals and reflected in their program design. I have just touched on

some issues surrounding lifting tempo and I expect that this is merely a

refresher for many of you anyway.

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Dr Mel C Siff

Denver, USA

Supertraining/