Lifting Tempo

How fast should you lift the weight? This depends on the goal associated of the lift in your program

You have seen it in your strength training sessions, 4 numbers after the work 'tempo'.

B1 Goblet Squat

Sets: 3 - Reps: 10 - Time: 40s - Tempo: 3010 - Rest: 60s - 7-8 RPE

You may have been confused as to what it means. Like many things in the training world, it is simplified and abbreviated to the point that you will not know what it means unless it is defined and described to you.

Check out the video below for the description and demonstration of lifting tempo.

1st number - Amount of time in seconds to lower the weight

2nd number - Time to pause at the bottom of the lift

3rd number - Time to lift the weight up

4th number - Time to pause at the top of the lift

Why adjust lifting tempo?

Now you may be asking, why not just lift the weight up and down at a comfortable pace?

This strategy, which is usually about one second up and one second down with minimal pauses at the top and bottom, will lead to plenty of progress in strength over time.

Lifting is for more than just strength, I adjust lifting tempos throughout a program because I can create specific training adaptions which will help the different phases build on each other through out a program.

The most common tempo adjustments are:

• Slow Eccentric (Lowering) phase - If you see 3010 or 4010 as the tempo the goal is to safely add stress to your muscles and tendons during the lower phase which will prepare your muscles for higher intensity explosive exercises later on in the program.
• Slow Concentric (Lifting) phase - A tempo of 3030 is frequently used in cases where improving lifting technique is the a goal or when recovering from injury as it requires lower weight to create muscle fatigue.
• Pause at top or the bottom - In the case of pressing movements (Push Ups and Squats), increasing the pause at the bottom (2210) removes the elasticity of the muscles to help lift the weight, increasing muscular load to lift the weight. In the case for rowing movements, a pause at the top (2012) it increases the muscles contraction in the hardest part of the lift ensuring you have lifted the weight without momentum.
• Explosive movements - See an X in the tempo? Either just X, 'Explosive' or 32X0. The focus of this exercise is to build explosiveness. In the case of plyometrics, the whole movement will be done at high speed with a focus on reversing the down to up movement as fast as possible. When you see 32X0 the goal is to quickly build a much tension in the muscles as fast as possible.

If you previously breezed by the tempo part of your strength training session, you will be more aware of it from now on and you will see the increased gains over time if you follow the prescribed tempo.