Tempo is an important tool we use as coaches to not only help individuals learn movement patterns, but also manipulate the outcome of a working set to target specific results.
What is "Tempo" in Exercise?
Tempo is the rate at which we perform a single repetition. It manipulates the amount of time a muscle spends under tension in the eccentric, isometric, and concentric portions of the movement itself.
The tempo of a repetition can completely change the outcome or result of an exercise, and because of that it is extremely important to understand how to read it, apply it, and use it correctly to get the most out of the training you do with it.
3 Types of Muscle Contractions
Before we get into how to read and apply tempo to our training it's important that we know and understand each muscle contraction and when they occur in a single repetition.
Eccentric
This is the portion of the repetition where the muscle is elongating while under tension - Ex: Lowering to the bottom of a Squat
Isometric
Application of force to a muscle where the muscle length does not change ad the position held is static - Ex: The bottom of a Squat
Concentric
The portion of the repetition where the muscle is shortening - Ex: The lifting portion of the Squat or "standing up" from the bottom
How to Read and Write Tempo
Now that we know the different muscle contractions and where they apply to a single repetition we can move on to reading and writing tempo for the movement. Tempo is always written as a 4-digit prescription such as "30X1". But what does that actually mean?
We read tempo from left to right, each integer represents the amount of time you are to spend performing the specific muscle contraction or how to perform it.
Example: 30X1
3 Represents the Eccentric or Lowering portion of the repetition
0 Represents the Isometric or Bottom position of the repetition
X Represents the Concentric or Lifting phase of the repetition and refers to what we call "as fast as possible up" - meaning we want to lift the weight as quickly as we can while maintaining proper form and technique
1 Represents the Isometric or Top position of the repetition
How to Apply Tempo to a Repetition
Applying tempo to your repetitions can be a little tricky sometimes, and that's because we always start the tempo prescription with the Eccentric portion of the repetition. For some movements like the Squat, applying the tempo is very easy because we start standing and have to lower the weight to perform the lift. But for other movements, such as a Single Arm DB Row, the tempo needs to be applied in a different manner. Every rep for a Row starts at the bottom of the lift, because of that we need to start reading the tempo at the Concentric portion, and if we are using the tempo 30X1, that means we start at X. We lift up as fast as possible, pause for 1 second at the top of the rep, lower over the course of 3 seconds, immediately transition back into the lifting phase, and so on until our full set is completed.
The way in which tempo is written and prescribed alters the intent of exercise
Applying tempo to any repetition will change the intent of what you are doing. More time under tension will without a doubt make your repetitions more challenging, just as less time under tension will require less muscle strain making your reps feel a little easier. There are 4 main categories in which tempo can alter the intent of movement.
1. Positions: By slowing down the tempo of a repetition it forces the individual to become aware of each muscle contraction and allows that person to focus more on quality positions and technique - This is often applied for anyone who is new to a specific movement pattern or someone who needs to develop more motor control/control of their body in general
2. Metabolic Demand: If you increase the amount of time under tension it requires the muscle(s) to work harder. Which in turn increases the amount of metabolic demand needed to complete the work - This is a great way to train for hypertrophy and strength as it often leads to the individual having to use lower loads or less weight to complete the repetitions under the tempo (less risk of injury, less time spent at high percentages of 1RMs)
3. Progression: You can decrease the amount of time spent under tension to progress weights in any movement pattern - A 40X1 progressed to a 30X1 progressed to a 20X1 Tempo will allow the individual to use higher percentages of their 1RM more successfully and allow for appropriate weight progression
4. Motor Control: Tempo requires the individual to move their body in a controlled fashion. This forces them to develop the musculature necessary to control external loads and in return, they develop more strength and build more lean muscle
Tempo & TrainRx Performance Programs
Tempo plays a critical role in how I program all of the strength and hypertrophy work on programs such as HybridRx, StrengthRx, BuildRx, and DumbbellRx. If you're currently on a program and see those numbers in your strength work but always ignored them because you never knew what they were, I highly recommend applying them to your next training session! And for those of you who may be interested in applying tempo to your strength training correctly, check out a TrainRx Performance Program and you'll see it on your daily training!
Tempo Examples
Back Squat; 5 Reps x 5 Sets; 30X1; At 85% of 1RM; Rest 3:00 Minutes Between Sets
Single Arm KB Deadstop Row; 8-10 Reps/Side x 3 Sets; 21X1; At RPE 7; Rest 0:30 Seconds Between Sides
Deadlift; 3 Reps x 1 Set; 2020; At 90% of 1RM; Rest 3:00 Minutes Between Sets
Get started on a TrainRx Performance Program today!