Tempo Matters

I've heard strength coaches and trainers talk about how tempo doesn't really matter.

I'll have to disagree.

I heard a strength coach talk about how he has forced his athletes to slow their eccentric tempos because when he did, all of their weights went up with many setting PR's.

I'm not surprised. Lifting or lowering a weight slowly and lifting or lowering a weight quickly are not the same thing.

If you lower a weight slowly or even pause between the eccentric and concentric contractions, you'll increase demands on the muscle's ability to produce force because you'll dissipate a portion of the contribution of the elastic component provided by the tendon and connective tissues.

Lower a weight quickly and you increase the potential energy stored in the tendon and connective tissues which will contribute to the concentric contraction as the energy is released.

Guess which method most people will utilize when trying to lift the most weight.

They'll naturally tend to lower and lift the weight quickly to take advantage of the elastic component to lift greater weight. If you train like this most of the time you'll tend to rely on this more and more but there's a "ceiling" so to speak as to how far this method will take your training. At some point, you'll need to use a slower tempo to place the emphasis on the muscle again.

How do you know how and when to apply such methods?

You can read about it in my contribution to LiftStrong along with over 800 pages of information from the top minds in the fields of strength, fitness, sports training, rehabilitation, and nutrition.

Remember that all proceeds go to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Bill