Tempos & Pauses. When & Why?
“Tempos and Pauses in Weight lifting is a great way to blast past boredom, plateaus and shake up your training routine.”
~ James Molden
You may have heard terms like tempo, concentric, eccentric and isometric thrown around by the coaching team or online from different fitness platforms, but what do they mean?
Tempos and pauses are two of the best ways to not only build strength in all areas of your lifting, but can also help to push through those training plateaus and pack on some muscle along the way, win-win!
Firstly, let's look at how tempo sets are written and how they should be read. Whenever you see a tempo written down it will be four digits in brackets like so: (31X1)
Each digit represents a different phase of a lift.
The first digit is the eccentric, or ‘downwards’ phase of the lift, where the main muscle involved is usually being lengthened, this is also commonly known as the negative.
Second digit is the bottom position, where the main muscle is at its longest point.
The third digit then represents the concentric phase of a lift, in which the muscle begins to contract and shorten on its way back to its original position.
Finally, the last digit shows how much rest to take at the top of your rep.
Tempo (31X1)
In this case, let's use the above example of a tempo on a squat. This would mean taking 3 seconds on the way down and holding for 1 second in the bottom. An X represents explosive movement, if a tempo reads X it means you should be as fast and as explosive as possible through this portion of the lift, in this case driving out of the bottom of your squat. Pause for 1 second at the top before going into your next rep.
Note that some exercises, for example a deadlift or a pull up, begin concentrically. This does not affect how the tempo should be read; it just means that the third digit represents the initial movement or “pull” and the first digit represents the end of the movement. Concentric and eccentric remain the same, but when reading the tempo for these movements and others alike make sure you understand what position the movement starts in order to complete the exercise with the correct tempo.
When and why should you implement tempo training into your program?
Controlling the time under tension.
Adding tempos allows us to control the amount of time spent under tension each set, especially in the eccentric phase as this promotes lean muscle growth. Increasing time under tension also means you must slow down the movement in most cases, increasing positional awareness and forcing control through full range of motion.
To maintain sound movement mechanics.
One of the best ways to build strength without risking getting injured. Too often we begin to rush certain lifts we have become comfortable with and in turn increase the risk of injury and often lose the correct positioning. By slowing these exercises down, you have no choice but to consciously think about good movement patterns while controlling an external load, and over time this will increase your positional awareness, make you stronger and ensure you are lifting safely.
Breaking through training plateaus.
Most of us have experienced a training plateau at some point, whether it's struggling to add a single kilogram to your snatch or just not being able to shift that last bit of timber before summer. Adding tempos to your training is a great way to add some variety, if you like to get some squats in after class twice a week, add some tempos. If you enjoy a bit of Sunday bench press, add tempos. Slow it down, speed it up and get some pauses into your sets. Not only may this be a bit of fun and allow you to implement something new into your training it will shock the body's central nervous system and help you smash through that plateau.
Building strength in positions.
Adding pauses into your lifting program is arguably the best way to build strength in crucial positions and hardwire those positions to become second nature when you later remove the pauses. If you struggle with your pull from the floor in a clean or snatch, add a pause at knee on the way up. This will force you to hold your position and subsequently recruit more motor units to do so, over time this is what will make certain movement patterns become second nature when the pauses are removed.
If your struggle tends to be more overhead, add a pause in your dip or receiving position. Sometimes strength in a position isn't the problem it could just be down to rushing the movement. If this sounds like you, next time you jerk try adding a pause in your dip and your receiving position as you warm up. A couple of seconds in each position will allow you to slow the movement down and get concurrent feedback as you execute the lift. If you are a little forward in your dip or too narrow in your receive it will be highlighted as you try to pause and force you to adopt a more stable position.
Tempos and pauses are undeniably a simple way to clean up your lifting, focus on positions, build some summer gains or to just add some variety to your training.
If you like the sound of it but are unsure how to go about implementing them into your training, or what you need specifically never hesitate to drop ourselves a message on social platforms or below.
