Week 17 – Get Stronger, Build More Muscle with TUT
Mary’s progress is nothing short of remarkable. Staying on track and focusing on lifting heavier weights while maintaining proper form has resulted in her movements becoming more concentrated, as observed by her coach, who has commended her on her progress.
“Alright Mary,” her coach says with genuine admiration. “Let’s take you to the next level!”
At this point, Mary wonders what the coach has in mind.
The coach proceeds to explain that the next level need not necessarily involve lifting heavier weights. Instead, there are several ways to enhance exercises throughout the workout. Since Mary has been focusing on form and a steady progressive overload, her coach suggests building on that foundation by introducing tempo modifications.
Time Under Tension
Tempo, in the context of a workout, refers to the rate at which you perform an exercise. It involves controlling the amount of time your muscle is under tension during each portion of the exercise, including the isometric, eccentric, and concentric phases.
For instance, when performing a squat, the three phases are lowering your body, pausing at the bottom, and then standing back up. To help illustrate this, try performing a squat and note the number of seconds it takes to lower your body, the number of seconds you hold the squat position, and the speed at which you return to an upright position. Typically, most people use a tempo of 2:1:1 or even 2:0:2.
Manipulating the workout tempo is an effective tactic to change the intent of your workout and take it to the next level.
Mary then asks her coach, “What should my workout tempo be?”
Coach responds by explaining the best tempo for Mary and how to execute it for the different exercises in her program.
Since a workout tempo is personalized according to the individual’s goals and ability, there is no perfect tempo for everyone. It depends on individual goals and needs.
If you are curious about enhancing your workouts with a specific tempo, I encourage you to talk to your coach to receive the best guidance for you.
