How to add Tempo to your training

OPEX Fitness Concord Podcast

In this episode we talk about using Tempo as a training tool to help you lift safely, get strong, increase muscle and loose fat. Tempo training is used to slow down an exercise to get the maximal muscle contraction available for your current training experience. It is described as the speed of the movement with the first part of the movement being the lowering or eccentric portion, the second part being the isometric pause at the bottom, the third being the concentric portion or contraction of the muscle that is working. Then finally the isometric hold at the top. When written out something like a squat would be written as such: 4-2-x-1. This means you would go down 4 seconds into the squat, pause for 2 seconds the x entails coming up from the pause as fast as possible under control and a 1 second pause at the top. The benefits to tempo training are increased body awareness, or motor control. Muscle endurance for the new trainee and a really killer workout. So how do you add these to your training? Start with our example above of 4-2-x-1 in your first week. The next three weeks may look like. 4-1-x-1; 4-0-x-1; 4-0-x-0. This decreases the isometric holds for the movement making it faster with the goal of better positional strength. This will vary heavily based on the person and their goals/experience but just to start go with the tempo described above. If you want to know more or have more questions check us out at www.opexconcord.com to speak with one of our coaches or you can email me [e-mail].