It’s common knowledge that if you want to get big or obtain any resemblance of muscle you have to train with resistance, this includes shaping, toning, and whatever else you call losing fat while building muscle. That’s the precursor. This precursor can be broken down into segments. Those segments can be manipulated for certain outcomes. Today’s segment is repetition tempo.
SECTIONS:
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What Is Repetition Tempo
Repetition (rep) tempo, speed, pace, rate - whichever suits your vernacular. It is the swiftness in which you execute a movement from start to finish.
So, a rep is simply doing the exercise a single time. From the starting point to the ending point, which is often the starting point again.
Let's take an air squat for example:
You stand upright, feet usually shoulder width apart unless you’re getting fancy - ready to get busy. This is the start.
You simultaneously bend the knees and push your hips back to descend into that imaginary chair.. This portion of the movement is negative, going down in this case, or eccentric.
You hit the bottom of that chair that isn’t there, maybe pause for a second. Here you are isometric, unmoved, yet under tension.
You return to start by ascending positively, going up in this case, or concentrically to finish the rep. That’s 1.
Note: gyms have been open and closed throughout the year because of Covid. If all you have is little equipment, or just your body an easy way to create more “resistance” is by manipulating different portions of a lift. Longer concentric, isometric, and/or eccentric time will tax the muscles.. Not the same, but similarly to adding more weight.
What Is Time Under Tension
I should mention this whole tip’s concept happens to be a clash in philosophy between the big weight, fast rep titans and the lower weight, slow rep titans. By fast I’m mostly referring to the concentric portion of a lift.
While there’s more than one way to grill this burger we’ll start the process of splitting hairs, since one way is a few degrees better for strength and hypertrophy.
Regardless there’s an underlying need when it comes to hypertrophy aka building muscle. Adequate time under tension. If you lack in the time under tension department you’ll lack in the growth department.
Time under tension is the period in which a muscle spends contracting during a single set. Any form of weight training will produce a degree of muscle growth and strength improvement, that degree can change drastically dependent on how you execute.
Not enough time under tension, inadequate growth. Too much time under tension, inadequate resistance. Yes, it can get complicated.
A solid rule of thumb if hypertrophy is your main focus is to allow your sets to last roughly 30-60 seconds. Longer than 60 seconds tends to mean you’re using less than optimal resistance for superior muscle building.
Dilating sets this way elicits extra tissue breakdown from including additional fibers. There are certain muscle fibers that involve themselves early in a set, if you fatigue those others step in.. The more that step in, the more that’ll breakdown, and the more opportunity for growth.
You can extend time under tension by lifting more slowly per rep and/or by doing more reps in a set.
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Pros And Cons Of A Faster Rep Tempo
Hair splitting continues below.
Going faster for the concentric portion of a lift recruits more muscle fibers, immediately. More muscle fibers chipping in can lead to more growth over the long haul.
A fast rep can only be executed by you applying more force. This maximal or near-maximal force can’t be done with your small muscle fibers alone, so the big boys chip in.. Slow reps to fatigue will also eventually convince larger muscle fibers to lend a hand, but faster reps get them in earlier, still without having to go to failure.
Note: failure is short for muscle failure. Muscle failure is when you reach the point where you can’t conduct another rep with proper form using your chosen resistance.
What’s great about this is you get these fast twitch muscles (responsible for moving big loads and mass) to do the duty even without the biggest weight, but you also have the option of using the biggest weight. Again more resistance, more or less, leads to more growth if enough time under tension is present.
Concentric lifting with haste saves time. Or allows for more work during the same time period, however you want to slice it. A bigger workload? A bigger muscle. In this case by work i mean total load moved. Weight multiplied by reps for a given workout.
Going fast and heavy will lead to muscle failure faster. This is a good thing for hypertrophy, but what’s not so good is going heavier or faster is a risk if not properly equipped to handle with care.
Ensure you’re pretty proficient with form and safety before going heavy and/or fast because injury risk rises significantly in comparison to slow concentric reps.
Another note: I’m suggesting you move the weight concentrically as quickly and aggressively as possible with a violent contraction. Notwithstanding the weight may feel like it’s moving at a snail's pace, the heavier the load.
Another ‘nother note: in this text any reference to fast reps are concentric, fast yet always under your control. So much so that you’ll eccentrically bring the weight to start at a moderate 1-2 seconds pace. More on that later.
Pros And Cons Of A Slower Rep Tempo
Slower, less than peak force reps still have a place in certain instances.
They can easily increase time under tension, leading to a pump. A pump is when you have higher blood volume than usual in a muscle or group of muscles. This can lead to fuller, harder looking muscles, by the way.
Slow reps are perfect for newbies or if you’re uncomfortable with going heavy without assistance. You’ll have a chance to perfect your form with minimal risk of injury. This is a good time to cite if you have chronic joint pain, going lighter and slower is a way to still put work in.
Although slow reps take longer to reach failure, you’ll still hit all fibers if you continue the set long enough. This is due to the need for larger fibers to pick up slack when the smaller ones tap out.
Maybe most importantly, slow reps are a solid substitute for when deloading or giving your central nervous system a conscious break. Slower reps implore you to use lighter resistance. Lighter loads happen to be easier on your central nervous system.
The downside of slow reps is progressive overload becomes a little murky. Can’t quite gauge how much progress, or lack of, is the speed or amount of resistance. Applicable adjustments become rather difficult.
Remember the definition of work? Slow, light reps will add quite a bit of time to reach similar loads of quick heavy reps.
Then of course if you’re going slower it’s impossible to lift as heavy in the same rep range as forceful explosive reps. Monumental negative mark.
What Is The Best Rep Tempo
First, stay out of my comments haha. There’s no exact “best” rep tempo, but I’ve had and seen great success with schemes such as:
Concentric - isometric - eccentric
<1 - 1 - 2 (favorite)
1 - 1 - 1
1 - 2 - 1
1 - 1 - 2
*Numbers represent time in seconds
The <1 - 1 - 2 seconds scheme is my favorite, for you get the weight up asap, employ a strong isometric contraction, then control that bad boy on the descent.
Note: I tend to avoid slow reps, but as mentioned before time under tension is important right? But what about those that want to bolster strength and muscle growth? I’m victim to this conundrum at times. On days when my sets last under 30 seconds, aka when I dabble in the lower rep range time under tension is obviously neglected. To compensate I add a burnout set that lasts 45-60 seconds to end that muscle. This way I get a little of the strength and hypertrophy world in there.
Another note: a slower rep would be anything over two seconds concentric. If you’re interested in other ways to extend a rep you can try doing isometric holds or going even more slowly on the eccentric side.
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My Thoughts
Biggest deal in the world? Not, but small details separate good from great.
Need time under tension to grow, but need enough tension too. Tempo matters and is a good tool, yet progressive overload is top priority.. For it’s the introduction of a continuously harder task, forcing muscular adaptation.
There’s a reason the pros go fast and hard concentrically, take note. Whether they’re using enhancements or not, the lifting tactics tend to work.
So, It’s About That Time
The takeaway here is apply pressure when you’re ready. Move that weight like it offended you, but be safe. Rep tempo isn’t the first detail to stress on your to-do list, however it is on your eventual to-do list. As always applicable exercises, proper form, and adequate resistance come before all else. Get your mind right, move the weight like you mean it, put those muscles to use, and Be Great.