Everything you need to know about bodybuilding tempos for effective training

There are a lot of intensification techniques to increase training efficiency. One of the most effective is tempo, in other words, the speed of execution of a repetition, its frequency. It's a factor that few weight-lifters take into account, and wrongly so. In fact, mastering tempo and managing effort time is essential for muscle growth. Doubtful? Here are a few explanations to get you thinking.

The different times in weight training

When we work a muscle, we execute a movement. Now, this movement is broken down into several steps:

• the negative or eccentric phase of the movement
• the pause time at the bottom of the movement
• the positive or concentric phase
• the pause time at the top of the movement

All these steps must be carried out according to a well-defined rhythm and be relatively controlled to avoid any injury and especially to build up muscle efficiently.

To learn more about contractions, you can read this article: Everything you need to know about muscle contractions

Why is the choice of tempos so important?

The reason why tempos are so important for strength training is because they define your power-on time. Indeed, lifting heavy is not enough to progress in bodybuilding, it is necessary to lift heavy for a sufficient duration so that the mechanical tension exerted forces your body to create more muscles to finally adapt to this effort.

To take an example, if an individual performs 15 repetitions for a given muscle group with a time under tension per repetition of 1.5 seconds, he will have made a muscular effort of just over 20 seconds.

But if another individual working with the same dumbbells only performs 10 repetitions of 3 seconds, his effort will still be 30 seconds. So, despite a lower number of repetitions, the second method will be more effective for muscle mass, as the total training volume will be much greater.

How to use tempos to optimize your muscle hypertrophy?

All the studies explain that the two main factors to improve your physical and muscular condition are mechanical tension and metabolic stress. Here is how tempos can play on these two essential elements to increase your musculature.

Tempo and mechanical tension

Mechanical tension is exerted during the eccentric phase of the movement when, for example, you bend your joints to let the squat bar down. To work effectively on this aspect, all you have to do is slow down your movements to increase the tension on your body's muscles.

For the concentric phase, on the other hand, you need to be explosive. And that's why many coaches tell you when you're doing your strength training, to control the movement. In other words, slow down the eccentric phase.

Tempo and metabolic stress

When it comes to metabolic stress, it's primarily the stretching of the body's muscles and the length of time they are actually under tension that counts. With a sports session containing exercises adapted to each muscle group, you should be able to play on this aspect quite easily.

When it comes to upper-body strength training, opt for machines that allow you to stretch your muscles to the maximum. This will allow it to congest and produce a longer, more intense effort. Otherwise, opt for free weights.

The other advantages of managing your tempos in weight training

Knowing how to manage your tempos during your sessions in the gym also allows you to avoid several inconveniences, both in the short and long term. With regard to the risk of injuryFirst of all, having a good technique of execution makes it possible to avoid the too abrupt gestures and thus to limit the risks of injuries. Indeed, if you make the exercises of musculation more slowly, you are not obliged to take heavy weights.

In addition, controlling your training loads allows you to better target your muscle fibres, particularly for lower body exercises.

If these arguments are not enough, you should also know that the more a gesture respects the mechanics of a joint or a muscle, the less likely they are to wear out quickly. An element to be taken into account particularly for the very repetitive exercises of isolation. But, obviously, it is also necessary to be careful on the polyarticular exercises, especially with very heavy weights.

But then, which tempo should you favour?

In most cases, your strength training program will need to incorporate a tempo like this:

2 seconds (eccentric)-0 seconds (bottom of the movement)-1 second (concentric)-0 seconds (top of the movement)

With this tempo, there is thus no time of rest between the two phases of the movement. An element that can be modified according to one's condition (return from injury, elderly athlete) and one's objectives (gaining strength, building muscle).

As you can see, weight training requires a certain amount of thought. Tempo, rest time, choice of training program and exercises, volume and duration of training, each of these factors can influence your muscle gainIt is therefore important to look into it if you feel your progress is being held back or if you are stagnating.

You need a coach to establish a personalized follow-up that corresponds to your objectives?

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