Tempo Prescriptions For Fast Muscle Gain

I’m sure by now that many of you are familiar with the word tempo when it comes to training for fast muscle gain…Right?

No? Well, I wouldn’t feel left out or get too worried about it because it is a fairly useless concept.

Tempo, in the training world, is the speed at which you perform your reps in a given set. Therefore, the correct terminology should actually be rep speed.

It is typically displayed in a three-digit code. The first number represents the eccentric or lowering (also called the “negative”) portion of the rep, the second number represents an isometric contraction or pause, if there is one, and the third number represents the concentric or lifting (“positive”) portion of the rep. For example, if you lowered the weight in three seconds, took a two-second pause, and then lifted it in one second, this would be represented by a 321 tempo. A 404 would mean that you lowered the weight in four seconds, did not pause, and then lifted it in four seconds.

The concept of “tempo” was first brought to light back in the early 90’s. Plenty of people got suckered and jumped on the bandwagon. Unfortunately, I was one of them.

Since then, many trainers and strength coaches have written in great lengths about “tempo” and have suggested that different “tempos” induce different training effects. They have also suggested that “tempo” is something that should be manipulated frequently.

Here’s the truth…

Giving “tempo” prescriptions for mass building workouts and hoping that it will lead to fast muscle gain is a complete waste of time.

Changing the speed at which you perform your reps on a regular basis never lets you know if you are making progress or not.

This is actually a great trick that some trainers use. They don’t know how to get their clients stronger, so they just change the “tempo” and hope there is no way their clients will ever catch on to this ingenious little scheme.

In January, you are benching with a rep speed of 505, and then in March, a 402 rep speed. Come June it’s 323, etc., etc. Because the “tempo” keeps changing, so does the weight you’re able to use. But how do you know if you are ever getting stronger? It’s just like using way too many exercises—there is just too much variety to keep track of.

It’s just like using way too many exercises (bench, incline bench, 1 board, 2 board, 3 board, 4 board, 5 board, all of those with bands, chains, weight releasers, fat bars or any combo of those) because there is just too much variety to keep track of. There are certain variables that need to remain constant in any experiment, and that’s what your training basically is; an experiment.

You are always testing what you are doing and you need to see if it’s working, ie. you are getting stronger. If your bench goes up, is it because your rep speed was different or did you really get stronger? You never know.

There are certain variables that need to remain constant in any experiment, and that’s what your training program basically is– an experiment. You are always testing what you are doing and you need to see if it’s working, meaning that you’re getting bigger and stronger.

If your bench goes up, is it because your “tempo” was different or did you really improve your strength? With varying rep speeds, you never really know. That is one of the major reasons why the “tempo” concept is completely useless.

Anytime you see a routine written with a slow concentric, meaning the lifting portion of the exercise, get up and walk away; it’s shit.

You should never, ever lift a weight slowly if you are trying to get big and strong.

It makes no sense. Muscles are designed for speed and power.

The rare case when this could be of benefit would be during rehab situations. Other than that, it’s crap.

What about lowering the weight slowly? There actually is a lot of research showing that controlling and even stressing the eccentric portion of the movement leads to hypertrophy gains.

There are also about ninety six cajillion guys in the history of the planet that have gotten enormously bigger and stronger without ever worrying about that. (See Arnold and the entire cast of Pumping Iron, the entire WWF, IFBB, NFL and just about every other big guy you have ever seen at the gym).

So what about it? What’s the answer there?

My advice is to always control the eccentric portion of every exercise you do, never drop the weight. I would say a controlled one to two  seconds would be great. No need to purposely slow it down at all; simply control it so that you don’t get hurt and then explode back up as fast as possible.

Some exercises with a bigger range of motion, such as a squat might take up to three seconds with heavy weights. That’s fine as long as you aren’t counting the seconds or going purposely slow.

Control the descent and explode up, it’s as simple as that.

What about pausing? Pausing is ok, especially in exercises where an extreme stretch can help you grow. Any kind of calf raise is a perfect example of this. You should almost always pause and get a skin ripping stretch at the bottom of a calf raise.

Too much variety and a lack of consistency is actually a huge problem in most peoples training programs. Using every rep speed you can possibly make up, just makes the problem worse. Stick to a controlled negative and explode the weight up. Sometimes you can pause in the bottom if there is a good reason . But for the most part, keep it simple.

So the next time you see a workout program with any kind of “tempo” prescription included in it, run the other way in a hurry; there are far better ways to waste your time.

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