i read somewhere that when you pause at the bottom of an exercise that there is a stretch shortening cycle, plyometric, whtever it is, that creates elastic tension or something, anyway i read taht tehh elastic tension produced is what moves the weight for the most part and that this energy is present for 4 seconds after reaching the bottom, the thing is that this energy is held in the tendons not the muscles, so wouldn’t it make sense to shape your muscles better, to add a four second pause at the bottom of every exercise?
You’re on the right track, but a generally better way of doing it is to take 3 seconds for the eccentric movement, and then a 1 second pause.
Here is what I wrote[1] in regards to a similar question a while back:
You may have noticed that a 311 rep timing seems to be the most commonly suggested one in a great many T-Mag articles. I actually wondered about this myself for a long time, trying to figure out why that seemed to be the “best” to many of the T-Mag authors.
Then, one day while reading the T-Mag archive, I came across an article that explained it. The reason it seems more comfortable to you to drop, then explode, is because it’s easier. The reason it’s easier is because of the stretch shortening cycle. What it means, to quote TC and Ian King, is:
“If the transition from eccentric to isometric to concentric is performed quickly, the resultant concentric contraction is a lot more powerful than if no eccentric action was performed.”
To show this example clearly, try squating down slowly, pausing, then jumping as high as you can. Follow that by quicking dropping into a squat, and immediately jumping as high as you can. Chances are you jumped a lot higher the second time.
The reason that a 311 tempo is suggested, is because by spending three seconds to lower the weight, then pausing for 1 second, you are losing that elastic stretch energy, and forcing your muscles to work harder to lift weight. The last 1, for the concentric motion, means that you should basically lift the weight as fast as possible. It may not actually move very fast, if you’re using a heavy weight, but the idea is to try to lift it fast.
Basically, this is less about utilizing the eccentric movement, than it is about accentuating the concentric movement. By doing this, you can place maximum tension on your muscles during the concentric lift, and if you strive to lift the weight fast, you can increase your power.
For the full details on this concept, see the article by TC and Ian King called “Four Seconds to More Productive Workouts”[2].
[1] http://t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=462869
[2] http://t-nation.com/findArticle.do?article=body_53four
i’m not trying to be rude, but you completely missed what i said, the eccentric part of an exercise builds up the SSC, and even if you lowered the bar in 3 seconds there would still be elastic energy present. i was saying that if you want to sculpt better muscles, wouldn’t it be smarter to have a 4 second pause at the bottom of the movement, after the eccentric has already been done b/c this would force you to use your muscles and not your tendons, thus shaping your muscles better
sorry, i misread what you wrote