I know the subject may sound like I’m talking about the pace of your usual romp …but I mean lifting wise…do yo guys record tempo.and when you do is it an actual count…how do you switch your tempo by phases. I personally try to control the weight…the counting is HUGE distraction . Let me hear em…thanks Mike
When I did tempo workouts which I do not anymore. I used a clip on metronome from a music store. They are about 20bucks and keep perferct tempo. That way I do not have to count I just listen.
I have been using ian kings recommendation for tempo lately, and have found it difficult to concentrate at times, but have found it easier to count with my breathing, which incidentally means breathing a little faster or a little slower at times, but this makes it so there arent separate counting rhythyms and breathing rhythyms.
Mikey…wassup, bro. I think the whole tempo issue can be taken out of context, and in your case, it is actually “distracting” you, which is not the point. While it is important–gotta love those guys who just bounce the bar and swing the dumbbells–I feel that you can’t let it take away from maximum stimulation. I mean, if you’re not able to get the most from each set, rep and workout because you’re too worried about achieving proper tempo, then what’s the point. So, maybe do your counting or whatever during a warmup set or two, then you’ve got the feel during the work sets and you can concentrate on what you need to. Train like an animal and forget about counting, buddy!
Try counting on the warm up sets to get a feel for how fast the weight should travel, then just keep it around that speed. Counting out the pauses are a must because it’s hard to pause for long periods of time. The idea is to keep it around the prescribed tempo, it can always be right on.
These days I use emphasized negatives (4 seconds approximately, rather than a fast
“count of 4”) only during specific
workouts targeted towards muscle gain.
Most workouts – and fact is, if not
a beginner you inevitably will NOT gain
significant muscle with each workout –
are performed with fast negatives.
just count the first 2 reps to yourself then copy the speed for the rest…people keep getting hung up on the small things and missing the bigger picture…i find i dont have to consiously count reps anymore…im normally thinking of things that allow me to get amped up, ie imagining myself losing a fight cause i didnt put the effort in, scoring a hottie if i can get this rep.
BTW my fav tempo is X lift and 4sec lower, with low reps…
Thanks for the replies guys! Bill is that program a phase(like 4 weeks) or just a singular workout. Sounds interesting. Timbo hows the bulking going…I’m up to 2800 kcals now…which isn’t enough yet but i figure i’ll need to hit 300 3100 to gain appreciable weight with miniml fat gain.hit me back… Everyone else thank you for your replies so far…Mike
Just practice a breathing pattern that will help you with tempo.
for 311 tempo for example… I breathe in and out 3 times on the way down, at the bottom i take a big breath which accounts for the 1 second pause, and then boom I shoot up releasing my breath with a bit of pressure.
What I’m doing for myself now – which is
not well enough proven to make a big point
of – is doing training cycles where only
2 weeks are expected to produce gains, and
3 or more are not. These weeks do however
progress in weight, starting at 60% 1RM
and building up so the gaining weeks will be
at 76-80% 1RM. And the weeks aren’t wasted
because dieting or recovery goals are accomplished.
In the gaining weeks, bodyparts which I choose
to specialize in because they are lagging
are worked seriously twice, while other bodyparts that just need average gains are
worked seriously once. E.g., this next cycle
I am going to emphasize legs, abs, and arms,
at the insistence of my girlfriend (and she
happens to be correct.)
So, workout 1 would ordinarily be legs, abs,
and lumbars, but I’m throwing in triceps
too. I’ll work out twice on that day, and
do emphasized negatives.
Workout 2 would ordinarily be a non-gaining
back day (if I tried to gain it would interfere
with gains of the leg workout just done.) That’s what it will be this time except that
I will endeavour to gain on biceps, brachialis
etc.
Workout 3 for the week would ordinarly be
chest, shoulders, and tris with intent to gain.
and that’s exactly what it will be this time.
Workout 1 of the next week would ordinarily
be a lower body day that there was no intent
to gain, just maintenance, so as not to interfere with chest
and shoulder gains, but this time I will be
working to gain on legs and abs.
Workout 2 of the second week would ordinarily
be a gaining day for back and biceps, and will be this time (though it will interfere somewhat with gains from the 2nd gaining leg workout, but we need at least one of the back workouts
to be productive.)
Workout 3 of the 2nd week will be a maintenance day for chest and shoulders, but since triceps
are being emphasized, will be worked with intent to gain there.
After that, a week at the same weights with
intent to maintain, then back down to 60% 1RM.
Magik Mike…2800! Bust ‘em up, kid…no time like the present, my man. Thanks for asking about your boy Timbo. Things were moving kinda slow and I was just treading water there for a couple weeks–working my tail off but afraid to bump the cals up…This past weekend I went home and all I did was EAT! Honest, bro, I ate like Ronnie Coleman in the off season…Sunday, I guarantee I got my cals in the 10K range…I just grazed. They weren’t the cleanest foods and it wasn’t/isn’t the way I’d like to approach things…but it provided some psychological relief and kinda gave me boost. Not to mention that if there was a single empty glycogen granule in any muscle fiber it is now filled! Bottom line is that I know I need to eat big and clean on a consistent basis and just keep bustin’ ass in the gym. As far as your tempo dilemma, buddy, just go into the gym and visualize yourself kickin’ some butt and make the most out of every single rep! I do suggest that you emphasize the negatives on most/all sets (3+ sec). Good luck, kid.
I have been carefully monitoring my lifting tempo for over a year now. If you are counting ‘seconds’ during your repetitions, it’s guaranteed that you are moving the weights faster than you think you are. I use a spot clock with a magnet on the back (the clock came from the automotive section of Target and the magnet came out of the back of a refrigerator magnet, total cost about $3.00). I attach the clock to a spot that allows me to watch the time of each repetition. Monitoring and being able to change the tempo of my repetitions has been very useful in my training. For example I was performing dips using a strict 10/10 cadence. (You haven’t felt pain until you have tried this!). After about eight or nine months this exercise stopped being progressive, so I changed my cadence to 6/6 and have been slowly adding weight to this exercise for a full year now. Training with a specific cadence is very hard to do in the beginning, but in the long run you will get good at it and your strength training will benefit from it. Good luck!
Taks for the rsponses guys…Bill i take it that you are "on " when performing that program? Timbo.whoa way to break the cycle.wish i could giv mysef one of those days…maybe in the future who knows…keep up the hard work buddy. Mustard King thanks for the input …how were the size /strength increases off that slow cadence program…? do u ever use normal cadences…ie, 2-4 secs…I stated this thread to find out some input because all I could think of wer the days when it was walk into the weightroom lift heavy weights in a controlled manner…go home eat, sleep and repeat… Some times I think we get caught up in technicalities.Thanks alot guys Mike
I’m not sure what a ‘normal’ cadence would really be. I have found that different exercises seem to work better with different cadences, but these may be specific to just me. For example for dips I use 6/6, chins 10/10, overhead presses (on a machine) 6/6. For the lower body exercises, squats and dead lifts, I’m much closer to 4/4. On these last two exercises I only time the first couple of repetitions because keeping good form demands all of my attention. I would guess that as I get fatigued I move the weights faster. Periodically I add some isolation work to my routine. These have a shorter range of motion so the cadence is faster, though the speed the weight is moved is still pretty slow. I have been really happy with my strength gains using these cadences. The weights I lift are constantly going up. As for size, I’ve been trying to get lighter by restricting my calorie intake. I’m now down to 200 pounds at 6’1’’ with body fat of 16%. 18 months ago I was 228 pounds, had a body fat level that I’m too embarrassed to admit to, and was MUCH weaker.
Bill, is 4 seconds an ideal or minimum amount of time to emphasize the negative for hypertrophy? Thanks.
I don’t know if 4 seconds is “ideal” but
it’s generally a good tempo for negatives
if there’s a desire to cause eccentric
damage to stimulate growth.
Mike, yes, I’m “on” during the gaining
parts (and sometimes dieting parts)
of the training cycle described.