Tempo
What is Workout Tempo?
Tempo is the pace at which we do an exercise.
There are four phases to every movement:
The eccentric phase, where our target muscles are lengthening as we are moving in the direction of gravity or external load
The bottom of the movement (first isometric)
The concentric phase, where our target muscles are shortening as we are moving away from the direction of gravity or external load
The top of the movement (second isometric)
You can change the tempo of any of these phases of a movement. You may want to move slower on the eccentric phase, hold at the bottom, move fast on the concentric phase, or pause at the top.
In programming, the tempo is written like this: 3/2/1/X with the order being Eccentric/Bottom/Concentric/Top.
A 3/2/1/X tempo means that you are lowering down for three seconds, pausing at the bottom for two seconds, pushing up for one second, and the “X” at the top means there is no pause. You’d go right back down into your next rep.
Modifying tempo is a great way to make your workouts more challenging without having to use more weight! The most common tempo modifications are to add pauses and to lengthen the eccentric.
