There are 4 phases of a movement:

1. The eccentric phase, where our muscle are lengening as we are moving in the direction of gravity or external load

2. The bottom of the movement

3. The concentric phase, where our muscle are lengening as we are moving away from the direction of gravity or external load

4. The top of the movement
   

Your coach can change the tempo of any of these phases of a movement. They may want you to move slower on the eccentric phase, hold at the bottom, move fast on the concentric phase or pause at the top. 

Your coach may write tempo one of two ways. 

1. Verbally  i.e. “hold for three seconds in the bottom of this squat”

1. Noted as X/X/X/X i.e X/3/X/X
   

In the noted form X/X/X/X, the order is Eccentric/Bottom/Concentric/Top
So a 3/2/1/X tempo, means that you are lowering down for 3 seconds, pausing at the bottom for 2 seconds, pushing up for 1 second and X at the top means there is no pause, you’re just going to go right back down.

We program tempo very specifically, so please be strict when you are counting and try to adhere closely to the protocol. If you normally squat 100 lbs, when your coach adds a 3 second pause at the bottom (X/3/X/X), you will have to take some weight off that bar in order to successfully complete the prescribed reps + tempo. If the weight is too heavy for you to maintain tempo, decrease weigh