What Part of the Lifting Movement Delivers the Results? Both – If You Lift With Proper Tempo
Throughout 21 years of training civilians and military, I’ve stressed proper technique as being THE most important aspect of optimal training…followed very closely by high intensity. When you speak about correct training form, it generally can be broken down to two areas – range of motion and movement tempo. Today, we are going to talk about the second of those.
Lifting with the correct tempo not only preserves safety but also adds additional productivity to the session. We often think that results come from the starting point to the pinnacle of the contraction, but a lot is gained from returning the weight slowly to the original position. It comes down to time under muscular tension. In addition to more productivity, moving weights back and forth quickly adds dynamic force which can become extremely dangerous. A well-known type of training that is known for rapid weightlifting also has an exceptionally high rate of injury that they consider to be acceptable part of exercise.
The tempo I recommend for upper body is a 1 second lift, 1 second pause and a 3 second return or 1-1-3 count. For heavier lower body lifting like squats, slow it down to a 5 second return or 1-1-5 count. If you’ve been lifting sloppy and fast, you’ll likely need to lower your weight in order to do it right. Put your ego away and train like a professional…not a gamer.
Sharks Train Alongside the Men and Women of the Patriot Training Foundation
Did you know our program is used by our brother non-profit organization, the Patriot Training Foundation, to train military personnel for the challenges ahead? From before they enter to the day the uniform comes off for the last time, our program produces results than earn them the top PT (physical training) scores. Their lives depend on being optimally fit…so does yours. You don’t have to be a warrior to train like one.