Aug18

9 Reasons Why I Like Tempo Lifts

posted by admin

Tempo lifts require a certain speed during your lifts. Let’s use squats as a example. A prescription of 31X0 for a back squat means:

3 seconds to lower into the bottom of the squat
1 second pause at the bottom of the lift
X means lifting as explosively as possible
0 seconds pause at the top of the lift.

Obviously you can change the speed of the lifts for whatever goal you’re trying to accomplish. For the sake of this article we’ll be discussing a slowed lowering (eccentric) and pausing at the bottom of the lift.

I used to hate tempo lifts. I first tried these back when Charles Poliquin was espousing their use back in the late 90′s. The reason for my hatred was simple, I just couldn’t lift as much weight during tempo lifts. I thought they were dumb. Anything that made me look weaker then I was, was immediately thrown in the trash. Now after about 15 years of training I’ve come around to using it quite a bit more. Here’s why in no particular order.

1) Technique

Slowing down the movement allows you to practice performing the lift correctly. You build strength throughout the entire range of motion ultimately helping to promote exercise mastery.

2) Tendinopathy

In the realm of physical therapy, high tension eccentrics have been shown to be an effective treatment for many forms of tendinopathy. Once we get to a certain age and have had pain for several months it is more likely to be a result of tendinopathy then generic tendinitis. If we’re slowing down the eccentric phase of our lifts then we may also be improving the health of our tendons along the way.

3) Checking Our Ego at the Door

Tempo lifts require you to lower the weights you normally use for a given exercise. This may be an ego check for many but …read more