Slow and steady wins the race

When you lift tempo can be key to building lean muscle. The reason is that the longer a muscle is under strain the more damage it does to the tissue making it grow back bigger and stronger. This known as time under tension of the muscle. So if you regularly hit the gym but have started seeing your gains slow and you do your reps as quick as you can then this might be the problem. What can you do about it? Slow down! This is especially important for the eccentric phase or the lowering phase. The way you lift can also depend on your goals. It has been shown in studies that lifting quick will increase you calorie burn by 10% but you won't cause as big a breakdown of your muscles. If you are training for muscle I would recommend a 3120 tempo. This is 3 seconds for the eccentric phase, 1 second rest at the bottom, 2 seconds up and a no rest at the top. To build strength and power a the tempo mainly used would be 4010. This mean that your power comes from the explosive 1 second, or less, concentric (pushing or pulling) phase. Varying your tempo can also be a great way to get over a plateau in your training. Just mixing up such a simple thing can really help you reach your goals quicker. To avoid plateau's you can mix up your tempo each week to keep your body guessing and growing back bigger and stronger.