Rep Tempo and Time Under Tension

Training

Rep Tempo and Time Under Tension
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Tempo is one of the most underutilised and poorly understood training variables, and it is actually an important variable to grasp if you want to get the most out of your resistance training. It isn’t even a difficult concept to grasp, yet many people willfully ignore it.

We have actually already touched on the topic of tempo in this article series on exercise, as we discussed the stretch-shortening cycle in the article on understanding reps. However, there is more to the discussion than just the stretch-shortening cycle.

However, to really dig into this topic, I am going to just assume that you already understand why exercise is important, the goals of exercise, the types of exercise we have available to us, and you have a rough idea of the general exercise guidelines. It would also be helpful if you had a good understanding of why and how we use resistance training to build muscle and strength. I am also going to assume that if you intend to use this information to make better exercise programs, you have already spent some time thinking about your exercise selection and have ensured it is appropriate for your goals.

If you haven’t already, it would be incredibly helpful to read our article on understanding reps, as this does cover a lot of stuff around reps that will allow you to better understand and utilise the information in this article. Our article on RIR and RPE is also quite helpful in rounding out your knowledge of reps.

You can also visit our exercise hub for more content on exercise.

Before we get stuck in, I would just like to remind you that we offer comprehensive online coaching. So if you need help with your own exercise program or nutrition, don’t hesitate to reach out. If you are a coach (or aspiring coach) and want to learn how to coach nutrition, then consider signing up to our Nutrition Coach Certification course. We do also have an exercise program design course in the works, if you are a coach who wants to learn more about effective program design and how to coach it. We do have other courses available too.

Now, with all that out of the way, we can actually get stuck into the discussion of tempo!

Tempo

As I said above, tempo is one of the most underutilised and poorly understood training variables, and it is actually an important variable to grasp. Tempo is simply the pace at which you perform a given repetition. Whether you use an assigned tempo or not, you can’t remove the fact that the movements you are performing are being done at a specific tempo.

The tempo may not be standardised across reps or sets, and they usually aren’t, because most people don’t utilise tempo, and as a result, it is quite difficult to actually discuss the adaptations you are likely to elicit from a given rep scheme. 

For example, performing a set of 5 reps to failure with an extremely slow tempo or 5 reps to failure with a very fast tempo aren’t likely to be targeting the exact same adaptations, despite both reaching failure at 5 reps. 

It should be clear that there is a difference between an exercise performed incredibly slowly and potentially with pauses, and an exercise that is performed more explosively. The difference in tempo can turn the same exercise (on paper), into a completely different exercise.

Take for example Russian former Olympic Weightlifter and World Champion, Dmitry Klokov performing squats with a slow tempo and a pause in the bottom position:

Now, compare that to him performing a similar weight for reps:

On paper, these are both back squats, however, the demands of the exercise and the training effect from performing the exercise are completely different.

So we must consider tempo in our discussion if we are to really be in control of the adaptations we are trying to target. Unfortunately, there is a dichotomous argument in place with discussions on tempo. You have people that argue for excessively slow tempos and you have people that argue that tempo doesn’t even matter.

As per usual, the real answer lies somewhere in the middle. To get to the heart of this, we must discuss the concept of time under tension (TUT).

Time Under Tension (TUT)

Now, you may be wondering where the controversy is, as I stated there was a bit of a dichotomous discussion around tempo in the general health and fitness world. Well, the controversy stems from a discussion of time under tension. As we know that tension on the muscles is part of the key driver for muscle and strength growth (as discussed in our article about using resistance training for muscle and strength gain), it was naturally assumed that spending more time with that muscle under tension (“time under tension”) would lead to better muscle and strength gains. 

the mechanisms of hypertrophy, mechanical tension, muscle damage and metabolic stress

This is a fairly logical assumption, especially when it was put forward (given the state of the scientific knowledge at that time). However, we now know that greater time under tension doesn’t necessarily lead to better adaptations, and it can actually lead to worse adaptations. 

To increase the time under tension (especially to excessively increase it), you will need to lift lighter weights than you are otherwise capable of lifting. For example, you may normally be able to bench press 100kg for 8 reps. If you had to perform those reps excessively slowly, you may only be able to lift 60kg for 8 reps. This leads to a reduced motor unit recruitment and it usually means you become limited by metabolic stress rather than “true muscle failure”. Now, metabolic stress is still a signal for muscle growth, but it isn’t the main driver.

This can be a little bit confusing at first, because it is very logical to make the assumption that more time under tension should be better, because tension is the driver of growth. However, it just isn’t the case. To use a metaphor to describe this, I like to think of the muscles like wire cables, like the type used in suspension bridges. These wire cables are also fitted with sensors so an engineer can see if the wires need to be reinforced (similar to building more muscle).

If you have a very small mouse crossing the bridge, he will be putting the bridge under some stress, but because he is so light, it isn’t providing a signal for the engineer to reinforce the wires. Because the mouse is so small, it takes a long time to cross the bridge (the time under tension is large). It takes a lot of bridge crossings by the mouse for the wires to register any signal, and the signal that is registered is one that the wires have fatigued because so much time has elapsed (similar to metabolic stress). So the wires get reinforced to withstand more long term fatigue. 

However, if we had an elephant cross the bridge (heavier weight), the wires provide the signal that they need to be reinforced if they are to withstand future elephant crossings. The elephant is bigger, so naturally crosses the bridge much more quickly than the mouse (lower TUT), however, despite the reduced TUT the wires still provide a signal that they have been fatigued. So, it isn’t the TUT that is the signal, it is the intensity of the tension that provides the best stimulus for reinforcing the wires.

If we got the elephant to run across the bridge, they may cause excessive amounts of damage to the wires due to the less even application of stress. Conversely, if we got the elephant to cross excessively slowly, the bridge is more likely to fail before the elephant makes it across (similar to failing to accomplish the rep target) or the wires may become so damaged that the bridge needs to be closed (no further sets can be performed). So there is a sweet spot with the amount of time under tension.

Now, the metaphor isn’t perfectly aligned with the way muscles actually work, but it serves to illustrate the fact that we don’t want to maximise TUT at the expense of lifting sufficiently heavy weights.

The more scientific explanation relates to motor unit recruitment and overall muscle physiology. A motor unit consists of a motor neuron and the muscle fibres it innervates. Different motor units are activated based on the demands placed on the muscle. According to the size principle, smaller motor units (with slower-twitch muscle fibres) are recruited first, followed by larger motor units (with fast-twitch muscle fibres) as the intensity of the effort increases.

Lifting heavy weights requires a greater force output, which in turn necessitates the recruitment of higher-threshold motor units, including those with fast-twitch muscle fibres that are essential for muscle hypertrophy and strength. To achieve full motor unit recruitment, maximal or near-maximal effort is often required. Heavy weights provide the necessary stimulus to activate these high-threshold units effectively.

While increasing TUT can contribute to muscle growth by increasing the duration of muscle activation, it alone does not guarantee full motor unit recruitment. Full motor unit recruitment is a critical factor in maximising muscle growth and strength gains. Lighter weights lifted for longer periods may predominantly recruit low-threshold motor units.

Motor unit recruitment also helps to understand the concept of effective reps. During the final reps of a set, the muscle fibres that are recruited first (slow-twitch) become fatigued, necessitating the recruitment of additional fast-twitch fibres. This leads to maximal motor unit recruitment, providing a robust stimulus for muscle growth. The effective reps are the ones that cause full motor unit recruitment.

effective reps

Excessively slow reps (high TUT), when taken to or close to failure, can lead to full motor unit recruitment. However, you are potentially going to be more limited by excessive metabolite build-up (the muscle “burn” becomes too much), cell swelling (the pump becomes too much), cardiovascular fatigue (you get out of breath) or mental fatigue (you get bored or demotivated), rather than reaching full motor unit recruitment.

You are also more likely to be limited by non-target muscles when training with excessively slow reps. For example, your grip may fatigue much quicker than your back muscles when training your back. Your shoulders or triceps may fatigue much quicker than your chest muscles when training your chest. Your lower back may fatigue more quickly than your quads or hamstrings when training your legs. This can be overcome to some degree by only using isolation exercises that have a high degree of stability when training with a high TUT. However, this does limit your overall potential exercise selection, and some of the less obvious benefits of resistance training (i.e. compound movements may strengthen minor muscles and improve general robustness, while isolation exercises may not provide the same benefits).

Another drawback of excessively long TUT is more practical in nature. It simply takes a lot longer to get a training session completed when you use excessively long TUT. Doing 3 sets of 10, with a rest period of 2 minutes between sets, and with each rep taking 3 seconds total, takes 5.5-7 minutes long (depending on whether you count 2 or 3 rest periods). Whereas doing 3 sets of 10, with a rest period of 2 minutes between sets, and with each rep taking 8 seconds total, takes 8-9.5 minutes long.

This may not seem like all that much, but if you only have an hour to workout, you get dramatically less overall volume done when using excessively long TUT. Volume is a key variable that drives muscle growth and strength gain (which we will discuss in a future article), so we don’t want to reduce volume just so we can train excessively slowly.

Now, excessive TUT can be used to target metabolic stress. So it does have some use, but as metabolic stress isn’t the main driver of muscle/strength gain, we likely don’t want to dedicate the majority of our training time to it. But it is a tool in our toolbox.

While TUT isn’t something we need to focus excessively on, that doesn’t mean we should just throw out tempo as a key training variable. Tempo clearly has some utility, and it can make our training safer and more effective. So how do we use tempo appropriately?

How To Use Tempo

So, we can use tempo to target the adaptations we want to target more precisely, but we don’t want to get so caught up in the use of tempo that we forget that we need to provide a sufficient stimulus to the muscle. With that in mind, we can use tempo in a number of ways.

To make this whole discussion of tempo easier, we use a four-digit system to represent the time it takes to perform each rep. For example, let’s consider a 3110 tempo.

3110 – 1st Number | 2nd Number | 3rd Number | 4th Number 

3110
The first number denotes the time to perform the eccentric portion of the lift. The eccentric portion is the portion where the muscle lengthens while producing tension, thus braking or controlling the speed of movement. If we use the squat as an example, the eccentric portion would be when you lower yourself down towards the ground. The second number denotes the pause between lowering the weight and raising it back up. This pause is an isometric contraction, where a muscle develops tension but its length remains unchanged. If the bench press was the example, this would be the point where the bar makes contact with the chest. This is sometimes referred to as the amortisation phase. The third number denotes the concentric portion of the lift. A concentric contraction is when the muscle develops tension and shortens, causing movement to occur. The more advanced a trainee you are, and the more specific you are training for strength or power, the faster your intent for this should be. If there is an “X” in place of a number, then the movement should be performed as quickly as possible (generally the case for power training, and often strength focused training). The fourth number denotes another pause, this time at the end of the concentric phase. It is also another isometric contraction this time the muscle is in a contracted position. For example, the “resting” position at the top of a squat, or the top of a bicep curl where the muscle is fully contracted. 

It should be noted that it is the intent to move the bar at a particular speed rather than the actual speed of the bar that really matters. So if the bar doesn’t take exactly 1 second in the concentric phase, but rather 2 seconds, as long as you tried to move it at a 1 second speed that’s all that matters. Tension is the currency of the muscles, by controlling your tempo, you can create more tension in the muscle and produce more metabolic stress, but as was said previously, you simply can’t make 10kg feel like 100kg to your muscles even if you try. So excessively manipulating tempo, won’t produce “better” results. The weight does still need to be heavy enough to provide the stimulus necessary for the adaptations desired.

I personally like to use tempo to ensure good technique. This is especially important if you are a beginner with poor neuromuscular control. A lot of people let their desire to add weight to the bar far outstrip their ability to actually perform the exercise correctly. Having a set tempo for the exercise does help to solve this (although you will still need to work on your technique).

It is much easier to stay in control of a movement rather than having to try and regain control of a movement once you have gotten out of position. So having a slower, more controlled tempo may be beneficial for ensuring good technique is maintained through multiple sets.

I also like to use a consistent tempo across all reps and sets of an exercise to ensure that you are actually targeting the same adaptations across all sets. You simply can’t compare a set of 10 reps of squats with a 4110 tempo, to a set of squats with a tempo of 10X0 for the same reps. The controlled 4110 squats lead to over 50 seconds of time under tension, and the 10X0 squats lead to just over 10 seconds of time under tension. So although “volume” is equated, the adaptations and demands of each are completely different. 

Now, again, that doesn’t mean we always want to increase the TUT, but we do have to account for it. You will often see people perform their first few reps (or even their first set) fully in control of the weight and with a nice even tempo, and then as fatigue increases, their technique and tempo completely change. Their first rep and their last rep look like completely different exercises, and thus, we may not be targeting the same adaptations. 

Tempo can be used to help standardise your reps, and make your last rep look as good as your first rep.

That doesn’t mean we just use the same tempo for every exercise. Some exercises are just better suited to using slower tempos, and some exercises are better suited to faster tempos. Some adaptations are better targeted with more TUT (such as endurance adaptations), while others are better suited to faster tempos. So we have to be very clear in what we are trying to achieve.

Using a controlled tempo also allows you to actually maintain tension on the target muscle. Specific tempos may also allow you to lift in accordance with the target muscle’s ability to produce force. For example, a lot of people just let the bar crash down to their chest on a bench press and then try to recover the movement from the bottom position. This leads to a situation where they are more likely to get out of position and thus not target the specific adaptations and muscles of interest, and it also doesn’t fit the chest’s ability to produce force. In general, muscles are stronger during the eccentric (lowering phase) of a lift, and thus, using a slower tempo here may allow you to actually put more tension on a muscle and get better results over time. 

Similarly, we may want to bias a certain portion of a lift, and using specific tempos allows us to do this. Again, using the bench press as an example, if we wanted to bias getting stronger in the bottom position of the lift, we would spend more time in that position. Similarly, if we wanted to focus on the top portion of the deadlift, we may just spend more time there. 

Tempo can also be used as a way to negate the use of momentum. Some people use a lot of momentum while lifting, which actually requires less muscular work (now some of this may be offset by virtue of being able to handle heavier weights, but we will discuss that in a moment). So if we want to maximise the amount of tension on a muscle, we generally want to minimise the amount of momentum used, and assigning a tempo to the exercise allows us to do this.

For example, if you have somebody who has lagging bicep development and they use a lot of momentum (swinging) to perform their reps, then we can probably get some pretty quick returns for this individual by just getting them to slow down the movement and actually keep the tension on the biceps throughout the movement. They will likely require less weight, but the tension will actually be on the target muscle as a result.

While I do think focusing on tempo offers the added benefit of control and maintenance of tension on a muscle group, there is a time and place for a little bit of momentum. The time to use momentum is not rep 1, but getting slightly more volume through a few “extra” reps with less than optimal tempo may still lead to good results. This, however, must remain in context.

You have to maintain tension on the target muscle. Doing a few “extra” reps for say bicep curls, where it becomes something that looks like an Olympic lift derivative because you are using so much triple extension, is not maintaining tension on the muscle. What I mean by a few extra reps with momentum, is your technique stays consistent with tension still on the muscle but maybe you use a little bit of momentum or hip drive to get you through a sticking point. The goal should still be to have a controlled eccentric, and tension on the target muscle during the concentric. Remember 1 extra rep isn’t going to “make” your physique, but 1 bad rep could potentially “break” your physique (i.e. you can get injured and suffer a large set back in your physique development).

Further to this, we may also use certain tempos to ensure a safer exercise experience. There are certain positions that are less stable and potentially more likely to be provocative to certain joint structures. For example, the bottom of a bench press may be a position that is more likely to cause the structures in and around the shoulder joint to become “cranky”. Dive-bombing a bench press onto your chest (not controlling the eccentric) and not being in control in the bottom position, isn’t likely to help the situation. However, if we performed the lift with a controlled eccentric and potentially also a pause at the chest, this may result in a safer exercise. 

In general, being more in control of the movements performed in the gym will lead to safer joints (and indeed muscles). It is probably a good idea to be in control of the change of direction of an exercise, especially when the muscles involved are in a more stretched position.

Exercise selection, range of motion and desired training adaptation must all be taken into account when choosing a tempo for an exercise. It would be very difficult to do true 10 second eccentrics on say a calf raise, as the range is so small, and performing reps obsessively slowly will severely limit the amount of weight you can use, which is no good for strength oriented exercises.

A very rough and ready rule for prescribing tempo is to start with the assumption that all exercise is going to be performed with a 2010 tempo, and that the eccentric is to be controlled and the concentric is to be performed explosively (but still under control). That is the standard, and it can be modified from there. 

If you have an exercise with a larger range of motion, you may want to increase the eccentric portion (perhaps 3010). If you are someone who is newer to exercise (and thus has poorer neuromuscular control), you may want to also increase the concentric portion too (perhaps 3020 or 3030), as this may help you to build a better connection with the muscles you are trying to target. 

If you want to bias certain portions of the lift, or you feel that easing in and out of the end ranges would be a good idea, then you can alter the “isometric” portions of the tempo prescription (i.e. use something like a 2110 or 2011 or 2111 tempo). 

With someone who is advanced, you may not need to be excessively descriptive with the tempo, and instead just aim to be in control of the weight throughout the movement. As advanced trainees have a large degree of muscle coordination and know what positions are better or worse to spend more time in, they will likely be able to allocate an appropriate tempo. However, even as an advanced lifter, you may still want to set the tempo for certain exercises, to ensure certain adaptations are being targeted (i.e. you may be using an exercise for metabolic stress, and thus a slower tempo may be more beneficial).

Finally, there are certain training techniques that would require specific tempos. For example, you may want to perform an isometric challenge against resistance. This may be something like trying to pull a heavy weight from the rack just below or at the position you fail during a deadlift. The weight may not actually move, and thus you can’t use a 4-number tempo prescription, but you may still want to prescribe the amount of time you pull against the weight (i.e. pull against the weight for 5 seconds before relaxing). 

As another example, you may want to just lift something explosively or to indeed throw something explosively. This can potentially be programmed with an “X” in the 4 numbered system (i.e. 31X0 for a squat that is controlled on the eccentric, paused in the bottom position and then lifted as explosively as possible for the concentric portion, with no rest at the top position). However, certain exercises and protocols don’t facilitate the use of a 4 numbered system. If you want to throw a heavy medicine ball explosively, for example, you can’t really assign a tempo to that movement, other than to just noting to lift as explosively as you can.

Ultimately, tempo is an important variable to consider in a training program. There are some specific nuances to take account of, but ultimately, if we generally just try to be in control of the weights we are lifting, throughout their ranges of motion, and try not to use momentum, then we don’t need to be overly prescriptive with tempo. However, it is still a very valuable tool to have in the toolbox, especially when we want to target specific adaptations. 

Tempo Conclusion

Tempo is a crucial resistance training variable that is often overlooked. Understanding and manipulating the components of tempo, such as the eccentric, isometric, and concentric phases, allows you to customise your training for specific goals.

While time under tension (TUT) sounds like it is important, ultimately, it shouldn’t be a huge focus in your training. So we don’t want to focus on tempo so much that it leads us to use excessively light weights.

However, in most instances, you do want to be in control of your reps, and you do want to standardise your reps. Having an assigned tempo allows you to do this.

As with everything, there is always more to learn, and we haven’t even begun to scratch the surface with all this stuff. However, if you are interested in staying up to date with all our content, we recommend subscribing to our newsletter and bookmarking our free content page. We do have a lot of content on how to design your own exercise program on our exercise hub.

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The previous article in this series is about RIR & RPE (Do You Need To Train To Failure) and the next article in this series is about Training Volume (How Many Sets Should You Do), if you are interested in continuing to learn about exercise program design. You can also go to our exercise hub to find more exercise content.

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Paddy Farrell
www.triagemethod.com

Hey, I'm Paddy!

I am a coach who loves to help people master their health and fitness. I am a personal trainer, strength and conditioning coach, and I have a degree in Biochemistry and Biomolecular Science. I have been coaching people for over 10 years now.

When I grew up, you couldn't find great health and fitness information, and you still can't really. So my content aims to solve that!

I enjoy training in the gym, doing martial arts and hiking in the mountains (around Europe, mainly). I am also an avid reader of history, politics and science. When I am not in the mountains, exercising or reading, you will likely find me in a museum.