rep SPEED

[TheOak84]

when i do repS with MY FIRst compound movement, bench, sQUAT etc, i uSE A 4 Second negative and uSUALLy explode. if im doin a work set of 8, ill do that for 4-5 repS with that tempo, THEN switch to about 2 SECONDs down and explode. WITH ABOUT A 1 SECOND REst at the top. not locking out of courSE

for A 2ND COMPOUND MOVEMENT and/OR isolation movement i uSE 2-3 UP, 2-3 DOWN, WITH 0 REst at the top or bottom, unleSs i wanna usE A FORCED REP.

I JUst STARTED TO DO THIs about 3 monthS AGO, I CAN see different resULTs. IM ALso noticing better STRENGHT AND ENDURANCE. before it waS JUst about lifitng the weight and goin through the motion.

any feed back?

 

[majutsu]

I sure do . . . dug this old thread up searching for rep tempo myself

Supposedly, according to Charles Polaquin and others, the ideal time under tension to create hypertrophy is 40-70 sec. As an experiment, I timed myself on several movements. On bench, I did 10 rep at 1rep = 3.5 sec. On squat, 4sec each rep. Curls 2.5sec. So only on the squat was I getting into the ideal growth zone at 40-70 sec, and barely at that. This range to is a bell curve, with most responding in the middle. So, I experimented with different rep cadences. 4 sec negatives were unnatural and affected my strength curve too much. I found 3-0-2-0 (tempos written as neg:stretched:contraction:lockout) to be best. I could use good weight, but did have to reduce it. This is a 5 sec rep. So 10-12 reps puts me 50-70 sec. I rest exactly 60 sec, then hit it again.

To make the tempo easy, I used a midi synthesizer to make beats. I used a 5/4 time signature with 60bpm, with a looping drum'n'bass beat. Now, I ain't no DJTricky, but it's certainly passable and no worse than the old Evanesence the gym plays So, I mixed an hour of this tempo mix. I burn the resultant midi file to a wav, then to my mp3 player.

My workouts are smooth and programmed like a machine, and the soreness is remarkable and growth is phenomenal. A slower rep tempo would let you do the traditional 8-10 reps, but I didn't like the artificiality of the super-slow reps. Mine is a comprimise that should hit the hypertrophy zone. Besides, I do enough low-rep heavy stuff to balance this kind of high-rep thing out. Plus, Serge Nubret did a lot of this, and he's a hero of mine.

Keep me posted on your rep tempo experiments, and I'll let you know about mine. I am going to try 4-1-2-1 next.