I recently started hypertrophy II in NROL and I have a few questions about tempo. I understand that in the tempo 321, 3 is the lowering or eccentric phase of the lift, 2 is the pause, and 1 is the concentric phase. My question has to do with the pause and where it should be in the lift for: rows (cable and bent over), pull-ups/chin-ups and lat pull-downs, and dips.
When performing cable seated rows, where is the pause in a 321 tempo? When the arms are out or when the arms are in close to the body? Same for pull-downs/ups and dips?
Since the pause is indicated between the eccentric and concentric portions of the lift, it would come with the arms outstretched in seated rows, in the stretched position of a pull down, and in the bottom of a dip. (Or so it would seem to me.)
hmm, I've always thought it was the other way around. I thought it was always in the spot where it was a bit of work to hold the weight at. It's at the bottom of the bench press, so I figured it was against the body for the row, since both require an effort to hold it there.
Blues, You are right that what is written says a 2 second pause after the eccentric portion of the movement, so in a seated cable row that would be with the arms extended. However, I really doubt that's what they meant. It's what is written, but it doesn't make sense to do it that way.
Lou or Alwyn can correct me if they disagree, but in a hypertrophy program it makes sense to hold the contracted portion of the lift for back work. That is the most difficult point of the movement.
If you wanted to really get involved in a big way with tempos (which NROL doesn't) you'd write them with 4 numbers - eccentric muscle action, pause, concentric muscle action, pause. In a bench press with a 3210 tempo, that's 3 counts down, a 2 count pause, a 1 count upward push and no pause before the next rep.
A row with the same tempo would not usually be prescribed because you really want the pause to come during the contracted portion of the movement, when the bar or handle is closest to your body. Same for a pull-up, in a hypertrophy program you would choose to pause when the muscle is contracted, at the most difficult moment in the lift, so at the top. So you'd usually see a comparable tempo for back work written as 3012. If you begin with your arms extended in a seated cable row, that would be pull for 1 count, pause for 2 count, extend for 3 count, no pause before the next rep. And I seriously think that is what should have been written in the book and I think it was even the intent.
I totally agree with your assessment and that is what I do in practice with my own lifting routine. (However, I was only trying to address (without further interpretation) the scheme as presented in the book in case there was a reason they had actually presented it in that fashion.)
I just found this quote from Ian King (and I know Ian didn't have anything to do with NROL, but still, this might be applicable here). Ian uses more tempo prescriptions than any other trainer I know.
Quote:
I use a three (3) number system to communicate speed of movement in strength training. More recently there have been moves by some to use four (4) numbers. I am not sure if this is borne out of need, or a desire to be able to claim the concept as their own! Whilst you can argue the technical correctness of four numbers, from my experiences, I don't like to finesse too much until the basics are perfected! The middle number generally applies to the pause at both ends of the eccentric and concentric movements. More information is not always needed — what is needed is something that works!
So Ian is saying that he uses the middle number to indicate the pause after both the eccentric AND the concentric muscle actions. If you want to think of these tempos in that light, then they will work for pushing and pulling movements.
Remember too that tempo prescriptions are guidelines that help you get the purpose of the workout, whether it's hypertrophy (slower controlled tempos) or strength (faster explosive tempos). In Mel Siff's "Facts and Fallacies of Fitness," one of the fallacies he highlights is tempo prescriptions.
Quote:
Fallacy: Prescription of duration of the eccentric, concentric and isometric phases of an exercise is an effective way of stipulating movement tempo
He argues that they are only counted mentally to give a rough idea of duration and that rate of force development makes using a tempo prescription even less accurate. Describing a tempo with a 4 count concentric, he shows how that tempo prescription might be very different for two different lifters. (Imagine a bench press and you can see what he means.)
Quote:
Moreover, the digits given tend to disguise the fact that the rate of force development is not constant throughout any movement, so that a phase which lasts for 4 seconds could comprise a 1-second initial acceleration, followed by a 2-second stage around one's sticking point, and terminated by a 1-second deceleration stage. Or, the 4-second phase could be more approximately uniform in force production.
My whole point is that tempos are a guideline and not so specific that you should worry that you are somehow missing out on something if you don't have them exactly right. Get the concept and pay attention to your own body and what you're experiencing.
Lisa, as a counter, taking from Ian King's "Four second to a more productive workout" or some such title, I think the pause at the end of the eccentric in all exercises is intended to rid the body of the elastic energy in the stretch shortening cycle.
So for a row, the arms would be pause at the outstretch.
But with all cases, some prudence is needed. Pausing with the bar just two inches off the chest on a bench press can be disastrous.
A few questions regarding tempo
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