Confused about Tempo.

[CharDar]

I can't believe that I've gone this long on NROL and I'm still confused about tempo. I know it goes over it in the book and I've looked back and read Lou's explanation, but I still don't fully understand it.

Mostly it's just confusing to me on how to do push/pull, as well as moves like dips and even a deadlift(pretty much everything). The way I understand it is, that on a normal 311 tempo for a benchpress the 3 would be bringing it down to your chest and the 1 would be the pause at your chest, then the next 1 would be the actual press. But, as I said, I'm still very confused about if that's right and how to perform it for other exersices as well.

A great explaination or even an article would be great!

[Phaedrus49er]

That's right about the 311 stuff. For all exercises, think of it this way: whichever way the resistance wants you to pull you, when you go in that direction, that's the "3" (lowering a barbell, a dumbbell, your body, etc). The pause at the end of that direction is the first "1." When you move in the other direction against the resistance, that's the other "1."

Example 1 - squat: 3 seconds to lower from standing to bottom position, 1 second pause, 1 second to return to standing.

Example 2 - pull-up: 1 second to rise from bottom to top (going against gravity), 1 second pause, 3 seconds to lower to the bottom again.

Capice?