Time under tension is a training protocol, which increases the intensity by manipulating the tempo at which you lift your weights. By altering the tempo at which you train can help you burst through training plateaus, besides being a useful tool for fat loss.
Recent studies have underpinned the value of tempo training, reinforcing it as a method that offers great results. I have been using it for my clients during their strength phases, where reps are genuinely lower to help keep intensity up and promote fat loss to good effect. The journal of Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism compared the effect of three different lifting tempos on energy expenditure and excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC).
The study involved three trained males who had to perform three sets of five reps at 70% of their 1RM in the bench press using one of the following lifting tempos:
- 1.5 seconds eccentric (lowering down) and concentric (pressing up)
- 4 seconds eccentric and 1 second concentric
- 1 second eccentric and 4 seconds concentric
Results showed that the 1.5-second tempo, which took a total of 15 seconds per set, required the least energy. Furthermore, the EPOC was significantly lesser than with the other two tempos that each took 25 seconds per set. This is not surprising since the participants spent more time under the weight. It demonstrates how mixing up the tempo is a simple way to burn more energy during and after working out.
Greater EPOC means metabolism is elevated to a significant degree after the exercise bout and your body burns more calories during the 24-hour recovery period. EPOC is elevated much more after exercises that use the anaerobic instead of the aerobic energy system, indicating that altering training tempo is an easy way to train the anaerobic system for sports that require shorter bursts of activity.
Tempo variations can also be used to gain power and speed. Power athletes can alter time under tension to improve performance by including ballistic contractions such as Olympic lifting, squat jumps or bench throws in order to bring about more central nervous system adaptations.
Tom Winterbottom personal trainer St John’s Wood personal trainer Marylebone