Slow Controlled Reps "Lifting Tempo"

Tempo is often a common variable that is overlooked during most trainee's programs. Altering the speed of a repetition will make a huge difference in how difficult that movement becomes. If you don't believe me try performing a pull up or push up with proper form  in 3 seconds up , 1 second pause, and 3 seconds down fashion each repetition and see how your reps are cut in half.

 It is advocated that a person should exercise smoothly,rhythmically, and without haste, but no so slowly that the mere holding of the weight would tire the person. A momentary pause at the end of each repetition is advocated.

There are many tempo schemes out there, nautilus traditionally uses a 2/1/4 scheme , which translates to 2 seconds concentric phase, 1 second pause, 4 second eccentric phase. Another popular one is 3/1/3. The whole purpose is to affect the stretch shortening cycle.  A stretch-shortening cycle (SSC) can be defined as an active stretch (eccentric contraction) of a muscle followed by an immediate shortening (concentric contraction) of that same muscle.  It has been postulated that elastic structures in series with the contractile component can store energy like a spring after being forcibly stretched. Slowing down the reps will allow one to control for things like momentum which relies on physics to get the job done , then on muscular strength.

The pause is important in order to dispel that inherent elastic component in the muscles ( think rubber band effect) when an exercise is performed quickly; which allows one to rely on elastic energy to propel oneself up and thus make the the exercise easier. For example while performing squats while lowering yourself , you feel a stretch at the bottom position and take advantage of that to lift more weight , you may be doing yourself a disservice since you are in fact doing less muscular work.

Example Tempo's for different goals
Symbols X = Explosive , or As Fast as Possible


Maximal Strength: 85-100% of your 1RM
So the tempo would be X- 2- 3 , assuming concentric phase, pause, eccentric phase, if it is an exercise that works in reverse order for example squats than just reverse order the tempo so it would be 3 -2 - X
You can play with the pause period from 1s pause up a  4s pause.


Strength and Size: 75-85% of your 1RM
Tempo would be;  4-1-4 slower if the intensity is closer to 85% , or  2-1-2 if the intensity is closer to 75%
You can have a longer pause for pulling movements , i.e. pull up pause 2s


Hypertrophy: (60-75% of your 1RM)
Tempo would be; 4-1-7 if intensity is closer to 75% , and 2-1-3 if intensity is closer to 60%
Pause in the stretched: 0-1 second (longer pause for pulling movements)

***
Slow eccentric , causes you to apply a very high level of force , on the other hand a fast eccentric is advantageous for maximal strength or plyometrics when wanting to recruit the fast twitch muscle fibers and give the nervous system a break between each explosion. One method is not superior to the other , so it would be optimal to alternate between each method, for example on a 2 day strength training regimen one day can be slow tempo , and the other day can be faster tempo.

Circuit Training

When most people think of circuit training they think of doing them with weights / machines etc...
Here I show a very effective circuit using your bodyweight.
You can Jump Rope or Sub Run/Jump in place  for one minute ,after doing a set of the BW exercises. Note you will do the below list one after another without rest which will count as 1 round through the entire circuit. More advanced trainees can perform 3-5 rounds of this routine.

Hindu Squats -50 reps
Jump Rope - 60 sec

Hindu Pushups- 25 reps
Jump Rope- 60 sec

V-Ups- 25 reps
Jump Rope- 60 sec

Reverse Pushups - 10 reps
Jump Rope - 60 sec

No Momentum Situps- 10 reps
Jump Rope - 60 sec

Table Pushup- 20 reps
Jump Rope -60 sec

Kneeling Backbend- 10 reps
Jump Rope - 60 sec

Body Weight Strength Goals

Some Relative Strength Standards based on body weight for those looking to see where they measure up compared to elite military operators. Also noticed in some martial arts schools doing a 100 push ups is one of the many prerequisites for getting advanced level belt promotions.  

BW Squat > 120 in 120 secs
BW Push up >  100 in 120s
BW Pull up  >   20 in 120s
BW Sit up  >    100 in 120s

And again an excellent way to improve your numbers would be a quick tabata circuit ,you can do each exercise for 4 min a piece ,  you can pick two exercises and alternate them for the 4 minutes, you can pick all four exercises and will alternate  problem with this is that not enough volume so you may have to run through the circuit 2 more times , but should allow enough time for beginners to recover.

Another way to get those high reps is to do ladder/pyramid workouts , example do 100 reps , by doing 1 rep per set until you reach rep 10 , and then work your way back down to rep 1 and if you do the math that's 100 reps. 

10 Exercises on Suspension Trainer

1. Assisted by 1 arm , - Pistol Squat
2. Dips
3. Horizontal Rows
4. Assisted Back Single Leg Squat
5. Pike Press
6. One Leg 1/2 Bridge ( Hamstring Curl)
7. L-pull Ups 
8. Bulgarian Lunge
9. Push Ups
10. Gyroscope (Abs)

The upper limits on Fat-Free Mass (aka Lean Body Mass)

My curiosity on what are the upper limits of muscular development in humans , and paying close attention during my Exercise Physiology Class during the lecture on body composition. The research has pointed me into the direction that contrary to popular belief among bodybuilding websites that one can just balloon up in size past 300+lbs of muscle the sad fact is that most of the extra weight is just plain old fat. That there is in fact an upper limit on the amount of fat free mass and individual can obtain which is a function of human physiology.

One of the sources which abstract I looked at is http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajhb.1310060509/abstract from the American journal of biology which looks at the FFM (Fat-Free Mass) upper limits in sumo wrestlers , bodybuilders, and untrained individuals.

Obviously the sumo wrestlers had the highest FFM due to the fact in order to carry around all that extra body fat the body will have to make adjustments in connective tissue etc... to just help them get up out of bed every day and walk over to the bathroom.  The sumo wrestlers therefor represent the highest possible FFM attainable they averaged to about .61 kg/ cm.  The estimated high end FFM (kg)/ Height (cm) ration attainable is .7 kg/ cm.

Using myself as an example assuming that I was able to reach the upper limit I'm 5'9 which is about 175 cm , using the .7 kg per every cm I would theoretically be able to reach 122.5 kg or about 269.5 lbs of FFM mind you I would probably also be at 30-40% BF like the sumos in the study. In my lecture class my professor mentions 275 lbs as the upper limit in FFM again for one to naturally achieve this they would have to be carrying a substantial amount of BF% to warrant the extra connective tissue etc..  I don't know about you but being obese to achieve the upper limits of FFM is not something I want to shoot for.

I have also come across something called the FFMI which is analogous to the BMI the difference is that it takes FFM (kg) / Height (meters)^2.   Apparently it has a strong correlation to steroid use. Which I found pretty interesting noting that many so called naturals / supplement companies would have you believe you can reach the upper limits of FFM while maintaining low BF%

"The normalized FFMI values of athletes who had not used steroids extended up to a well-defined limit of 25.0. Similarly, a sample of 20 Mr. America winners from the presteroid era (1939-1959), for whom we estimated the normalized FFMI, had a mean FFMI of 25.4. By contrast, the FFMI of many of the steroid users in our sample easily exceeded 25.0, and that of some even exceeded 30. Thus, although these findings must be regarded as preliminary, it appears that FFMI may represent a useful initial measure to screen for possible steroid abuse, especially in athletic, medical, or forensic situations in which individuals may attempt to deny such behavior."- http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/research-review/fat-free-mass-index-in-users-and-nonusers-of-anabolic-androgen-steroids-research-review.html

I also found a calculator which helps you determine your genetic potential of muscular BW at certain %BF
http://www.weightrainer.net/bodypred.html   it use anthropometric measurments of your wrist and ankle diameters along with your height and desired %BF to calculate your BW at it's upper muscular development obtainable for naturals (i.e. non - steroid users)

BW Strength Workout

Pull / Push / Lower Body Format + Accessory Work
( X reps depending on Training Goal- Endurance 20-25 reps , Hypertrophy 8-12 reps , Strength 4-6 reps , Max Strength 1-3 reps)

Exercise Selection would have to match desired Intensity which i.e. force you to be in the 4-6 rep range for Strength goals ex.. or easier variation to be in the endurance or hypertrophy ranges )



Pull Variations (Pull / Chin ups etc..)  2-4sets x X
Body Rows   2-4  sets x X


Push Variations (One Arm Push ups , Divebombers etc..)  2-4 sets x X
Pike Press or Handstand Push up    2-4 sets x X


Lower Body ( Squats / Lunges)  Variation   2-4 sets x X
Glute-Ham Raise / Hamstring Curl     2-4 sets x X

Accessory  Work
Calf Raises  2-4 sets x X
Abs ( Knees to Elbows , Toes to Bar etc , Atomic Crunch, Hello Dollies ( Hip Abduction)  2-4 sets x X

Different Reps for Different Goals

I'm big fan of body weight training due to many benefits and relatively no worry about spinal loading which happens when doing heavy squats and dead lifts which tend to compress the spinal disk. Below I have listed some ways using different rep ranges to tailor your exercises to your goals. Obviously these rep ranges can apply to Body weight or Resistance exercises.

You can tailor your workouts depending on how many reps you can get on the 1st set of an exercise i.e. if your only getting 5-6 reps on let's say pullups  than shoot for 25 reps ( strength endurance)  , if it's 10-12 reps shoot for 50 reps ( endurance - hypertrophy)

Hypertrophy - 35 reps per exercise
Endurance - 50 reps per exercise
Strength -  15 reps per exercise
Lean - 25 reps per exercise

Light: a weight you could lift 20 to 22 times
Medium: a weight you could lift 10 to 12 times
Heavy: a weight you could lift 4 to 6 times
Superheavy: a weight you could lift 2 or 3 times


Below I have variables posted from another source with parameters on Intensity and Set - Rep ranges based on  training goals  ( Note some of the reps may not fall exactly in line with what is posted above i.e. really high reps 50-100 are not listed but the general concept is still the same)

(X = exercise)

Power : 3-6 sets between 1-10 reps at 30-45% 1RM or 10% BW  
(i.e total reps 6- 30 depending on X)
Strength: 3-6 sets between  1-5 reps at 85-100% 1RM                
 (i.e. total reps 6- 15 )    
Hypertrophy: 3-4 sets between 8-12 reps at 70-85% 1RM          
  (i.e. total reps 32 -36)                      
Endurance: 1-3 sets between 12-25 reps at 50-75% 1RM          
    (i.e. total reps 25 - 36 )