Advanced Bodybuilding Routines: Basic Rep Speed

Open up any book about advanced bodybuilding routines, and it will emphasize the importance of rep speed, also known as “tempo.” Specifically, tempo means how quickly you lift a weight (the concentric part of the rep, also known as the “positive”) and how quickly you lower the weight (the eccentric part of the rep, also known as the “negative”).

Repetition speed is important because different lifting speeds produce different training effects. The faster the speed, the lower the muscle tension. Reduce your rep speed to a more controlled tempo and you increase the muscle tension. Boiled down to its pure essence, developing muscle size is a matter of high muscle tension (coupled with progressive overload, of course). The higher the tension, the more you grow. Faster reps allow you to use heavier weights, but reduce tension, so you’re trading size for power and speed. This is why many Olympic lifters who lift weights explosively have mind-boggling strength, but they don’t have physiques like bodybuilders.

If you’re ever in doubt about how fast to do your repetitions for developing muscle size, a concentric of 2-3 seconds and eccentric of 3-4 seconds is a good rule of thumb. This is a “controlled” or moderately slow rep. This two-point prescription is sufficient for a beginner, but when you reach the advanced level, it behooves you to be more particular and dissect your reps even further.

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