you don't need to lift heavy to grow. in fact, certain exercises performed with heavy weights can induce injury if the supporting muscles involved in the movement are not strong enough to handle the tension.
time under tension is what counts. going with a lighter weight (eg. 60% 1 RMax) and performing a 3020 or 4020 tempo will give you great results.
what does 4020 mean?
the first number (4) stays for the seconds you need to spend in the eccentric (lowering) phase. even if the exercise requires to start with the concentric (lifting) phase, the first # will still indicate the eccentric phase.
the 2nd number indicates the seconds spent at the bottom. in this case is 0. but it can be 1. this means that you need to stop for 1" and then go into the concentric phase.
the 3rd number indicates the concentric (lifting) phase.
the 4th number indicates the time you need to spend at the top.
don't rush it. it will be difficult not to cheat but this is what the workout is all about. it's impressive how much strength and muscle you can gain even without lifting too heavy. of course, nutrition plays a big role here. so especially if you want to gain muscle, make sure you are not in a caloric deficit, but rather at maintenance or in surplus.
not all the exercises can be performed this slow. especially isolation exercises require a faster tempo because the joints are subjected to more pressure. here a good tempo is 2" when lowering the weight (eccentric phase) and for smaller muscles like shoulders X in the concentric phase (lifting). X stays for exploding or moving the weight as fast as possible.
try it out and let me know. gains are guaranteed.
#timeundertension #goheavyorgohome #trainingtip #liftingheavy #gym #tempo
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