In other words, you burn more calories and more body fat while you're sitting around doing nothing. The major reason HIIT works so well for dropping body fat is due to the greater calorie burn (or EPOC-excess post-exercise oxygen consumption) that's maintained after the workout is over. A lot of these studies found that subjects performing HIIT burned significantly more body fat-and in less time-than those who did steady-state cardio programs. HIIT was originally developed by track coaches to train runners, but it has crossed over to the fitness industry due to its fat-burning benefits confirmed many times over in scientific studies (see "HIIT Findings"). This is in sharp contrast to the typical steady-state cardio most people do at a moderate intensity, such as walking on a treadmill at 60-70% of their max heart rate. And if you're reading this magazine, chances are you don't desire the physique of a marathoner.įor those of you who aren't familiar with HIIT, it involves intervals of high-intensity exercise (such as running at 90% of your max heart rate) followed by low intensity (walking at a moderate pace) or complete rest. When it comes to cardio, HIIT is definitely the best way to strip off body fat, to the extent that there's literally no reason to hop on a treadmill and run at a steady pace for 30 or more minutes unless you're an endurance athlete. When the number of reps per set goes up, weights will likely have to decrease.You're probably familiar with high-intensity interval training (HIIT). When the number of reps per set goes down, weights should increase over the previous weeks. You will also need to scale your weights appropriately from week to week. Prepare appropriately.ĭirections: Perform each workout once per week, resting on two nonconsecutive days. You will likely be very sore the first week or two of training this way.While this may not be great for your ego, controlling the TUT will ultimately give you the size you want. While you may be able to bench 225 for 10 reps normally, the longer lowering phase will make things much harder. Be conservative with your weight selection.Get a training partner to count the tempo for you. You are going to want to cheat the rep speed and move faster as you fatigue.So even if you lose count of the seconds for each, remember that you should go down slow and come up fast. Most TUT programs (this one included) focus on a slow lowering phase and a fast lifting phase.Here’s how to shorten your learning curve. If you maintain this tempo for eight reps, then the entire set will take 48 seconds, which falls right in the middle of the ideal time under tension range to build muscle (40 to 60 seconds).Īnd while it may take a workout or two to get used to using tempo, the benefits are worth it. Using tempo this way will force each rep to last six seconds (4+1+1+0 = 6).So a 4-1-1-0 tempo for a back squat would have you lowering for a four-second count, pausing for one second at the bottom, taking one second to stand up, and then not pausing at the top. The final number is any pause that might occur at the top.The third is the lifting phase in which you are overcoming gravity to lift the bar or your body.The second number refers to any pause at the bottom of the movement.The first number represents the lowering phase (for example, the descent in a squat, lowering yourself in a pullup, or bringing a bench press down to your chest).Each number correlates with a specific phase of the movement and represents the number of seconds you will spend in this phase. In our program charts, tempo is laid out as a four-digit number. And there is much research to back up that slow eccentric phases are an effective way to build mass. Why is this more effective? Because it allows you to specifically slow down the eccentric or lowering phase of each rep. A more effective way, and the one this program will focus on, is to use a tempo prescription for each rep. The first is to set a timer-say, for 40 seconds-and continue to perform an exercise for that amount of time without stopping. This technique is simply called Time Under Tension (TUT) training. A method that has you time out the length of each phase (lowering, lifting, pausing) of each rep and, ultimately, each set in order to promote the greatest amount of muscle gain. One that will ensure that you are working your muscles in a way that optimizes growth. Timing your workouts and rest periods will make sure that you aren’t taking too long between sets it will guarantee you finish your training with enough time to get to work and it will even get you back on track when you are staring too long at the cute girl wearing yoga pants in the squat rack.īut there is one aspect of timing in your workouts that you may be missing out on completely. There are lots of reasons to have an eye on the clock when you’re training.
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