One of my big goals for 2025 is to make programming and coaching easier for trainers and coaches to understand.
Let’s use tempo as an example.
I first learned about tempo way back in 2000, when Ian King and Charles Poliquin were promoting their 3 and 4 number systems, respectively.
The premise was simple: Use tempo (or time under tension/TUT) to better convey how you want every repetition to be performed.
For example, if you wanted to accentuate any portion of the lift, you could do that by noting it in the tempo.
Coach King used three numbers, and it looked like this:
- First number – The eccentric/yielding phase of the lift.
- Second number – Any pause or stopping in the midpoint
- Third number – The concentric/overcoming portion of the lift.
So if you’re doing a squat, with a 3 second yielding phase and 1 second overcoming phase, it would be written like this: 301
- 3 = 3 seconds to lower the weight
- 0 = No rest or stopping in the bottom
- 1 = 1 second to come back up
Poliquin used the same three numbers, but then added a fourth: Any stopping or rest in between reps.
So he would’ve written 3011, to convey:
- 3 = 3 seconds to lower the weight
- 0 = No rest or stopping in the bottom
- 1 = 1 second to come back up
- 1 = 1 second pause/rest before going into the next repetition
Man I loved learning from these guys early on in my career, but I don’t think they could agree on much 😉
I always preferred King’s system, because I felt three numbers were more than enough, and the 4th just muddied the waters even further.
But here’s the thing…
How many people truly understand how to employ the standard three number system?
Sure it might be easy when you’re doing an exercise like a squat or bench press where you start with the eccentric or lowering portion of the lift.
But what happens when you start with the overcoming portion of the lift?
If you’re okay with a spoiler, I can tell you what happens…
…most people screw it up.
Now you might think this only applies to gen pop clients, which we can all expect.
After all, it’s not their job to understand how to read and interpret tempo.
But I’ll take it a step further: I think most high-level athletes (Excluding maybe football, rugby and/or throwers who spend a ton of time in the weight room) will struggle with tempo prescription as written.
But you want to know the final straw?
I can’t tell you how many trainers or coaches still get confused by this!
Real-World Examples of Tempo Confusion
A large percentage of my online coaching clients are also trainers/coaches themselves.
It’s a win-win for them, as they not only get into great shape but they learn more about how I train as well. (Pretty smart on their part, if you ask me – but I’m definitely biased).
I prescribe tempo for all of them, and I’d say on average at least 25-30% get confused by traditional tempo prescription when it comes to exercise that start with the concentric.
In one specific case, I was training an awesome gal and she was crushing her workouts.
Training hard, making progress, and overall doing great.
But at one point she made a comment to the effect of, “Man these step-ups and chin-ups are REALLY killing me!”
Now I expect chin-ups to kill you because, well, they’re hard to do 😉
But step-ups? That one definitely caught me off guard.
So I asked her to explain, and I’ll never forget what she said:
“Taking 3 seconds to control and stand up on the box is REALLY hard!”
Her tempo prescription? 301.
This came up again more recently as I’m writing programs for Train Heroic, and I’m not sure who will be purchasing those workouts.
Here I want to give anyone who purchases all the information that they need, and tempo is obviously one of those elements.
When I’m writing those workouts, I want to spell out how to use and perform tempo correctly. So it looks lis this:
- Tempo: 301
- 3 seconds to lower
- 0 No pause in bottom
- 1 second to stand up
Which works great on those lifts that start with the eccentric, but again, what happens when I want to start with a concentric-focused lift like a deadlift instead?
MANY people, if they see 301 as a tempo, are going to START THE LIFT with a 3-second overcoming phase.
Which is obviously no bueno.
So let’s be real here – if savvy, seasoned coaches are still getting tripped up by tempo prescriptions, I think there has to be a better way.
A Simple Solution to Tempo Prescription?
Now I’m not sure if anyone else has written tempo like this in the past, but I think this could very well be an easy solution to our problem…
…write tempo IN THE ORDER that they’ll be executing it in the lift!
Here’s an example:
For your squat, you’d stick with the standard 301, because you start with that eccentric/lowering phase *first*.
- Tempo: 301
- 3 seconds to lowering
- 0 No pause in bottom
- 1 second to overcome/stand back up
(And yes I apologize if this seems redundant – but I want it to be CLEAR!)
Now what about pull-ups where you want to have a 3 second eccentric?
Since you start with the concentric/overcoming portion of the lift, you’d just flip the order instead!
- Tempo: 103
- 1 second to pull yourself up
- 0 No pause at top
- 3 seconds to lower back down
For a step-up where you want to emphasize that eccentric, you could use a similar prescription:
- Tempo: 103
- 1 second to stand up
- 0 No pause on box
- 3 seconds to lower back down
This also works great on cable pulling exercises (which are a huge part of my programs).
Here the prescription might look something like this:
- Tempo: 113
- 1 second to pull/row the weight
- 1 second pause at midpoint
- 3 seconds to lower back to starting position
I know this is an incredibly simple change, but I think if we want our clients, athletes, and even our fellow coaches to better understand out tempo prescriptions, this may be the solution we’ve been looking for.
Summary
I’m going to be giving this form of tempo prescription a run for the next 4-6 months, to see how my clients and athletes like it.
But what do you think?
Am I on to something?
Or should we just stick with the standard way of writing it?
I’d love to hear your feedback either in the comments below, or on whatever social media site you came across this on.
Thanks for reading and MAKE IT a great day!
All the best,
MR
P.S. – Want to level up your program design skills? Here are 3 ways you can do that…
#1 – Check out my Products page, where you can learn about in-season program design, training gen pop clients, and more – all for under $100.
#2 – Get Started with the Complete Coach Certification. Here you’ll not only learn about program design, but assessment, coaching and cuing, and even how to progress and regress exercises.
#3 – Last but not least, my Program Design Mentorship will be starting up soon. If you’re interested, please make sure to join my newsletter as I’ll be opening applications in 4-6 weeks!