Timing is Everything

Whether you're a beginner or an aspiring pro, you can slow down strength movements to fast-track your gains. Make every second count with our tempo-training primer.

- By Jennifer Nied

You hear the phrase "time is money" often- but we're proposing an edit. Time is strength. At least it can be, if you use it like the pros.

Tempo training, or time under tension (TUT) training, is an expert go-to because it gets results. "The method challenges your body and allows you to tire muscles at specific points in the full range of motion of an exercise," says Miami-based trainer Jacqueline Kasen, CPT.

The approach is actually pretty simple: You slow down your movements strategically to change the pace of your reps and keep the muscles loaded longer. Then you linger as muscles lengthen, in a static hold, or as they shorten. Spending more time in any part of an exercise increases focus on the movement pattern in general, which helps develop strength and muscular control, Kasen explains-whether you're using your body weight, dumbbells, or kettlebells, you name it. It works with any equipment.

If you haven't dabbled in TUT training, think of it like this: When you grab a gallon of milk off the shelf at the grocery store and place it in your cart, that's kind of like your standard exercise rep. Now imagine (or even try!) picking the jug up and bringing it down to your cart in slow motion. It's a subtle change that forces your arm muscles to support the jug even longer, making the action more tiring, right? "The longer you make that muscle work, the more fatigued you get," says Heather Giordano, a performance scientist at Canyon Ranch in Lenox, Massachusetts. "And the more stamina it needs to build to support? Now you're working muscular endurance."