How fast should I do the exercises

How fast should I do the exercises?

After discussing how long you should rest between each set in this article, let's now address another interesting topic, which is the execution time of the exercises.

Slow or fast movements, which is the best option?

Let's approach the subject in a hypertrophy context, just, so if you want to know the ideal speed at which you should do your bench press to gain muscle mass, you're in the right place.

On the other hand, if your goal is to gain strength or speed, this is not the ideal item.

So, let's get started.

How fast should I do the exercises?

Eccentric vs Concentric

The eccentric, or negative, phase is when you lower the bar bench press up to your chest, or when you lower it to the floor dead weight.

It's the easiest phase, after all, you have gravity in your favor, and just drop the weight, although it's not a good idea if you want to gain muscle mass.

The concentric, or positive, phase is when you climb the squat or push the dumbbells up in the shoulder press.

Basically, it is the phase in which there is greatest difficulty, and where failure occurs.

How fast should I do the exercises

Fast concentric

As the title indicates, the concentric phase must be quick, especially in complex movements.

Fast means between one and two seconds, which will not always be possible.

If you are working with a good load, something necessary for hypertrophy, the positive phase will become slower as the series progresses.

You start the first repetition lifting the weight in 1 second, and the last one probably took 3 seconds to complete.

This is normal.

So, what should you do?

You should lift the weight quickly, but with enough control to feel the muscle you are training working.

What you should avoid is doing this movement intentionally slowly, as this will only reduce your training volume.

Slow eccentric?

If in concentric there is no big discussion, in eccentric it is very common to advocate slower movements, to stay under tension for longer.

Compared to the concentric phase, the eccentric phase should be slower, and the last thing you want here is to drop the weight.

You must make the movement in a controlled manner, and you must be able to feel the muscle in question working.

Now, this doesn't mean that 30-second denials will give you more results.

The time that the muscle is under tension is important, but so is the load, and if you significantly reduce the load to increase the time under tension, you end up reducing the magnitude of the tension itself.

Therefore, this phase must be controlled, but not necessarily slow, and somewhere between 2 and 3 seconds will be ideal to be able to not only control the weight, thus stimulating the muscle effectively, but also feel the muscle working and avoid injuries.

How fast should I do the exercises

How fast should I do the exercises, the conclusion

The speed of performing the exercises when the objective is hypertrophy is important, but it is not the most important thing, and you don't need to keep a stopwatch behind you.

You should focus on doing the concentric movement quickly, but with good technique, and an eccentric phase in a controlled way, but not excessively slow.

If you can throw the weight in the air during the positive, and hold it for 10 seconds in the negative, it's probably a good idea to increase the load.

If your positive is slow from the first repetition, and you can't last more than a second on the negative, then you must be using too much weight.

Each complete repetition should last an average of between 3 and 6 seconds, and although you can, and even should, experiment with other times, these should be the basis for your training.

Don't forget, you must control your weight, and it shouldn't be the weight controlling you, that is, no cheating to be able to lift more load.

Focus on the movement and the muscle group you work, and give yourself enough time between sets to recover.

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