Each time you perform a set of repetitions, you follow a certain rhythm. If asked what tempo their reps are performed at, most people will shrug or raise an eyebrow, since many people don’t consider tempo when training. It’s common for the average gym goer to follow a typical 1010 pace, which means they spend the same amount of time flexing the muscle being worked as relaxing it. For example, someone following a tempo of 1010 spends as much time pushing up as going down to the ground. A tempo of 1010 is very typical for cardio workouts, as it increases activity and calories burned. However, for mass and strength gains, your priorities should be different. Similar to how we lower reps and increase weight for strength exercises, we also need to manipulate the rate at which we do our reps to maximize gains during workouts.

Before going too deep into an explanation of how to set the most effective tempo for strength gains, it’s important to understand how tempo is measured in these cases. There are various tempos, so it’s important to know what the numbers really mean. In the case of 1010, the first number defines the amount of time spent in the eccentric phase, or the “relax” phase of the exercise. The 0 indicates the amount of time spent pausing after the relaxation phase. The third digit indicates the time spent in the concentric phase, or the phase in which the muscle being exercised is flexed. The last digit indicates the amount of time spent pausing after the concentric phase. To help visualize this, in a pushup, the eccentric phase is bending your arms and lowering yourself toward the floor, and the concentric phase is pushing yourself up. So, at a tempo of 1010, a second is spent going down, then a second going up, with no pause before or after any of these moves. For a 4010 tempo, 4 seconds are spent bending the arms and lowering towards the floor, and one is spent pushing up. For exercises that require explosiveness and quick flexion, the tempo may include an “X” instead of a number. This is commonly seen in the Olympics, where X0X0 tempo lifts are commonly performed; Explosive eccentric and concentric phases, without pauses before or after. For hypertrophy exercises and mass gain attempts, the most effective and commonly used tempo is 40X0.

By taking tempo into account, changes can be made to the amount of time muscles spend under tension. Time under tension, or TUT, is a measure of how long a muscle, or group of muscles, is under the weight of the load. When it comes to strength training and maximizing muscle mass, more TUT is needed. For kettlebell strength training, 40-70 seconds of TUT is the optimal length of time, anything shorter than this would result in less hypertrophic gains. Basic calculations can be done to see the difference in time under tension between training with tempo and without tempo. Taking a look at the real world variation in the different tempos being used is a good way to paint a picture of why it’s so important to include tempo training in your kettlebell workouts for strength gains. For example, for a typical 1010 kettlebell overhead press, a single rep will take about a second to push and a second to release, making the total duration of the rep 2 seconds. Over the course of about 12 reps per set, this equates to 24 seconds of TUT. However, if you stick to tempo training, the length of a single repetition will change. If you switch to a kettlebell press at 40X0 pace, the flexion will be immediate and there will be no pause at the apex before you drop the weight and relax for 4 seconds. When the kettlebell returns to the rest position, there is no pause and it is immediately raised for the next repetition. The total time for this rep is about 5 seconds, with a total of 60 seconds of TUT for a set of 12 reps. When tempo is taken into account, the same weight, reps, and sets can be used to achieve better strength training results. This is why tempo training is so important for real mass and strength gains. If you only factor in reps and sets and don’t factor in the time it takes to complete each, you’ll miss out on huge strength and mass gains from your kettlebell training.

When building strength and mass are their goals, many people often increase the weight of the kettlebell they are using and adjust the sets and reps to maximize muscle gains. Although this is an effective way to build strength, it’s important to note that the tempo can also be altered to get the most out of each repetition. Although it may require more concentration, tempo training is one of the most effective ways to successfully reach your kettlebell strength training goals.