ShareWe have a fun, yet nasty taste of an Accelerator workout on today’s agenda. Good times are ahead for you my friend…
But first… You already know a couple of different ways you can increase the intensity of your workout:
1. By adding more weight
2. By reducing the rest time between sets
Today I want to talk about a different way to boost intensity… tempo.
Too often I catch people racing through strength training sets. Sure, I get it. You want it to be over with already – and obviously the sooner the better, right?
Bah buh… <= don’t you love the game show buzzer? 
Changing the speed of your lifts and rate of muscle contraction can affect the intensity of your workout – and give different results. So it’s really important for you to pay attention to tempo.
But first, let’s go back to square one
Tempo: The Basics
You may have seen a 3-digit number beside each exercise in my programs – something like this (2-0-1). This number represents the lifting tempo.
The first number is for the lowering phase of the movement. For example, with the DB Row, the number is 2-0-1. Take 2 seconds to lower the weight, do not pause, row the weight up, and hold for one second in the top position before lowering.
The 4-digit number is similar, with the extra number indicating a pause at the bottom. For example with the Deadlift, the number is 2-1-2-1. You take 2 seconds to lower the weight, pause for 1 second, & lift the weight back up to the start position in 2 seconds, and pause for 1 second at top.
If you’re just coming back after an injury or new to fitness, you ALWAYS want to be conservative with your tempo. That means, doing the exercises with a 2-0-1 tempo. However, if you’re stuck on a plateau or looking for something different, changing up your tempo is an excellent way to see fast results.
How to increase “time under tension”
You can change your training tempo of exercise depending on your goal. It requires more focus during your workouts, but taking the time to do it right is worth the investment.
If you’re trying to get stronger, you can increase the “time under tension” of the muscle for the eccentric portion of the exercise, usually the lowering phase. This is also called doing “negative reps”.
Warning: this is more advanced and I don’t recommend it for beginners. You will feel very sore the next day, thanks to delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS).
But to accelerate fat loss on a low calorie diet, lactic acid training is the answer.
Why you need to try lactic acid training
Lactic acid training is powerful causes your muscle to fail on a chemical level. Even though your workout is exhausting and your muscles burn, you don’t feel extreme soreness the next day. You rest long enough to slightly recover, but not long enough to clear the lactic acid from your system. You can see results in only a few short weeks.
The tempo is very different…
More lactic acid is produced during the concentric phase of the lift (upward motion), and that is the portion of the exercise you want to slow down. You extend the amount of time it takes to lift the weight and decrease the time lowering weight.
For most exercises, you lift the weight over 3-4 seconds, and lower quickly but safely (like 1 second).
This will increase the time under tension, which drastically increases the amount of lactic acid produced. And make your workout extremely challenging. This increases growth hormone response to promote fat burning while preserving lean muscle tissue – even while on a low calorie diet. This lactic acid workout is no joke, so please don’t do this if you are a beginner.
Note: you MUST reduce the weight by 25% below your normal lifting weight.
As your body gets accustomed to the different tempo, you can bump it up.
Here’s a lactic acid workout you can test drive today…
Lactic Acid Training Workout A
Dynamic Warm Up
Do this circuit once, no rest between moves:
- Squat to T-Squeeze x 15 reps
- Hip Flexor Stretch x 15s hold
- Single leg glute bridge x 10 each leg
- Bird/Dog x 5 each side with 10s hold
- I-T-Y complex x 8 each
- Jumping Jacks x 20
Workout Set #1: 3 rounds
1A: Dumbbell Renegade Row x 10 reps (1-0-3) ¬– 1 second down, 3 seconds up
- Rest 15s
1B: Dumbbell Goblet Squat x 12 reps (2-0-3) — 2 seconds down, 3 seconds up
- Rest for 60s at the end of the circuit and repeat this circuit twice more time for a total of 3 rounds. If pressed for time, do 2 rounds.
Fat Loss Accelerator: Bodyweight
Perform each of the following in order for one round.
A: Jump Squats x 10 with 5s hold at the bottom
- Rest 15s
B: Walkouts w Mountain Climber x 8
- Rest 60s
Workout Set #2: 3 rounds
2A: DB Alternating Press x 8 reps each arm (1-0-3) — 1 second down, 3 seconds up
- Rest 20s
2B: DB Step Ups x 15 reps (1-0-3) — 1 second down, 3 seconds up
- Rest 20s
2C: Bent Over Flyes x 10 reps (1-0-3) — 1 second down, 3 seconds up
- Rest for 45s at the end of the circuit and repeat this circuit twice more time for a total of 3 rounds. If pressed for time, do 2 rounds.
Fat Loss Accelerator: Bodyweight
Perform each of the following in order for ONE round.
A: Plank – Hold As Long As Possible
- Rest 30s
B: Burpees x 45s AMRAP
- Rest 30s
Workout Set #3: ONE round
3A: Prisoner Bulgarian Split Squat x 12 reps each leg (1-1-4) — 1 second down, 4 seconds up
3B: Lying Leg raise x 10 reps (moderate)
- Rest as little as possible
Phew… I’m burning more calories just looking at this
Did you LOVE this workout?
Of course you did!
You can use lactic acid workouts just like this to build a better body and get faster, sexy results. In fact, it’s one of the most innovative ways to get your body fat levels low enough to “see” ab definition is by using this approach.
Get the step-by-step program here:
==> Get Flat, Sexy Abs with Ab Accelerators
Just click the link below and learn how you can take on this 21 day challenge and get visibly defined abs with the power of lactic acid training.
To your success,
Kate Vidulich, BSc, ACSM, Master CTT
