Today was really the first day when I attempted to slow down my tempo to allow for more time under tension. When I decided to do it last week, I was just guessing that my body needs more time under stress. But now I have something that reinforces my logic for using slow tempo for 6 weeks (again just random number I picked which happened to be what Hugh Jackman used for his workout!). Here is the link to the whole Hugh Jackman workout: http://www.squidoo.com/hugh-jackman-workout.
Apparently Hugh used a two phase approach. Basically the website explains (I cannot say if it is authentic, but hey that is the case with most body building websites and stories) that he used a slow tempo phase for mass building and then a faster tempo to gain strength. Each phase lasted for 6 weeks.
First he would start with a mass gain phase. This is the phase where he uses slow 3 second eccentric contraction and 1 second of concentric contraction. This tempo is useful for muscles to adapt and grow. It limits the amount of weight one can lift but it helps the central nervous system to cope with the weight and you will learn to control the weight properly. The slow tempo demands a lot more attention and coordination from the brain. It also helps burn more calories and in my view helps in increasing vascularity.
For the second phase he would simply do powerlifts to lift as much weight as possible in short sudden burst of energy. This means he can lift a lot more then the previous phase. He becomes strong but not necessarily gain mass. This I find it hard to understand. I need to do more research to understand how that works. I know powerlifts will use the fast twitch muscles. But what about these muscles that make them strong but not gain a lot of mass? May be they are dense muscles and every fiber can lift a lot while occupying very little space.
The last week of each phase was set aside for interval training with only 1 day of weight training to get rid of the extra fat that he might have gained during the phase. Very interesting. So if I were to follow this plan I would have to do 5 weeks of a phase, followed by 1 week of interval training. Followed by 1 week of rest. My cycle would then be 14 weeks (for the 2 phases). It may just fit right into my currently planned schedule.
Apparently Hugh used a two phase approach. Basically the website explains (I cannot say if it is authentic, but hey that is the case with most body building websites and stories) that he used a slow tempo phase for mass building and then a faster tempo to gain strength. Each phase lasted for 6 weeks.
First he would start with a mass gain phase. This is the phase where he uses slow 3 second eccentric contraction and 1 second of concentric contraction. This tempo is useful for muscles to adapt and grow. It limits the amount of weight one can lift but it helps the central nervous system to cope with the weight and you will learn to control the weight properly. The slow tempo demands a lot more attention and coordination from the brain. It also helps burn more calories and in my view helps in increasing vascularity.
For the second phase he would simply do powerlifts to lift as much weight as possible in short sudden burst of energy. This means he can lift a lot more then the previous phase. He becomes strong but not necessarily gain mass. This I find it hard to understand. I need to do more research to understand how that works. I know powerlifts will use the fast twitch muscles. But what about these muscles that make them strong but not gain a lot of mass? May be they are dense muscles and every fiber can lift a lot while occupying very little space.
The last week of each phase was set aside for interval training with only 1 day of weight training to get rid of the extra fat that he might have gained during the phase. Very interesting. So if I were to follow this plan I would have to do 5 weeks of a phase, followed by 1 week of interval training. Followed by 1 week of rest. My cycle would then be 14 weeks (for the 2 phases). It may just fit right into my currently planned schedule.
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