Fairly obvious but often ignored.
Cadence: Setting the Tempo
At this point, you may be asking "What are you talking about?" Well, I'm talking about cadence. Cadence is the rate in which you perform your reps. You might think it has little to do with putting on some lean mass, but it does. Many people think only in terms of sets x reps. That has to change before you can break through, and put on serious muscle mass. Perhaps this is the most underestimated aspect of weight training.
Think of it this way. Which of all the reps in a set puts the most stress on your muscles? The last one, right? You probably pound out several reps, but that last rep usually takes most of your strength and determination to complete. If cadence is new for you, then you probably take a second or two to do each rep, but the last one may take several seconds. Try doing that on every rep. Imagine if you got the same pump on every rep in a set as you do on the last rep.
One of the ways to measure your cadence is the TUL or TIME UNDER LOAD. When you calculate TUL, you time how long it takes for you to complete a set. For many beginners, this time is less than 30 seconds depending on the number of reps. In a set with 8 reps for example, it may take you 2-3 seconds per rep, so your TUL is about 16-24 seconds. Now, try that same set, only this time take about 4-5 seconds per rep. All of a sudden, the set got much harder. The TUL for that set was still only 32-40 seconds. You might not even have been able to get all 8 reps.
I recommend a TUL of about 60 seconds for a set of 8 reps. That averages out to about 7-8 seconds per rep. At this rate, you will probably have to use less weight than you usually do. Undoubtedly, you will get more of a pump out of a set with a 60 second TUL, than a set with a 16 second TUL. This will have other benefits as well. Some people like to load up the bar on bench, and do about 10 sets of 2 poorly performed reps. They like to bounce the bar off their chest, and throw their back into it. If you slow down the set, it will be performed in a much better fashion.
Now let's go a little more in-depth. If each rep is to take 7-8 seconds, how are you going to distribute this time? Use a cadence like 2-1-4. This means to take 2 seconds on the positive part of the rep, 1 second at the top, and 4 seconds on the negative. You may take this as far as a 10-10 cadence (10 second positive, 10 second negative) for some exercises. Try to keep the same time under load no matter what cadence you use. So if you use a cadence like 10-10, only do 3 reps or so. Cadence can and should be used for just about every exercise in your workout. With the incorporation of TUL into a workout, over a period of time, you will see better gains in size
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