perception of intense stimulation, but that can be deceptive as far as growth
stimulation is concerned.General recommendation
. Take about three seconds for the positive stroke and at least another three
for the negative stroke, performing every stroke of each rep smoothly. If you
move faster than at about / you will be unable to exercise the necessary
control. For the positive phase of the very final rep of a set, when you almost
grind to a halt, you may need over five seconds. For a few workouts have an
assistant count the seconds as you perform each rep, and give feedback while
doing so, to ensure you do not move faster than at about a / cadence.
Once you get the feel for a smooth cadence you will be able to exercise it
without needing to have the seconds counted. If in doubt, go slower rather
than faster. Some exercises have a longer stroke than others, e.g., the pull-
down and overhead press need more time per rep than do the calf raise and
bench press, to show comparable control.. Do not try to count seconds and reps. You can successfully count one or the
other, but not both simultaneously. If you want to count both cadence and
rep number, get a helper to count one of them, and you count the other.
While a / or so cadence is the general recommendation, do not get so
locked into a precise number of seconds that you become a slave to time. e
focus should be on control, form and progression.. Perform each rep as an individual unit that ends with a brief pause prior to
performing the next rep. Take the time you need to set yourself to perform
the next rep perfectly. As a set progresses, your pauses will tend to become
longer. But overdo the pause and you will fail the set prematurely. Experi-
ence will teach you what is an excessive pause for you in each exercise.. In exercises that can involve a sustained contraction in the flexed position,
e.g., calf raise, curl, pulldown and supported row, hold the resistance for a
second or two in the position of full contraction. is will tighten your form
and intensify the contraction. In effect, briefly squeeze in the contracted
position.. While you can do this “squeezing” in single-joint exercises, you cannot do
it in all multi-joint exercises. For example, in the calf raise—a single-joint
exercise—there is no easing of stress on the muscle when you are in the