Exercise is Medicine: Progression 102

Lift fast, get strong - understanding speed, power, and the force-velocity curve in your training.

Picking up where we left off…

Let’s chat about the second variable in exercise progression: tempo, power, and SPEED.

Levers, Fulcrums, and Cables… Oh My!

Generally speaking, the musculoskeletal system is analogous to a series of cables, fulcrums, and levers. Bones are the levers, providing a rigid framework from which to produce force. Bones rotate around fixed transition points that operate as fulcrums. We call these fulcrums, “joints.” Finally, muscles are the ropes, shortening and lengthening to produce force and movement. When a muscle contracts it produces force.

A crudely drawn diagram of the simplest machine: lever and fulcrum. With this machine, one can move greater amounts of weight one of two ways: either by increasing the force produced or by moving the fulcrum closer to the load. To paraphrase Archimedes, “give me a long enough lever and I’ll move the world.”

Muscles contract in three distinct ways: concentric (shortening), eccentric (lengthening), and isometric (no change in length). All three are capable of producing force.

Force matters because it is intrinsically linked with power. When we do anything — exercise, speak, think, etc — our goal should be to do so with vigor, power, and excitement! Power can be understood as a force applied with a certain velocity (with force equating “mass * acceleration”).

Take two athletes: Sven and Karl. Sven can squat 100 pounds in 1 sec. Karl does the same weight, but completes the rep in 3 seconds. Who’s more powerful—and therefore, stronger?

This depicts an arm as a lever and fulcrum. Biceps provide the force needed to lift the load. Since one cannot move the fulcrum (because it is your elbow), to move greater amounts of weight one must produce greater force.

The Force Velocity Curve

Sven and Karl demonstrate the “Force Velocity Curve.” It is a visual representation of the relationship between force and velocity. The more force required to lift an object, the slower that object will move.

Since Sven lifts the same amount of weight as Karl, but does it faster, he produces more force and is, therefore, stronger. My advice? Be like Sven.

Force and Velocity are inversely correlated. The more force needed to lift a weight, the slower that weight will move. If you find yourself moving weight slowly and with great effort, you are training at the top of the curve. If you find yourself moving the weight quickly and with relative ease, you’re working near the bottom portion of the curve.

A caveat to this — believe it or not, a muscle produces more force during an eccentric contraction compared to a concentric contraction. That is to say: when moving the same load, a muscle produces more force lengthening compared to shortening. Interestingly, no one knows why (at least to my knowledge)… if you do, drop it in the comments!

Putting It All Together

Okay, got it. Pick up heavy thing fast. Be strong and powerful. But, where does that leave me? How do I incorporate that into my training?

Great question. Here are some ways to incorporate tempo, speed, and power into your training regimen.

First, what I’ll refer to here as the “foundational rep.” This is the tempo at which you will perform any exercise if a tempo scheme has not been specified. A foundational rep should be a controlled descent, followed by a powerful ascent. Take the bench press: lower the bar over 2-3 seconds then raise it over 1 second. The goal with the foundational rep is intention. Whether you are moving a warm-up weight, or going for a one-rep max, the intention is the same: controlled descent, powerful ascent.

Another place to think about tempo and speed is in your exercise selection. Instead of hitting straight sets of heavy front squats and mindlessly scrolling on your phone during your rest periods, superset them with plyometrics (jumping). This is called Contrast Training. It trains both strength and speed within a workout and program cycle (think back to the Force-Velocity Curve). For example, a block could be comprised of alternating between sets of three reps of front squats and three reps of box jumps. Or pairing bench press with med ball chest passes. You get the picture: heavy, slow movement paired with light, quick movement.

Tempo, speed, and power should influence exercise programming over different training cycles, too. An example: Powerlifting legend Louie Simmons (RIP) and Westside Barbell train using the Conjugate Method. Heavy strength movements are performed on one day and corresponding speed, or power, movements are performed separately on another. Westside Barbell trained this way and became an exclusive gym filled with some seriously strong people.

Another method worth mentioning is Triphasic Training. Created by University of Minnesota’s Cal Dietz, Triphasic Training emphasizes certain muscle contractions during certain training cycles. For instance, an athlete may train for one to two months focusing on eccentric contractions. Then do the same with isometric, followed by concentric. I’ve used both the conjugate and triphasic methods of training on myself and clients with good success.

Coming Up Next

This is part 2 of a series on exercise progression. Next time we’ll talk about load: what weight to use and when to use it. These posts will be scattered throughout my regular writing schedule, mixed in among other future articles.

In the meantime, how’s your training going? Any recent wins or lessons learned? Let me know in the comments, I’d love to hear about it!

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