What’s your bench? Most gym-goers will have a number in mind when asked this question and, for many of us, that number won’t have budged in years. The same applies for the squat, deadlift and pretty much any big barbell exercise going.
We think it’s time that changed, and so does celebrity trainer Sarah Lindsay. The former Olympic speed skater and founder of Roar Fitness has devised a six-move full-body workout to help you get off training plateaus using one simple technique: tempo training.
“To be able to overcome plateaus—and you will always come across them at some point—you need to change up the variables,” says Lindsay. “This means adjusting either the exercise, the load, the equipment or the speed of your lifts.
“A lot of people will try to grow stronger by using a few different exercises, but where do you go from there? I like using tempo training because it’s something you see a lot of people not doing in the gym.
“Slowing down the exercise increases the time under tension, which makes the workout harder and stimulates the muscle in a different way.”
And that’s not the only advantage to tempo training.
“Even if you’ve been training for ages—and sometimes that’s worse because you end up with bad habits—sometimes it helps to go back to the beginning and focus on form,” says Lindsay. “Tempo makes you do that. If you’re moving slowly you’re getting more feedback and you can feel what’s really happening. You can think about contracting the muscle sometimes because you’ve got that time to feel it properly.”
How To Do This Barbell Full-Body Workout
Perform each of the moves below in straight sets for three sets of 13 to 15 reps, resting for 60 seconds between exercises. And, most importantly, make sure you follow the prescribed tempo.
The tempo is written as four numbers. “The first number refers to how many seconds you should spend on the eccentric part of the movement,” Lindsay explains. “This is where the muscle is lengthening, which is usually when the weight is on the ‘way down’.”
The second number is the pause at the bottom of the rep, the third represents the time you should spend on the concentric part of the movement (“where the muscle is shortening or on the ‘way up’”) and the final digit signifies the pause between reps.
1 Barbell bent-over row
Sets 3 Reps 13-15 Tempo 3021 Rest 60sec
Pick up a barbell with an overhand grip and your hands about shoulder-width apart. Hinge at the hips to lower your chest until it’s just above parallel with the ground. Retract your shoulder blades, then pull the barbell up to your bellybutton. Control it back to the starting position to complete the rep.
2 Barbell squat
Sets 3 Reps 13-15 Tempo 4011 Rest 60sec
Place a barbell in a rack at about shoulder height. Duck under the bar and let it sit across your shoulders, behind your neck, then lift it out of the rack and take one step back. Stand with your feet slightly wider than hip-width apart with your toes turned outwards slightly. Push your hips back and bend at your knees until your thighs are parallel with the ground, then drive through your feet to return to a standing position.
3 Abs roll-out
Sets 3 Reps 13-15 Tempo 4110 Rest 60sec
Kneel on the floor holding an abs roller or a barbell with an overhand shoulder-width grip. Keeping your arms and back straight, roll the abs roller or barbell away from you until your chest is an inch from the floor, then reverse the movement to return to the starting position.
4 Overhead press
Sets 3 Reps 13-15 Tempo 3010 Rest 60sec
Start with a barbell in a rack at chest height. Grasp it with an overhand grip, and your hands just outside your shoulders. Lift the bar from the rack then, with your forearms vertical, press it over head. Keep your legs and torso still throughout this movement—your shoulders and triceps should be doing all the heavy lifting. At the top of the rep, push your head through your arms so your biceps are next to your ears. Control the bar back to the starting position.
5 Olympic barbell curl
Sets 3 Reps 13-15 Tempo 4012 Rest 60sec
Hold an Olympic barbell with an underhand grip and your hands shoulder-width apart. Keeping your elbows and upper arms as still as possible, use your biceps to lift the bar in a curved path to your shoulders until you can’t lift it any higher. Control the bar back down until your arms are extended.
6 Bench press
Sets 3 Reps 13-15 Tempo 4010 Rest 60sec
Lie on a flat bench with a barbell in a rack above your head. Hold it with an overhand grip slightly wider than shoulder-width apart and lift it out of the rack so it’s above your shoulders. Brace your whole body, tensing your core and driving your heels into the floor, then lower it to your lower chest. Press it back to the starting position using your chest, shoulders and triceps.
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