The tail is wagging the dog.

Part of being a strength professional is never to allow this to be the case. The speed of a repetition is a purposeful choice, and as laid out in the recent article by Pavel, it can be a powerful training variable.

This can be a confusing area since there are so many different recommendations. Lifting slowly is said to be best for hypertrophy while lifting with maximal acceleration is said to be better for strength. Different tempos are suggested specific to the concentric, eccentric phases and pauses. So, it is no wonder lifting speed is confusing.

Just like intensity is not a “turned around ball cap” but a calculated percentage of a repetition maximum or 1RM, lifting speed is a measurable variable. From Pavel’s article: “…lifters squatting at a “medium” speed (0.5m/sec; 2.5sec to complete a rep, eccentric plus concentric) consistently cleaned the clocks in the snatch and the clean-and-jerk of those whose squats were “slow” (0.4m/sec; 3sec) or “fast” (0.6m/sec; 2sec).”

It is important to note that identifying the lifting speeds occurred from a “…researcher clock(ing) Olympic weightlifters of all levels, from beginners to world-class, and all weight classes, back squatting with 80% 1RM at their comfortable speed and rhythm.” This identified the medium speed. Instead of a speed being “dictated.”

The medium speed can also be identified as “a comfortable, confident speed, corresponding to a first attempt in a powerlifting competition.” This takes some time under the bar, but just as the bar speed was identified in the research, you can find your medium speed in the “low tech” manner.

So, what do we do with lifting speed?

First, begin to control your lifting speed and experiment with it and identify your fast, medium, and slow speeds.

Then tune in this Thursday for Pavel’s 3 Gear Squat Protocol so you can put the variable of bar speed to work.