One popular way of timing each phase of a lift is the 2-2-4 method. What this means is that you count two seconds for the concentric phase, two seconds at full contraction, squeezing the muscle hard before you begin the four seconds of lowering the weight in the eccentric phase.
This method takes advantage of the three main types of muscle action: concentric, static, and eccentric. When you begin lifting and the muscle is still strong there seems to be a ratio of about 1 to 1.2 to 1.4 in strength. In other words, your ability to lift 100 pounds concentrically means that you could then hold 120 pounds statically and then lower 140 pounds in the eccentric phase. Since it isn't likely the weight is going to magically increase in your hands, you can achieve an increase in difficulty in the eccentric phase simply by slowing down.
Controlling your momentum forces you to pay strict attention to the muscle you are working. You can hardly help it—if you're used to flipping a dumbbell around like a baton then it's gonna burn like heck when you slow it down. In fact, you may not be able to lift the same amount of weight when going slowly as when you race through your workout as easily as a hot spoon through ice cream. But because you are controlling the weight, you are forcing more muscle cells to contract. The more muscle cells that are contracting during a lift, the more cells that get to develop.
If you are lifting at a much faster rate, you will be able to lift a lot more weight, but much of the power used to move the weight will be momentum, not muscle strength. And what's the point of that?
Momentum may look powerful, but in the long run there is more to gain from deliberate, concentrated strength.
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