Build Muscle With Time Under Tension

TIME UNDER TENSION THE 

BASICS

Time under tension is the time your muscle spends under load during a set. This includes the time spent in the concentric (shortening) phase, peak contraction phase, and eccentric (lengthening) phase. So, if you perform a 10-rep set, and each rep takes you 3 seconds to complete, your muscle experiences 30 seconds of time under tension.

If you were to perform that same set but spend 2 seconds lifting the weight (concentric phase), 1 second pausing during peak contraction, and 3 seconds lowering the weight (eccentric phase), those same 10 reps would give you approximately 60 seconds of TUT.Even though the rep count stayed the same, the muscle spent significantly more time under tension, and that extra time actually translates to a lot more work!

Remember, your muscle can't count. They don't know when you're lifting a 30-pound dumbbell for 10 reps. They simply feel the load created by the weight and the mechanical tension that comes from contracting the muscle under the load. Therefore, to increase the work done by your muscles, either increase the load or increase the time the muscle is placed under this load.

BEST REP RANGE AND TUT 

FOR HYPERTROPHY

We already know that progressively overloading your muscles will force them to adapt and subsequently grow. Furthermore, research has proven time and time again that the optimal rep range for muscular growth, or hypertrophy, is between 8 and 12 reps. What isn't so clear, though, is the optimal range of TUT for hypertrophy.

Legendary coach Charles Poliquin is a training pioneer who focused on manipulating time under tension. Through his experience and research, he was able to develop optimal ranges of time under tension for particular training goals.

For muscular hypertrophy, he found that 30-70 seconds per set was optimal. For strength and size gains, or functional hypertrophy, Poliquin suggests training on the lower end of that range, around 30-50 seconds. If you want maximum hypertrophy without a strength emphasis, train on the higher end of that range, or around 50-70 seconds.

Armed with this knowledge, all you need is a little math to figure out the sets, reps, and TUT range for maximum hypertrophy. Need a hint? Perform sets of 8-12 reps, and take 4-6 seconds to perform each rep.

TIME UNDER EVIDENCE

I've seen excellent results from increasing my TUT. I've gained strength and size, but certainly not by chance. In fact, there's some excellent research on the power of TUT training for muscular size.

In 2012, researchers performed a study to examine the effects of increased time under tension on protein synthesis, a major indictor of muscle growth.1 In this study, eight males who had been training legs twice per week for at least two years performed 3 sets of single-leg extensions using 30 percent of their 1-rep max. On one leg, the participants performed sets with six-second concentric and six-second eccentric actions to failure. On the other leg, they performed sets with 1-second concentric and 1-second eccentric actions to failure.

Researchers then took needle biopsies of the muscle tissue in both legs 6, 24, and 30 hours after exercise. The results between the two methods were startling: After 6 hours, exercise-induced rates of mitochondrial and sarcoplasmic protein synthesis were elevated by 114 percent in the leg that did slow contractions, and only 77 percent in the leg that did faster contractions. After 24-30 hours, mitochondrial protein synthesis rates were elevated at 175 percent and 126 percent, respectively.

These results suggest that increased time under tension may lead to increased muscle protein synthesis and faster onset of this increased synthesis.