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The Time Under Tension concept

P

PowerBuilder

New member
I wrote about this in my training diary (A novice weightlifter 2.0) & thought that an actual thread about it would prove useful. I wasn't sure if to park it here, in the bodybuilding, ladies or the general fitness here.

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about the concept of tempo when it comes to training. Others would know it as the concept of 'time under tension'. For those aren't familiar with either concept....I'll lay it out nice & simple.

Time under tension (TUT) is broadly about the time that a muscle is being put to work. This can be in a variety of ways, the lowering the bar when bench pressing, the holding of it against the chest, the pushing it off your chest & the actual time between each rep. Here's a practical example...

Tony's bench press set is written out as '41x2'.

4 seconds of lowering the weight. Holding the bar for a second against his chest. Blasting it straight off his chest. Holding the weight in an unlocked fashion for 2 seconds.

You could also do this method with simply pushing against a wall for a specific period of time. 1...2...3....30 seconds!

This approach could be used for many different types of training. For size, strength, speed, flexibility, co-ordination, recomposition! It can be used for a huge amount of variety in terms of times. The only limmit is your imagination. You could go as far as to use bands or chains when working implementing a systematic TUT plan!!

I'll say now that it's not the holy grail of methods when it comes to training, since it's only as only a very small piece to the overall picture. Put it to good use though & some impressive things will happen.

What ways have you used this approach before? Have you? What results have you found?

benchpress.jpg

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You could do more sets and therefore have more time under tension and still lift more explosively. I posted more in your log.
 
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I tried it a while back for a few months, it quite hard, but not for me too much to think about.

Have a look at the superslow people.
Ken Hutchins Fred Hahn Andrew baye
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I have read a few of Fred Hahn's continued internet arguments with lots of different people, he is a fair bit of a dick and will continually forget he said something when it is proven wrong.

But enough about him back to TUT.
 
dave said:
I have read a few of Fred Hahn's continued internet arguments with lots of different people, he is a fair bit of a dick and will continually forget he said something when it is proven wrong.

But enough about him back to TUT.
Click to expand...

How long have you been actually lifting weights Dave?
I'm just interested.
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Fellas..

perhaps i'm coming across wrong. I'm not saying that TUT is a direct approach like 'an entire session of concentric or eccentric' movements..though on an occasional basis that would be good. My point was that it's as important as the set/rep scheme, rest period & applied intensity.

Think of it like this...if you ask 2 people to do 5 reps of 1 arm DB's rows at a moderate weight. One person may do those 5 reps as if he's starting a lawn mower, the other person may do the lowering motion gently while the lifting part furiously. Their both valid. It's just a different approach to TUT
 
PB,
If TUT was a valid training indicator, then as a friend said "Then push against a brick wall until blue in the face." would be the optimum training protocol.

Unless there some specific sport or activity requirement, I would be pretty reluctant to try these and for powerlifting etc, then a controlled eccentric with a fast as reasonably possilbe concentric should be the way to go.

Just my 2c.
 
I lifted consistently between from 18 to 22 for basketball then stopped and started for a couple of years after stopping basketball before giving up about3 years ago. Got off my ass again this year. Is there a problem Andy?
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I can't comment on the powerlifting/strength benefits of this sort of training. But in regards to bodybuilding, it's a very powerful tool. Doing the ultra slow reps really helps with your mind-muscle connection. Bring the weight down for 4 seconds, leave it on your chest at full stretch for a second and then raise the bar concentrating on your chest contraction moving the weight, rather then your arms.

It's a great way to change up your training and shock your muscles into growth. I might do it one week, then giant sets another week, then fast reps another week...

keep those muscles guessing!
 
If I'm ever training an athlete that wants to be super slow, I'll be sure to try it.

Pete, this is near worthless in this section, why post it in the powerlifting and strength section.

Powerlifting, Olympic lifting, Strongman, Highland games and throwing sports all require the athlete to be explosive.

It has merit in bodybuilding, maybe it should be posted in there.
 
PowerBuilder said:
Fellas..

perhaps i'm coming across wrong. I'm not saying that TUT is a direct approach like 'an entire session of concentric or eccentric' movements..though on an occasional basis that would be good. My point was that it's as important as the set/rep scheme, rest period & applied intensity.

Think of it like this...if you ask 2 people to do 5 reps of 1 arm DB's rows at a moderate weight. One person may do those 5 reps as if he's starting a lawn mower, the other person may do the lowering motion gently while the lifting part furiously. Their both valid. It's just a different approach to TUT
Click to expand...

If you are designing a workout the rep cadence should be slow enough to maintain control of the weight moved the negative portion of the rep should be slower then the positive, the positve portion should slow enough that the weight is under control and you can pause and squeeze.

The benefit of the lowering portion of the exercise you can lower more then you can lift and the lowering portion also improves the individuals flexibility.

The first rep is the most dangerous, the last rep the safest

Why? The force inroad level is high and the inroad of your strength level is low.

So if you are designing a template for the general pop's that is something to consider.

Oli and powerlifting is different and a bit tricky as a particular can be used in both.
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tempo is regarded as a fundamental. it is the way in which a rep is performed.

if i was body building i would utilise a longer tempo eccentric. not sure i would use it for powerlifting, it would be interesting to try using a 2-4 sec eccentric with a pause for accessory or supplemental exercises.

i think it is a heavily debatable topic, but interesting.

i've seen one of dave tates bb programs were he doesn't think about reps he just lifts for time. so he just does reps for 45 seconds. he has an e-book on it
 
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Ken Hutchins took it a bit further.

Superslow bores me sh1tless but does make strength inroads, you need to be strict with cadence, that's not for me.
I get more out of negatives.
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Negatives are a very useful tool, but only if youre using 15% more weight than you can lift, which is not what Pete is describing.

Doing a slow negative with a weight you can rep wont help power
 
i think i'm definitely coming across wrong. I"m not saying that it's a 'type' of training. I just think that it's an element of training that's commonly overlooked.
 
Whilst genetics in the way of muscle fibre type plays a MASSIVE role, it is possible to become a better lifter by incorporating speed into training, ie lifting at 60% of 1RM for reps in a certain time. We have proven this time and time again at PTC.

I first read about it from Louie Simmons at Westside.

Strength comes first though Andy, then speed. Negatives are a very under used tool when it comes to strength training.

Max benched 95kg in Canberra, 105kg at the Vics, we'll see what he does at the Nats, he has added a speed bench session on Saturdays.
 
Hmmm...that's strange. i don't remember saying always (or most of the time) doing slow negatives is great for strength training. I do though remember saying about being mindful of the temp of the lift.

I'm familiar with louie simmons work on speed bench, 3r x 8, with all three reps needing to be within a second or so. What's that? A matter of tempo ?
 
Speed bench has helped my bench heaps i reckon. Especially for getting the bar off the chest.

I do about 60% of my 1rm and aim for 3 reps in 3 secs or quicker. If i am doing the 3 reps in under 2.7secs i up the weight. 8 sets of those babies and the bar should be flying off your chest :D
 
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