There are lots of strategies for getting stronger and building muscle. One such strength- and muscle-building strategy is a concept known as time under tension (TUT). The rationale for this approach is that the longer you can keep tension in your muscles during a set, the more you’ll exhaust them, forcing them to get stronger and grow to adapt.
How to Increase Time Under Tension
There are a few ways to increase the amount of time your muscles spend under tension:
- Do more repetitions
- Increase the amount of time you take to lower the weight
- Pause an exercise at some point in its range of motion and hold it for time
(also see related articles: Get Stronger with Isometric Exercises, Add Isometric Exercises to Your Training Regimen, and Take the Negative Chinup/Dip Challenge)
How it Works
Doing a lot of repetitions — 12-15 or more — is great, but there are also some potential problems that accompany this approach. The more reps you perform, the more likely it becomes that your form and technique tend to break down, increasing your risk of injury. More repetitions also forces you to use lighter weights, sacrificing muscular tension.
Time under tension can be increased, for virtually any exercise, by increasing the time of the eccentric (lowering) phase of the exercise, or by incorporating isometric “holds” (pausing during a movement), effectively creating a longer-lasting set.
For example, when doing the squat or bench press exercises, you could lower the weight to a six-second count, for each repetition; or you could pause at some point during the eccentric phase of the exercise and hold for 3-4 seconds before continuing the movement.
Try to incorporate this strategy into your workout routine and you’ll see how more tension in your life can actually be a good thing.
Get STRONGER, Get FASTER!
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