Time Under Tension: The Building of Muscle

Time Under Tension: The Building of Muscle

Are you tired of doing the same thing in the gym over and over, but not effectively  building muscle? Try  Time Under Tension (TUT). This is a great way to put the muscle under tension for a period of time. An example of the TUT system would be 14,1,2 which means, that the weight is lowered for four seconds, paused for one, and raised over a duration of two seconds. Time under tension is a great way to build the muscle you are looking for. You do one of two things, you either increase the weight load, or you increase your TUT. This system is a great alternative to heavy lifting because of the tension. It allows the muscle to get stronger because of the amount of work it is having to do while it is under tension from the weight on the bar.

There are three phases that your body goes through when it is using the TUT approach. You start with the concentric phase. During this phase, you raise the weight up. The concentric phase is usually the fastest phase. Although you pause at the peak; The peak is where you are going to switch from eccentric to concentric. This can be either the bottom of a bench press before you go up or at the bottom of a squat before you lift it back up. You want to be explosive while still keeping your form. The second phase is the eccentric phase. This is the phase where you are lowering the weight. During this phase you want to take more time on because of the tension that it is putting on your muscles. While lowering your weight, be slow and controlled for max effectiveness. The third phase is the rest phase at this point you are stopping which causes your muscles to no longer have momentum forces the muscle to re-calculate the amount of muscle fibers needed.

Each phase is important and necessary to effectively lift in the TUT style . If you want to build muscle, this is a great option for as I have had luck with it myself . There is definitely science behind this way of lifting, and it is not to complicated to understand. I urge you to try this method of lifting, and see if it works for you.

Refrences:

1Labrada, H. (2015, May 1). Lift For Length: Build Muscle With Time Under Tension. Retrieved from http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/lift-for-length-build-muscle-with-time-under-tension.html

2I. (2004, October 9). Time Under Tension In Your Training Program. Retrieved from http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/issa37.htm