Time Under Tension Workout Benefits (Get This Right)

Time Under Tension Workout Benefits

Today we will talk about how time under tension benefits our workouts and our ability to build muscle. We know about the importance of progressive overload and the connection between training volume and hypertrophy. Both of these are essential elements in building muscle, and time under tension is interconnected.

It can be looked at in a couple of different ways. We have time under tension of a rep or a set.

When it comes to the individual repetition, it refers to the speed we do it. The slower the rep, the more time under tension we have. This is not to be confused with mechanical tension, which refers to the amount of weight we are lifting or the load.

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For time under tension to be genuinely effective, we need to be lifting a sufficient load that brings us into the effective rep range, which is those last few reps, before we reach failure.

The best use of time under tension is when it comes to improving our mind-muscle connection and form. Where I use it is when I've hit a training plateau, and I've let my form get a little sloppy in the quest to lift more weight. I slow the reps down, focus on the working muscles, breathing, and form, allowing time to improve the lift before pressing ahead with more weight.

There is an added benefit because it allows more time for your joints and tendons to develop and strengthen before moving on to a heavier weight. As we get older, this is something that just takes more time.

Doing a few reps and, in particular, the negative portion of a movement super slow has some advantages, especially when we do it at the end of the final set to fully exhaust the muscle. But doing every single rep super slow can get tedious and difficult to keep the pace consistent, making it un-trackable. So there comes a point where going so slow doesn’t make sense, and it's time to increase the weight.

For me, I find about half my typical pace is just about perfect, and once I’ve improved my form and mastered the weight, I’ll increase it and return to my original pace.

Now for time under tension on a set. This is where I find it starts to overlap with training volume. To find the training volume of a set, you times the weight or load by the number of reps you did. The time it took you to do those reps is the time under tension of the set regardless of the pace you did the individual reps.

Longer sets create more metabolic stress, which is another way we build muscle. Often thought of as the pump.

The typical time under tension guideline for a set is between 30 to 60 seconds. What a set of this length does, is it creates a more anabolic environment for muscle growth through complete muscle fibre fatigue, lactic acid build-up and an increase in muscle protein synthesis.

Why I like to look at this more in terms of volume than time under tension is that volume equates load, and we can never forget this important component of muscle growth. I read one article that suggested the term should be changed from time under tension to time under load to more accurately reflect what makes it effective.

Most of us think in terms of reps, and the typical pace of a rep is usually around 3 to 4 seconds long. For our set to last 30 to 60 seconds, we need to be doing at least 8 to 10 reps, and it could be as high as 15 or 20 on the upper end. No need to time your reps. Just keep them in that range.

Sometimes it feels like we use too many terms to describe the same thing in fitness, and the biggest issue with time under tension is it’s often sold as a way to use lighter weight, insinuating less effort. In reality, to be effective, you still need to use full effort to bring yourself close to technical failure on each set and continue to increase the weight over time.

To find out the best way to keep our workouts progressive and injury free watch this video next, as this is the best way to keep working out while having fun.