Time Under Tension Or Number Of Reps

[ThePolishHammer]

I know that somewhere between 6-12 reps is ideal for most people who are looking to increase muscle size.
I've also heard that a TUT should be roughly 70 seconds if your looking to build muscle.
However with a 70 second TUT I would probably pump out about 15+ reps. This is endurance training for most people, including myself.
So it seems like theres a bit of a contradiction here? Could someone explain this to me?

 

[The Shadow]

TUT for size is believed to be between 40 and 60 seconds - using a standard rep cadence - ie - 5 seconds per rep - 8-12 reps which is what is normally recommended for size...

YOu should slow the negative portion of your stroke

 

[TauRine]

Corn: What about TUT for Strength then? Cadence/No. reps?

And we may as well have endurance as well

TauRine.

 

[The Shadow]

well.....these is a TUT for strength...that seems to be th mostly hotly debated - 20-40 for strength and 60-90 for endurance...

 

[SAGAT]

hey corn, is that with a normal rep cadence as well?( i mean the one for strength)

 

[The Shadow]

yes...it is.....although the topic ot super slow reps came up....TUT is TUT...interesting as it would be a little similar to rack holds, etc....

 

[Hannibal]

 

[The Shadow]

GO AWAY!!!!!


lol

 

[CytoMel]

Heavy training + lots of eating = muscles

Its simple.

 

[Legion Kreinak]

What's this?

So wait, what's this I hear? The longer you hold a repitition, the more gains in muscle strength and endurance? But how does that work? Doesn't really make sense to me... I just figured, more reps and lightwe weight is for strength with minimum size gains.

 

[The Shadow]

light weight does not equal strength

 

[bignate73]

what needs to be clarified in this discussion of TUT is that the time spent is not submaximal effort time, the bar/weight is moving slow due to the load imposed and not because the lifter is holding back. this being the case, a 60 second set is usually out of the question and more an issue of muscular endurance rather than strength(though some decent poundages may be used) . if hypertrophy is the goal, white fibers must be forced on meaning that all out effort should be the thought process when lifting the load. ie, push/pull explosively, even if the weight moves very slowly. i believe trainees tend to lighten the load in an effort to reach the TUT goal but miss the fact that they are sandbagging for the sake of making numbers/time. total time under tension for a workout is generally low when speaking of maximal effort.

but since we are talking bodybuilding, fast reps, slow reps, light weights heavy weights are used, all to gain overall size of the muscle to stimulate all parts that can grow besides white fibers.

 

[ThePolishHammer]

So if you put out lets say 5 seconds per rep, on a bench press. and do ten reps your total time under tension is 50 seconds. Both of which (rep range and time under tension) are ideal for mass bulding. How should your 5 seconds be spent in each rep? As big nate said, you dont want to use a submaximal effort just for the purposes of slowly raising a weight in order to meet your TUT. So how should you go about doing this? If a weight was so heavy i took two seconds to raise it and itprovided me with a challenging two second negative (the reamining second can be spent doing an isometric at the top of the press) That particular weight would be so challenging i couldnt press for 50 seconds or ten reps...

 

[Legion Kreinak]

It doesn't?

Light weight doesn't equal strength? But if you feel any muscle fatiguing after any sort of training, doesn't that show the tissue is being "torn down" and thus will have to rebuild itself stronger, thusly proving that light-weight CAN lead to strength without size?

 

[bignate73]

no.

fast twitch fibers fatigue very quickly. feel leads to the common misconception that something is going to happen, which isnt always the case. if the load you are using isnt enough to overload the body, it wont lead to adaptation beyond some organelle changes to increase endurance.

 

[Legion Kreinak]

Well...

Then how do you increase muscle strenght WITHOUT drastic size increases? I don't want to have like 24 in biceps (obviously that won't happen yet) I just want a smooth and sculpted body with as minimal bulk as possible.

 

[latinus_spicticus]

Speed, speed, accelleration, acceleration. Move the weight as quickly as possible for strength.