In today’s Mad Monday (Yeah, I know. It’s technically Tuesday), I’ll be sharing with you the problem with what people typically understand as “Time Under Tension”.
The idea states that you have to keep the muscle in a state of tension for a certain period of time in order for change to occur.
The problem is that each person is created differently. We often get into the bad habit of thinking that “one size fits all”.
“If I do a 5 second concentric, 4 second eccentric and a 6 second isometric I’ll have the magic formula that is better than every other formula out there.”
I hate to break it to you but it doesn’t exist.
We need to get less “heady” when it comes to fitness. We need to get back to movement. We need to feel how our bodies are breathing while we are struggling to perform our reps.
Learn to control your breath, both on the outward and the inward, while you do your extreme calisthenics and you’ll experience a flow of energy like you’ve never felt before.
How do you fix “time under tension”?
Synchronize your breath with each concentric and eccentric rep.
The “time under tension” should be as long as it takes you to totally exhale and inhale.
That’s it.
Try it the next time you workout. Slow your reps waaaaay down. If you really want a challenge breathe and move so slow that a bystander would think you are still.
How’s that for time under tension?
-Todd
I have a metronome app where i count my candence on reps while maintaining max TUT. That way i have a consistent measure of how to track progress
Thanks Todd for the great advices above,
I find them very useful ideas. Thinking on a measure of effort by breathing fits perfectly to any individual in any circumstances.
Just one question. In your shoulder exercise do not you think breathing IN would fill the lung before the effort, that is fitting better then vice- versa?
Cheers,
Mike
Hi Mike,
That’s actually a great idea. I’m still playing around with proper placement of breath during each exercise. Normally you breathe out when exert force and breath in on the eccentric. Yet in Tai Chi you breath in on expansive movements and breathe in on contractive movements. So I’m doing some experimenting on my own to see what feels right. 🙂
Todd
Scott Sonnon talks about a hierarchy of breathing when learning strength moves. It goes from first having to hold your breath, to then breathing out on the effort to then breathing anatomically – in with expansion of the lungs, out with contraction, to the extent where you let the movement force the air out and the low pressure on expansion sucks the air back in. This allows for a great increase in endurance.
Just found your site a couple of days ago and am enjoying it. Lots of interesting stuff on here. Thanks
I have trained thousands of individuals. Never met a single athlete that did not get higher quality work outs from slowing down non ballistic moves. 2 seconds down 1 second pause under tension and 2 back up!
That’s awesome Mike! Totally agree.