The Truth About Time Under Tension

The term "Time-under-tension" (TUT) is really hot in the bodybuilding, athletic

consulting, and fitness industries. It refers to the amount of time per rep (or set, or
exercise, or workout) that the muscle is under tension. For example, if a lifter takes 2
seconds to lower the weight and 2 seconds to lift the weight, it is said that the TUT for
that repetition was 4 seconds. And if someone performs 8 repetitions per set, then the
total TUT for the set is 32 seconds.
A repetition can be broken down into 4 phases.
1. The eccentric phase (where you lower the weight against gravity, and your muscles
contract while lengthening).
2. The first pause phase (before you begin the concentric phase)
3. The concentric phase (where you lift the weight against gravity)
4. The second pause phase (before you lower the weight)
The most important phase for putting turbulence on your body is the eccentric phase.
Research shows that the eccentric phase is responsible for the majority of the muscle
growth that occurs in response to a training program.
In contrast to what most people believe, a fast eccentric phase will result in the most
muscle growth. However, because that carries a very high risk of muscle injury, I prefer
to stick to eccentric phases that are no faster than 1 second. Generally, I default to 2
seconds on the eccentric phase. Or more simply, take at least 2 seconds to lower the
weight. The longest eccentric phase I generally use is 4 seconds. You can use different
eccentric tempos to add variety to your programs.
A tempo refers to the number of seconds in each phase. For example, 2-0-1-0 refers to:
2 seconds eccentric
0 second pause
1 second lifting
0 second pause
I tend to omit the fourth number from my training programs. So generally, you will only
see 2-0-1 beside exercises, for example.
To gain strength, the best tempo scheme is a controlled eccentric phase (of 1-2 seconds)
followed by a fast concentric phase i.e. try to lift the weight as quickly as possible.
Ive seen programs written where the concentric (lifting) portion of the exercise is 2, 3, or
even 4 seconds long. Thats not a good idea unless you want to get really weak. The same
goes for eccentric tempos of 5, 6, or more seconds.

But would you ever use really long eccentric phases? Yes, you might want to use these
with beginner clients. For example, when doing a bodyweight squat, most beginners will
naturally do it in about 1.5 seconds down and up. But when they do that, they arent
training their muscle effectively, and the movement is sloppy and possibly even hard on
the joints.
So you would want to have them do a 3, 4, or even 5 second eccentric when doing new
exercises. In addition, you may have them pause for 1-2 seconds at the bottom and top of
the movement, to put get them to understand which muscles should be doing the work in
that exercise.
Its also very common to use longer eccentric phases in exercises such as pull-ups. For
men and women that cant do a single full repetition, you can use longer eccentric tempos
as one of many methods to help them build up their strength in that particular exercise.
In contrast to the slow tempos, faster speeds of lifting are likely to bring a greater risk of
injury. So train safely, and conservatively. Fast eccentric movements lengthen the muscle
while it is working, and can easily lead to large amounts of muscle soreness in the days
after the workout.
Back to TUT
There have been a lot of articles promising that a specific TUT is best for muscle growth.
Forty seconds per set seems to be a popular recommendation. But I guarantee you that
you wont find any studies to back that up.
All claims about the best TUT are merely anecdotal and have simply been promoted by
popular strength coaches, leading to this belief. At present, no one, not even the most
experienced exercise physiologist truly can prove what is the optimal TUT for growth. It
is best to use a variety of training methods and tempos during a muscle-gaining
program. As you can see in the TT for Mass programs, I tend to include everything that
has been shown to elicit muscle growth. That way, no muscle-building stone is left unturned.
I know it would sound more authoritative if I claimed that a TUT of X seconds was
superior to all others, but I would be lying.
Among the training methods that have been shown to cause muscle growth are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Training with high and low reps

Training to failure
Training with moderate to heavy weights
Training 3-5 times per week
Training with 1-5 sets (with 4 sets of 8 possibly being the most effective set and rep
scheme)
6. Training with isolation exercises and training with multi-muscle exercises

As Ive written before, muscle growth is the result of training with the correct intensity
and volume of work, so that the next time you ask your muscle to lift that same weight, it
will have an easier time doing so. Almost all mass-gaining programs will work, and that
is why anyone and everyone can write mass-training articles, provided it has some
common sense behind it.
Using extremely heavy weights that allow only 1-2 repetitions per set or performing a
few explosive repetitions may not provide enough time-under-tension for muscle
growth, unless you do a higher number of sets for each exercise. Therefore, if muscle
mass is your goal, sets lasting only 5-10 seconds are probably not going to be optimal for
gains. On the other hand, you don't want to go too light, because performing 100 reps
with the 5 lb dumbbells is not likely to prove effective either.
Your muscles don't distinguish between TUT or the number of reps per set. Muscles
respond simply to the demands imposed on the body. If the exercise demands the muscle
to grow bigger in preparation for the next session, then that is what will happen.
The fact is there are thousands of lifters that go to the gym, lift hard, and get big without
giving the slightest thought to TUT. General recommendations for "hypertrophy training"
are 8-12 reps per set, with multiple sets per exercise, and multiple exercises per body
part. The debate over the best training program is endless. Its more important to concern
yourself with being consistent, training hard, eating enough, and changing your program
on a regular basis (every 4-6 weeks).
In closing, think of muscle growth this way...does the construction worker worry about
"Time under tension"? NO! He simply carries as many bricks as he can handle. Then next
week, after he has grown bigger and stronger, he carries more bricks...week in and week
out...plus he eats big.
Or as Men's Health consultant Michael Mejia says, "The bottom line is that there is
TONS of great information out there, but often we make this stuff out to be rocket
science when it really isn't.
Sincerely,
Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, M.Sc.
Men's Fitness Training Adviser
Maximum Fitness Training Adviser
President, CB Athletic Consulting, Inc.
cb@cbathletics.com
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