Thoughts on the video ? This is a very "simple approach" to training, since he is essentially saying: As long as you move weight and then move more weight after a while you will gain muscle since it is more time under tension. I actually understand where he is coming from, it does make sense TO A DEGREE. But what do you all think, is the whole Time under tension just some BS that has been broscience all along ? Should we just leave it and do more reps with heavier weights not worrying about tempo ?

I dont care for tempo myself. I agree with 99% of what he said on the video. I m not saying you should be jerking the weights around but you shouldnt be doing 6 second negatives either.

Oh THIS guy? I saw him trying to say Dana Linn Bailey takes steroids because, "Her voice is raspey, just like that one girl he knew that was taking horse tranquilizers/steroids/whatever." I'd take anything he says with a HUGE pile of salt, as Dana lives in the part of PA where my Aunt grew up (we all live on the border of NY/PA), and I even dated a girl that had the SAME raspey voice he mentions, and they do NOT take horse steroids, trust me. The women in that part of PA sound like that because of genetics/environment, so he has no idea what he's talking about.

I train like the greats did, VARY your workouts. One week (sometimes twice if I'm feeling froggy) a month, I'll strength train and push as much weight as possible, then the next rotation I'll lighten the weight and focus more on form, and I'm just basically making clean reps count. It works to a great effect for me. I tried TUT, and at first I was pleased....but you don't make a lot of strength gains (not saying you won't, you just won't optimize your workouts to benefit as much as doing other alternatives) and the progress comes to a screeching halt fairly quickly. I'd say it's great for a beginner to become accostomed to lifting, but it's not a long-term solution.

William,

The controversy and confusion is that people like him don't factor in muscle fiber types. TUT is not beneficial to those who are white-fiber, fast twitch based. TUT IS important for those who are red fiber, slow twitch fiber based. MuscleGenes as well has extensive research they quote to support these facts. TUT doesn't mean 6-9 second negatives but if a slow twitch dominant person wants to gain strength and size then it is mandatory :-)

John

Yeah the voice argument he used was not good enough to support his opinion on DLB. I personally do not have an opinion on the matter, I just love her dedication and her approach to training.

I also vary my workouts a lot like you do. 2 weeks strenght and 2 weeks bodybuilding is my current schedule and I really like it. I think pure Tempo training is both boring and it does not provide me with the results I want. I like to hit the gym hard and just enjoy my workouts without to much thought on Tempo, mind to muscle connection is more important.

I agree with your statement, have a controlled motion, not to slow but not to fast.

hm, that might be I do not have extensive knowledge on the topic of muscle fibers so I do not have much to say. All I can say is that different people will benefit from different training styles, like you are implying here.

I'm sorry, but that doesn't make sense, maybe it's just my ignorance...because from what I was taught (even in college) was that everybody has Type I and Type II muscle fibers (there are sub-types in II, but to keep this generalized, I'm excluding them): Type I is slow-twitch, or the muscles used most commonly in weight lifting. Type II is the fast-twitch, more commonly used in sports like basketball for jumping or making a quick-stop and running the opposite direction. Plyometrics are also the common exercise to work Type II.

Also from what I've studied, Type I is the muscle group that grows the largest, which makes sense....if you build up a muscle fiber that needs to twitch quickly, why would you make it larger? In electronics class, we're taught the longer the wire is that powers a machine, the more resistance it has, and flows slower. The purpose of Plyometrics is not to build the muscle up, but to have the muscles respond faster and recover better, so they don't tear as easily when you do a shuttle run, or land badly after making a dunk (essentially, lowering the resistance in the wire). They'll grow a little, sure, but not on the level Type I does.

All this being said, TUT goes into a category of Type I along with all weight lifting. Type II activates in milliseconds, not whole seconds. Thus, saying TUT works Type I more than somewhat faster reps is almost on the scale of insignifcant...it's not going to make THAT big of a difference that it requires stressing to even advanced lifters. I've done both types of tempo training...and unless you're doing negatives that are less than 2 seconds, you're not activating Type II as much as the science is trying to tell you. Some may come into play, but not on a level that is widely noticeable.

Kevin,

It is understandable to be confused which is why this topic is often debated. The science behind it is that while it is true we all have Type I and Type II muscle fibers we do not all have equal distributions. Some people have more Type I fiber as a percentage of both the muscle and the body as a whole while others have a higher percentage of Type II fibers. TUT works better for people with Type I muscle fiber dominance because these muscles have higher endurance. Therefore you need to keep them under tension for a longer period of time if you want to cause the micro-tears which lead to muscle growth and adaptation. Type II fibers will not benefit as much as they are designed for more quick explosive contractions as you outlined above. As such, TUT doesn't need to be that long. Assuming faster reps has the same effect as TUT is incorrect. Try doing a fast set of curls and then try doing a set of curls with slower tempo especially on the eccentric part of the movement. They are quite different and affect Type I muscle fibers more directly.

What people forget is that both Type I and Type II muscles will grow and get bigger and stronger. It is just that Type II fibers have a higher level of growth and strength potential. Only thru training both will you get maximum size. This is why on average bodybuilders are much bigger than powerlifters as they train BOTH Type I and Type II fibers. Powerlifting focuses primarily on Type II fibers. Muscles are not like electricity so what you learned in electronics does not apply here. Type I fibers have more endurance because they are more eficient using oxygen as a fuel source. Type II fibers use the anaerobic Krebs-cycle and ATP - which is a short burst energy source. This is why Creatine helps with strength as it is the primary building block of ATP and powers your Type II muscle fibers.

My point is that in order for a natural athlete to maximize their muscle growth and strength potential they must train using methods best suited for their fiber type. Thanks to companies like MuscleGenes, we now have a way to get a window into our muscle make-up. For people like me and Scott who are predominately Type I muscle fiber based, TUT is an effective tool for us to get big and strong. The initial thread started as William posted a video of someone imparting Broscience about TUT. I am one who believes it is not BS and is quite effective for Type I dominant natural bodybuilders :-)

John

To put this simply, time-under-tension should just go hand-in-hand with volume. If you do 16 fast reps with the same weight as you can perform 8 slow ones, which one would you rather do?

Depends on the individual. Like everything in fitness. Everyone has a different muscle composition.

Try everything and see what works for you!

-Eric

Agreed.