[quote]Quick Ben wrote:
[quote]waylanderxx wrote:
[quote]Quick Ben wrote:
[quote]waylanderxx wrote:
I don’t really subscribe to the time under tension principle but every lift I do I’m squeezing the muscle as hard as possible, getting a very good stretch and really squeezing that peak contraction. I don’t use any momentum. My weights drop considerably doing this, my reps are slower but for me it works much better for developing my physique.
For instance, say you throw 300 lbs on the pulldown machine. You use momentum to get it started and you can only pull down to around nose level before the weight comes back up. How much do you really think you are stimulating the huge number of muscle fibers that make up your back?
Conversely, drop the weight to 220 lbs. Begin the movement in a smooth movement with your lats, bring the bar much closer to your chest and squeeze that peak contraction hard then end the movement with a controlled negative.
For me at least, option 2 does a lot more for me than option 1. I guess you could say it focus more on TUT but while the reps are slwower it’s nothing insane like 30+ seconds per rep.[/quote]
Every time I see a big dude write this, I think “yeah you do that NOW…”
The point being you may not ever have made it to doing 220 lbs with good form if you didn’t work up to 300lbs with looser form first.
Of course I am only asking what you think here, not trying to tell you how it is. lol
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If I had known how to traing this way effectively I would have. I cared a lot more about strength on all my lifts up until around 6 months ago. Now, I don’t really give a shit as long as I’m stimulating the muscle. There’s still a focus on progression but I’m not adding weight each session like I used to.
There’s no reason to think that progression using good form is less than that of loose form. Just because I handled 300 lbs at one time doesn’t mean anything. It’s not like momentum and body english use progression, you either use them or you don’t. Of course the weights you use will be greater when you cheat, it doesn’t mean you’re stronger though.
The thing I like about TUT is it forces you to not just “lift the weight”, you’re actually having to focus really hard on the target muscles to make reps slower.
It just seems like the natural order that like you said big guys start out using heavy weights, body english momentum etc and then end up later doing something like I do. IMO that’s just part of the learning process and figuring out how to train in the most efficient way possible. So yah, you’re pretty much right on with that. There’s really no way for a beginner or intermediate guy to get much out of this training style but I think at some point the transition has to be made, at least for BBing purposes.
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The fact that one has to simultaneously progress in both feel AND poundage to build muscle is what makes this whole thing interesting, imo. Not only do you have to go heavier today than last time, you should also execute the movement in a way to better train your target muscle. Improving feel is not as easily quantifiable as weight, but it certainly counts as progress. Shit if you never made the effort to get a good connection with your traps, you may have to deadlift 800lbs before they look decent. lol[/quote]
Good posts
I thought this thread was more about time under tension rather than target muscle tension, but I guess like Way said, if you’re more aware of peak contraction/pace etc it naturally lends itself to better stimulation.
Personally, my tension quality ALWAYS goes to ruin sooner or later, it’s just a matter of time (maybe it’s my personality? Too eager?) don’t know why but it happens. This is when I kind of integrate my de-load in with better TUT. That is, reach a sloppy peak…drop the loads a little and focus on quality more, until it gets sloppy again and repeat.