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Question:

“Is there an optimal amount of Time Under Tension (TUT) to shoot for each set?”

When trying to maximize the hypertrophic response, I recommend keeping the working muscle under tension for somewhere between 40 and 70 seconds most of the time.  It’s somewhat subjective though, and also depends on the goal of the set, workout or program.

But for the general population wanting to maximize hypertrophy, I recommend sets last 40 – 70 seconds… usually closer to 40 seconds more often than not as this allows for the use of heavier loads.  That seems to be the way to go.

 “You mention there ‘heavier’ weights.  In contrast I’ve often heard you say to use light weights.  Could you clarify then what you mean by that?”

Well, firstly, ‘light’ is of course relative, and secondly, it’s not about light weights per se.  What I’m NOT saying is to use weights that your grandma could lift.  I’m saying you should use an appropriate weight for the movement.  Hoisting weights around may allow you to move significantly more weight, but training for size should be about time under tension, not time under movement.  To be even more accurate, it’s should be about time under MAXIMUM tension.

So yes, weight matters, but most people need to lighten the load and learn to do things right.

“Moving back to time under tension (TUT), provided I keep tension on the muscle throughout, does it matter if I move the weight quickly to achieve say, 30 reps in 60 seconds, or if I move the weight for ten reps in 60 seconds?  

It’s actually been proven that there’s a different hormonal response from the concentric portion of a rep when compared to the eccentric phase.  The eccentric causes more muscle damage, the concentric causes more lactic acid build-up.  So they have different metabolic responses.  It’s important we use this knowledge to our advantage.

“So is there an ideal tempo we should all be following to optimize hypertrophy?”

Absolutely not.

The optimal tempo is whatever tempo you can use to maximize tension.   

In MI40-Foundation and MI40-Xtreme I often prescribe a 4-0-1-0 tempo.  Not because it’s some miraculous, amazing number, but because it’s the tempo I have found to be optimal for most people to be able to maintain tension while also maximizing force output.

Is it 2-0-1-0 just as effective?  Sure, it could be… ‘if’ you’re able to maintain tension during that time.

In fact, this is one thing a lot of people mention to me… they say, “you often tell us to follow a 4-0-1-0 tempo, but I watched this video of you training and counted, you weren’t following that recommendation.  How come?”.

Well, that’s because I can personally maintain tension on a 3-0-1-0, or a 2-0-1-0 tempo, though I have people who have trouble with a 6-0-1-0 tempo.  It’s completely dependent on your ability to maintain tension in the working muscle.

The point is that four seconds may not work for you.  It’s whatever you can do to the best of your ability with your body to maintain that maximum time under tension throughout the muscle.

For some muscles, I’m amazing at maintaining tension, and others it takes a little more focus.  So if it takes more focus and time, I slow things down.  An example for me being when it comes to biceps.

I don’t have an awesome mind/muscle connection with my biceps and so I have to work on that every time I train.  I have to make sure that I’m optimizing the contraction, that tension is staying in the right places.  It gets better and better every year, but I’ve only really been training biceps for a few years.  I never trained them when I was a kid.  I just didn’t believe that I needed to, or that I wanted to.

So in this case I’ll actually usually use a 6-0-1-0 tempo or a 6-0-2-0 tempo, sometimes even a 6-0-2-1 tempo where I’m getting a HARD isometric at the top to make sure I’m really contracting the muscle, as opposed to just getting the weight up and letting the tension drop.

Ideally, moving slower isn’t better.  The total amount of time under tension is basically what’s going to work.  It needs to be tension.  It’s not how long I move a weight from here to here, it’s how long I can create tension within this muscle.  If I’m using a 3-second tempo versus a 5-second tempo, I would hope I’m just going to do extra reps so that I can maintain the same amount of tension.