Time under tension or TUT is a very specific type of training that was popularized by Tim Ferriss in his book, The 4 Hour Body. I won’t go deeply into the details and science behind how TUT works and will instead just give a brief overview so that you can understand the concept and how it is going to help you.
TUT training relates to placing your muscles under stress for a specific amount of time in order to break them down. The lifting and lowering phases in TUT are tightly controlled and executed slowly and steadily, this differs from conventional lifting which generally places the focus on moving as much weight as possible through the desired motion, with no regard to lifting cadences.
But what are the benefits of TUT training?
Well, first off by having your muscles be under tension for an extended period of time the result will be a greatly enhanced metabolic response and an increase in the release of growth hormone.
Secondly, by strategically increasing the time muscles are under tension you will be more effectively depleting your muscle’s glycogen (stored carbohydrates) levels. This means that during your post-workout feeding window your muscles will be craving food, especially carbohydrates, in order to repair themselves and they will rapidly absorb it into your muscles this means you can greatly increase muscle growth potential.
The above point also helps link to the next point which is fat loss. As TUT training places a great strain on muscle fibers it is highly metabolic, this means you will remain in a metabolic state for a massively increased length of time after your workout. This means that even when you’re not working out you are still burning off fat.
What is Lactic Acid Training?
In order to promote further progressive overload, fat loss, and incredible results you will also be using lactic acid training. This is a style of exercise that was popularized by the personal trainer and fitness model John ‘Roman’ Romaniello. Again, like with TUT training, I won’t go into the science behind lactic acid training and will instead give an overview providing you with exactly what you need to know.
Lactic acid training is incredibly powerful when it comes to promoting fat loss without the loss of muscle and without the hindrance of preventing muscle growth. The concept of this training is to promote higher production levels of lactic acid within your muscles. If you’re not sure what lactic acid is then just think of that burning feeling you get deep in your muscles after a few tough reps, that’s lactic acid, and we’re going to be ramping up the production of that. This style of training isn’t easy, but it is very beneficial.
So, how does lactic acid training work?
The ‘burn’ you’ve felt before is a result of your body using glycogen as an energy source. As glycogen breaks down it becomes a variety of different compounds and these compounds are the source of the ‘burn’ and create lactic acid in your muscles.
As the levels of lactic acid increase, so too does your body’s release of growth hormone. This is the perfect environment for muscle gain and fat loss as growth hormone causes fat cells to turn to fuel and causes muscles to grow.
