"Time Under Tension - The Terrible Curse of King TUT"

Does King TUT rule your training?

Discover why time under tension can carry a terrible muscle building curse.

King TUT

Let me tell you the story of King Tut. Not the boy pharaoh from ancient Egypt, but King TUT - or time under tension - and how this training principle can help build you majestic muscles.

Just like King Tut's Tomb, there are real riches to be found in your workouts if you only know where to look. Where do you start your search? As with any treasure hunt, your quest begins with a map - or in this case, your training diary.

Hidden amongst these pages, you will discover ways to:

• Improve fat loss,
• Overcome training plateaus,
• Boost muscle gain,
• Increase strength.

And the secret key that unlocks these riches?

The time your muscles spend under tension.

Time Under Tension Training

Before we describe how these treasures can be yours, let us first take a moment to examine what this principle is.

Briefly, time under tension (TUT) is a way of calculating the total time a muscle resists weight, or load, during each repetition or training set. And here is where things get exciting: science shows how subtle manipulations in this training principle can boost increases in muscular endurance, increases in muscular strength, and increases in muscular size.

What can we learn from this?

Basically, if you want to increase your muscle size to their optimum levels, you need to select the required TUT that best encourages growth.

The Curse of King TUT

Legend has it that anyone who opens a mummy's tomb will suffer a terrible curse. In the realm of weight training, your attempts to build muscle are equally cursed if you choose the wrong TUT in your workouts. In short, poor manipulation of this training principle can render your efforts in the gym ineffective and valueless.

So how do you escape King TUT's curse and discover muscle building "gold"?

You subject your muscles to a timed resistance that is optimally geared towards growth.

Here are the numbers you need:

⁃ Generally speaking, 20 seconds of TUT builds strength.

⁃ To train for muscular endurance, choose a time under load of 90 to 120 seconds.

⁃ For muscle size, 40 to 60 seconds will cause hypertrophy.

In Summary

If your workout diary shows you are already hitting your preferred training target, congratulations - you are exercising within an optimal time-frame that best builds muscle size.

And what if your sets lie outside these parameters? 

Simply adjust your time spent under tension accordingly, and you will avoid the curse of King TUT.

Now let's all "Walk Like an Egyptian"...