Extended Tension Muscle Building Phase

Not Your Average Doctor

A few years ago  I was talking to Eric Serrano, my doctor and friend, about developing muscle hypertrophy. Serrano said something that caught my attention. According to some experiments he'd done with a select group of bodybuilders, he'd determined that maximum hypertrophy may take place when the muscle is under tension between thirty and forty-five seconds."

What may not seem like a big deal to most it got my brain spinning.

Most lifters who try to achieve that duration of tension will focus on the reps and how long each one should take - I wanted to look at it differently and just decided to go for time.

I created a four-week program with absolutely no repetition guidelines.

Before this program my average sets usually lasted like 10 seconds. I knew training solely on time as going to be brutal.

Extended Tension — The Program

This program consists of four workouts per week, with one day of rest between each workout. This is a typical bodybuilder split, and hit every muscle group twice per week.

I selected only two exercises per muscle group per day, and made sure they were movements I could do without a spotter.

Day 1 — Chest, Shoulders, Triceps

Day 3 — Legs, Back, Biceps

Day 5 — Chest, Shoulders, Triceps

Use different exercises from Day 1.

Day 7 — Legs, Back, Biceps

Use different exercises from Day 3.

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On each exercise, use a moderately heavy weight on the first two sets — about what you could lift for 12 to 15 reps. Use about 50% of that weight on the third set, and go for as many reps as you can get in the designated amount of time.

Take a week to figure out what weights you should be using. I used a moderate to slow tempo. Thirty reps isn't going to make you big. I wanted to fall somewhere between 12 and 15 reps, because that's where I grow the fastest. But remember, it's not about how many reps you do. Just go heavy and bang 'em out."

I also positioned myself near a clock to keep track of the time. You can't do it with a wristwatch. You never know when the damn thing will beep. If you're busting through the set, you have to see where you're at and readjust.

You will also need to know how to make the set harder.

If the weight feels heavy and you know there is no way your are going to make it for the full time, start doing static holds, partial reps, or just flex harder at the top for a peak contraction. he says. Do whatever you need to do to make the time.

If you select too light, lift the weight more slowly and flex harder.

Progression

Each week ad five seconds to the time under tension. So his progression looked like this:

Week 1 — 30 seconds
Week 2 — 35 seconds
Week 3 — 40 seconds
Week 4 — 45 seconds

Once you find the perfect weight don't increased it. If you use 100-pound dumbbells for week one, use the same 100-pound dumbbells for weeks two through four. The five-second increase every week is enough progression and will kick you ass.

Rest Periods

Select a 1:3 work-to-rest ratio. If the set lasted 30 seconds, rest for 90 seconds.

Final Words

More often than not, a serious lifter's gains can be attributed to changing something in his program, providing his body with a new stimulus. On the other hand, when a lifter gets stuck in a period of muscular stagnation, his first instinct is often to go back to a program that worked well in the past, rather than trying something new.

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