Why Tension Matters

The pulling force exerted by each end of a muscle fiber, or entire muscle, is called tension. Tension is a factor that is going to have a part within any training stimulus that you do. The more tension we have, the more of that given muscle tissue will be active, both from a contractile and metabolic perspective. When it comes to resistance training, we need to understand how to get tension where we want it, keep it there, and then either maximize the intensity — the amount of that tension — or your ability to sustain tension in that muscle through higher reps or multiple exercises. This ultimately will determine how much neurological work, how much total tension and mechanical work, as well as how much metabolic work can be done within a given session. The ability to create significant tension is going to be a key variable in every single training stimulus.

It seems time under tension style training is gaining popularity among fitness enthusiasts around the world. The hashtag on Instagram has 27.8k tags. This being said, the context in which I see the term being used is still vastly misunderstood. No matter the goal — building strength, building muscle, or losing body fat — creating significant tension is a key variable. You can now see how this should no longer be categorized as a “type” or “style” of training.

The ability to create significant tension will determine the overall success of your training, no matter the goal. We define “significant” as when there is enough tension in the target muscle(s) to create or contribute to the desired stimulus of the workout. In certain portions of some exercises, even though there may be tension in the muscle, the amount is so little that it does not contribute to stimulating any adaptations. Some examples of this would be at the top of a squat or at the bottom of a dumbbell curl.  Counting the time spent in those positions towards the “time under tension” of the muscle is almost irrelevant if we’re using that to evaluate the stimulus of the workout.

In the process of learning, it is important to see concepts put into some form of practical application. This helps give context to the new information. For the sake of this article, I want to apply this concept of significant tension to something near and dear to all of our hearts: building muscle. If your goal is building muscle, you need to be able to create significant tension within the muscle(s) you are training, at a high enough volume, to hit the threshold to stimulate adaptation. There are a handful of factors that will come into play, here:

• Execution: This is going to determine which muscle is receiving stress from an external load.
• Load: Execution works alongside load. You need a significant enough load to create significant tension in the muscle tissue.
• Volume: There is a threshold amount of tension and load that needs to be achieved on that given muscle tissue to trigger adaptation. The better your execution and your ability to apply load where you need will require a less total volume to achieve threshold needed.
• Tempo/Intent: When looking to get the most tension out of the relative load, the tempo and intent will need to be proportionate to the resistance profile and load being used to maximize the benefit of each rep.

As you can see, your ability to execute movements properly will heavily play into your ability to move loads with the tissue you are trying to work. The combination of execution and load will help achieve the needed amount of volume on each muscle needed to create an adaptation. Your ability to manage tension with tempo and intent will allow you the maximize the benefits of each rep. So, if your ultimate goal is to build muscle, the better you are at creating significant tension in the intended muscle, the better the opportunity you will have to stimulate the adaptation for muscle growth.

When paired with proper nutrition, recovery, and periodization, you have a recipe for success! If you would like to read about the 8 most common mistakes we see people make when trying to build muscle, CLICK HERE!