THE ROLE of ENERGY SYSTEMS in DETERMINING LOADING PARAMETERS for GOAL-ORIENTED EXERCISE
Time Under Tension
Time under tension (abbreviated TUT) is the amount of time that a muscle or muscle group is put under stress during a single rep, set, or workout. For example, if a client performs a bicep curl and lifts the weight in 1 second and lowers it in 4, the time under tension for that repetition is 5 seconds. In this particular example, the TUT would be noted as 4010, where 4 seconds is the time it takes to eccentrically lower the weight, 0 seconds is the time of pause at the bottom position of the curl, 1 second is the time it takes to concentrically lift the weight, and the last 0 seconds is the pause at the top of the movement.
Time under tension is inversely proportional to both reps and sets. The more time that stress is placed on a muscle in one rep, the less reps and sets are necessary to produce the same training effect.
Rest Intervals
Rest intervals, the time of rest between sets, are determined by a number of factors:
- training goal
- training intensity
- fitness level of the client
Training Goal, Training Intensity, and Rest Period
The training goal is, simply, the desired training effect. It is closely related to the training intensity, in that the goal dictates the intensity, which in turn dictates the rest period.
The training intensity can be described as the percentage of 1RM, or repetition maximum, that one exercises at. The more intense the workout, the higher the percentage of 1RM that one works, and the longer the corresponding rest period must be in order for the central nervous system to recover.
There exists a great deal of misunderstanding in the fitness industry about intensity, which is a word typically used to describe workouts that are hard. A workout can be very difficult without being intense – circuit weight training is very difficult and taxing to the body, but it is not intense, by the strict definition of the word.
Lastly, the fitness level of the client cannot be overlooked when assigning inter-set rest intervals. An untrained individual needs more recovery time than an experienced lifter. Conversely, an experienced trainee can be made more advanced once he has reached his appropriate level of strength by progressively reducing his rest period, so that he produces the same amount of work in less time.
