During your workouts there is a window of opportunity in every set in which to stimulate the body to build muscle.
You CANNOT afford to mess this up so please take this short time to read this article.
MuscleHack specializes in muscle growth. Other sites may focus more on functional strength, bodyweight training, overall metabolic conditioning, and so on. But this place is unapologetically about enlarging you muscles, getting lean and looking good!
This being the case, we specifically want our body to make the ANAEROBIC adaptation of increasing the size of the muscle fibers, in particular, the fast twitch fibers. This is in contrast to say increasing the number of mitochondria in the slow twitch muscle fibers.
Obviously then we must train in a way that MAXIMIZES anaerobic adaptations and consequently produces most muscle growth.
Unfortunately our bodies do not have an unlimited ability to adapt to everything you throw at it.
Marathon gym sessions, long intense cardio workouts, high reps, 20 sets per body part and so on, are recipes for disaster. Going to the gym with a fuzzy, general goal of getting big and therefore doing “a lot of exercise”, is misguided and actually counterproductive.
A certain type of stimulus produces a certain type of adaptation.
Your goal of increasing your muscle mass must be approached intelligently and scientifically, especially if you weren’t blessed with killer bodybuilding genetics.
Read here for more on the case against cardio, but for now let’s look at what I call “The Anabolic Window”.
Specifically what I mean by this phrase is amount of time in a given set in which to stimulate a muscle to grow.
You will sometimes hear this referred to as ‘Time Under Tension’ or ‘Time Under Load’.
Remember this:
In order to train for muscular GROWTH, you must keep working sets below 90 seconds at very maximum.
You already know that you should train to failure; high-intensity training ignites growth. Therefore your last, teeth-grinding, rep should occur before 90 seconds is up and usually around the 1 minute mark.
This is the ‘Anabolic Window’ and you need to train within this time-frame.
Here’s the deal:
For each body part and each set, pick a weight that causes you to hit failure around the 1 minute mark, and 90 seconds at an absolute maximum.
If you are using a weight that you can contract against for over 90 seconds, your aerobic system will be generating a large portion of the energy requirements. (Go here to learn more about the body’s 3 energy systems and more on why creatine supplementation makes sense).
The longer the set lasts, the more you split the stimulus between the anaerobic side (increases in muscle mass) and the aerobic side.
This is not what Muscle Hackers want!
The above information has led intelligent bodybuilders to conclude that they must use a repetition range that maxes at about 12 reps since high rep ranges are not optimal for muscle growth.
Another strategy is simply to use a stopwatch to record the Time Under Load. Once your TUL at a given weight reaches above 1 minute, you could then increase the load slightly for your next workout (progression). This is a perfectly good strategy if not a little awkward to implement.
In conclusion, keep your sets intense, train to failure, and it keep them short ‘n’ sweet. Couple these effective workouts with your own Peak Overcompensation Point, and you’ll begin to experience the fastest muscle growth you’ve ever had!
Train Intelligently!
Mark
Great reading! I just added mine up in my head. I think I’m hitting about 1 minute per set to muscle failure 🙂 And yes I am growing from your THT training so it works!
Hi Mark
Does this mean that when I’m struggling within a set, I can’t take a few seconds before doing the next rep?
I have to keep moving throughout the set?
Is it the number of reps – 8 to 12 – or the time that’s important, or both.
Since I workout at home on my own, when I do things like incline dumbbell presses, in order to keep the weight manageable and safe, I do about 15 reps!
I’ll have to time myself.
Once again Mark, a great read. Overall, this was a familiar topic for me… actually it is the way I have been training for the past few months and progressing nowhere but up with minimal-to-none gain in fat. It’s going great so far and I hope I won’t be hitting a plateau anytime soon, if ever! 🙂
Very interesting indeed, Mark. Its wonderful to know someone who takes time off to share all well researched information with us. Strangers, really! So thank you for that. I must say your routines have helped me a lot, I see good results. I know because I keep a little log book which I find very affective. But more importantly, with your help here, I’m able to stay more focussed at the gym. This is very important to me to perform well. Using of a stopwatch is a very good idea indeed…and with the little beep it makes, I can finally attract the attention of the person I always wanted to attract. But I digress. Thanks once again for sharing. I may not always reply but do ardently read all your articles here!
@Keith. It’s both. If you’re taking 2 minutes to perform 8-12 reps that means the weight must be too light because you would have reached failure long before 120 seconds. The only time I ever took a second break was possibly before the last rep only. It isn’t advisable to do this during the set. The tension should be fairly constant throughout.
@Nikola. Yeah, no need for plateaus if you train correctly and make small, incremental progressions.
@ Vishtasp. Thanks man. And all the best with that person at the gym 😉
Good tips Mark. You should do a diet article. What’s a good food source for MAN’s? I eat GLADs right now – F-C-P 35% – 30 % – 35 % right now with a low glycemic index carbs, but I have been thinking about trying out MANs. What is a cheap/easy staple for MANs? For GLAD, I have found that sandwiches, meats, soups, chilis, fish, frozen vegetables, oatmeal, and eggs are some great foods. What about GLADs? What can I make in 5-10 minutes on GLADs? The only things that I have found so far are precooked deli meats, cheeses, eggs, and of course whey. Actually omelets are pretty good, but I want something beside omelets.
Thanks Mark this web page is very in “site” ful…. sorry 😀
Thanks for this, Mark! Each week you come up with something else for us Hackers and each week I incorporate what you add to the mix.
I’ll definitely time myself tonight at the gym.
I never did get a chance yet to thank you for cable shrugs.They’re my new addiction! I can’t believe I never encountered them / thought of them before your email recently. All the best, and thanks for keeping us moving intelligently!
Adam
a big thankz for this info bro,i`m juz a beginner bodybuilder and this means a lot to me. you`r d man! hope to learn more from u specially on how to create a huge thighs and how of it muscles separation…
Like others who comment on your site, I really appreciate the research and common sense approach you so unselfishly share with your readers. I quit smoking four years ago and started working out two years ago to increase metabolism and offset the associated weight gain. I’m 6’4″, 59 years old, and started out at 243 lbs. I’ve gotten down to 222 lbs. and with your help managed to move much of it from my middle to my shoulders, arms and chest.
I have a “mini-gym” set up here at work, but due to interruptions by customers
usually extend what would probably be a 45 min. workout to 2 hours. Do you think that the long rest periods between sets is slowing my growth? I have increased definition and at least doubled my strength in most areas but have little increase in size to show for it. Of course, age may be a factor also.
Not sure if im reading this correct, do you mean no longer than 90 seconds per rep or per set….??
The reason i ask is if per set? then how long do we allow for rest in between our reps??
Thanks
Gavin
i’m with renz…. would love to hear your tips on leg workouts.
Does the 90 second time limit apply to bench pressing because i dont see myself taking that long to do 10 reps?
@Johnny. I’ve got a list of MANS recipes here if that helps
https://musclehack.com/category/recipes/low-carb-recipes/
@Adam. Thanks man. I think the resistance being supplied smoothly from the pulley does make it better than regular barbell shrugs.
@Renz Thanks 🙂
@Jerry. A workout that long isn’t optimal but since it’s NOT because you’re working for 2 hours straight, it’s not as bad as it would be. Try to find a way to remedy this.
@Gavin. Per set. There’s no rest between reps. 2-3 minutes between sets.
@Vlad. Got those articles in the pipeline
@Michael. 90 secs is an upper limit, not a target. If it takes you 40 or 50 seconds to complete a set of bench presses, that’s absolutely fine.
hi mark i already do lots of exersices for my abs on the swiss ball decline bench and rope on the cable pulley. but in your opinion what is the best abs exersice ever