A few training questions

[skywalk]

- What is more important for hypertrophy, time under tension, or performing 6-12 reps with good form, with a heavy enough weight? I read that maximum hypertrohpy occurs after 40-70secs of TUT, but doing 12RM I only take around 15-20secs.
- now, if I do drop sets after failing at around 12, I can extend my TUT to the 1minute mark, and i get a great pump, but i overtrain within 2 weeks of doing this method, when not on gear.

what's the best method to have maximum hypertrophy without overtraining so quickly?

 

[Mr. Joe]

There are a few articles which suggest TUT is directly proportional to muscle synthesis post workout (Pubmed search "time under tension"). However, there is a much larger body of evidence supporting 6-15 RM range for hypertrophy IMO.

Now, TUT can be manipulated to achieve faster gains, but the key is not so much the duration of TUT but the varying of TUT. For instance, if you use a 4121 (ecc:iso:con:iso) cadence for every exercise, months on end, then after a while your muscles will adapt to that cadence.

Drop sets can be beneficial as well, but they should be used sparingly. I would suggest limiting their use to one week a month or so. So, for three weeks you train without drops, while altering your rep cadence every week or two, then on that fourth week utilize drop sets for muscle groups you want to emphasize. Then the next month switch it up and do drops emphasizing different muscles.

I would also recommend tapering back weight/volume the week following your drop sets to allow for adequate recovery.

 

[skywalk]

appreciate your detailed and informative reply, Mr Joe. thank you

 

[Mr. Joe]

No problem.

 

[Dr JIM]

if you want to get big lift big.......which does not necessarily correlate with the development of "strength".