MASS TRAINING: TIME UNDER TENSION (TUT) IN HIGH VOLUME TRAINING (HVT) - BODY-BUILDING

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Mass training: Time Under Tension (TUT) in High Volume Training (HVT)

Mass training: principles of HVT and HIT

In body building, the choice of system and technique to obtain the highest possible level of hypertrophy (mass gain) is still the subject of many discussions and controversies.

Basically, the training principles compared are two: High Intensity Training (HIT) e High Volume Training (HVT).
The training ad high intensity (HIT) effectively stimulates strength, imposing an almost maximal stimulus thanks to the achievement of submaximal muscle tension (usually by concentric contraction), but with rather short execution times (<Time Under Tension - TUT); on the contrary, the training for the mass ad high volume (HVT) subjects the body to a longer but less intense muscular stress, taking care of both the timing and the execution technique (> Time Under Tension - TUT).
Before going into the description of "training for mass according to the principles of" High Volume Training (HVT), it should be noted that: muscle volume growth does not follow standardized rules and, in addition to being extremely subjective, in the LONG TERM requires the use of BOTH principles (HVT and HIT) supported by an extremely careful diet.

The best training for mass: High Volume Training (HVT)

As anticipated, the "High Volume Training (HVT) is a training principle that is based on a controlled stimulus, technically flawless and characterized by Time Under Tension (TUT) quite high. If supported by proper nutrition, it is particularly profitable as it stimulates the main components for the growth of the section and muscle mass:

Exhaustion of energy supplies (first the ATP, then the creatine-phosphate and finally the muscle glycogen)
Lactic acid production (known to be related to the secretion of somatotropin - GH)
Muscle exhaustion up to controlled exfoliation of contractile fibers (which induces anabolic supercompensation)

The supercompensation of HVT, in addition to the reconstitution and increase of energy reserves, determines the increase of the cellular enzymatic pool, the thickening of the connective sheaths, the increase of the fibro-cell cytoplasm due to the increase of myofibrils, the recruitment of satellite cells and , in a relative way, also the increase in capillarization.
All this could not happen with Time Under Tension (TUT) similar to those of "HIT.

Time Under Tension (TUT) of the HVT e Total Work (TW) of the HIT

l TUT (Time Under Tension) is the time of tension to which the muscle is subjected during contraction; TUT is the sum of all times relating to the different phases of the exercise, therefore (referring to concentric executions):

ALL = concentric phase time + eccentric phase time + maximum shortening static phase + maximum elongation static phase.

The same could be evaluated in eccentric (negative) or static (isometric - among other things, particularly effective in hypertrophy!) Contraction executions.
The Time Under Tension (TUT) significantly affects the training volume, a primary characteristic of the HVT technique, even if the most well-known formulas do not include it in the final estimate of theamount of physical work done. This last parameter, also called Total Work (TW - Total Work), represents the fulcrum of the HIT training and DOES NOT take into consideration neither the work inclinations nor the Time Under Tension (TUT).

Total work = mass moved * gravity * range of motion
(Baechle, Earle, & Wathen, 2000, p. 418; Fleck & Kraemer, 2004, p. 7).

Example of the TW estimate in HIT and HVT:

Bench presses in HIT: series 3 - repetitions 10 - displaced mass 100kg

TW in HIT of pushes on flat bench = 3 * 10 * 100 = 3000kg

Pushes on flat bench in HVT: 3 series - 10 repetitions - 80kg displaced mass

TW in HVT of pushes on flat bench = 3 * 10 * 80 = 2400kg

NB. The HIT often uses much lower rep sets with much higher loads, according to the goal of the body-builder; if the HIT is used for the research of muscle mass gain the reps remain between 8 and 12, on the contrary, wanting to stress more the neuro-muscular activation component, the synchrony of the fibers, etc. (strength), the repetitions are reduced to 2 or 3 up to a maximum of 5 or 6.

Comparison of training volume for mass in HIT and HVT

Although the TW is ALWAYS higher in the HIT (since it is based on the "execution of maximal or submaximal contractions), considering that in the HVT the Time Under Tension (TUT) is" at least "2 or 3 times higher, it is deductible that it requires a metabolic effort , therefore physiological, much greater than the HIT.
In conclusion, it is possible to state that:

While HIT is a highly PHYSICAL training principle and mostly stimulates the strength components, HVT is a more METABOLIC-PHYSIOLOGICAL training principle and, as such, mainly stimulates the anabolism of muscle mass.