+ 5 Are Volume and time under tension the key?
I feel that Time under tension and volume over sheer weight is the way to go to building the desired physique.
"Progressive overload is not , I repeat not the only way to grow.
Now I feel having been 250 pounds nearly in shape I built the mass to speak about mass and it wasn't through just being strong.
Granted let's not debate overload but let's talk about stress , tension and torque...
Now it is not just about weight.
So many strong guys do not have developed bodyparts for that muscle.
Some are very blocky through the pursuit of this.
Take Larry wheels the world powerlifting raw champ, he benches 6p for 3 reps but has a chest most amateurs can beat.
He deadlifts 360kg for reps but has an underdeveloped back ...
My point is ..
Cumulative poundage , volume , frequency in my opinion , are equal to simply getting stronger.
Yes , pros are all very strong but, most have always done a lot of sets, a lot of reps and pulled and stretched a lot with load.
If you have weak lats in my experience forget tbar and deadlift , simply won't engage the scapula, drive the elbow close and low to hip and engage the lats.
But guys thunder 8-10 p tbars and 7 p deads, I did those numbers and had no lats. Big erectors traps and rhomboids, but no lat / Lat sweep.
Think engagement , think where and what movement you feel hits it the most.
Arms grow tremendously with cables.
The chest with flyes and dips.
The legs with hacks and leg press done well.
Simply getting strong , is great , but I feel many lose their way and think legs are weak let's squat 600 lbs. no let's do movements which drive knees over toes and make the tibia / fib angle great.
Let's drive elbows down back and minimise brachial and trap engagement in lat movements.
I tore a pec benching heavy and had huge triceps and delts... But previous to that it grew best.. When my flyes were 3 out of 5 movements as the function of the pec is to bring the humerus primarily across the body.
So please, check some strong guys out and you will see it can create over development of strong parts and not weak parts, and some get strong but not much bigger.
Choose things that make you FEEL a muscle.
After all, it's a visual sport.
This is my opinion let's hear your thoughts guys 
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Putting diet aside, the top three principles you need to understand if you want to grow are progressive overload, TUT (time under tension), and density (I prefer density over volume). Understand these concepts and how to incorporate them into your training and you will be off to races when building muscle. I am talking hypertrophy here and not necessarily strength. Strength training is a whole different beast when training primarily for that animal.
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Some great posts there mate thankyou for sharing! +
Hello Sir,
Some great tips here from knowledgeable and experienced athlete Sir, very nice. I am a big fan of progressive overload approach however, the reality is - it is very individual. Pumping/stretching/contracting/TUT will work for an enhanced athlete well but you take non-enhanced athlete and it will probably be waste of time.
Overall increase of strength is a good indicator of muscle growth if technique and nutritional aspects are considered and you're not growing fat instead of muscles.
There are many muscle building strategies but the only thing about progressive overload - it will work for most of the weight lifters no matter what and the main reason why, there is a PROGRESS in your workouts one way or another.
How many people we see come to the gym and start doing random exercises day in, day out and they never change and look the same all year around. Now progressive overload strategy does not allow this, there will always be the key factor - progress and progress will always lead to some results, that is why I love it.
But want to say thank you for sharing your thoughts with us, it is always great for me to compare my training method ideas to experienced weight lifters thoughts.
Regards
If you are progressing you are growing.
It all depends on your goals I see guys in my gym that are huge, for example a large chest but cant bench 250 more then once without a spot. Large biceps but struggle curling 50 pounds. You have a guy like me, some size but not impressive that can bench 350 for reps, 300 pound tricep pulldowns, 200 pound curl, e.t.c. I trained that way. I wanted to be strong so I trained to be strong. You train for the goal you want to be. I like being strong, some like being big, some like skinny.
RustyhookerDefinitly. I can hit it hard for strength and do well or volume for thickness.
They would say its because we midgets are stronger because of our size, since gravity pulls on us more lol.
The bigger the mass the more gravity... Does that mean you two are attracted to me?
no homo
Well, depends on if you tango, no homo.
RustyhookerNo tango with tall men..... eyeballs in crotch. Ughhh
RustyhookerHahaha!!
AnonAt 5' 6" 280lbs I'm surprised you can fit through a doorway.
Those arent my stats, I did that because all the new members we get here are magically 25, 9%bf and over 250. Im 45, 5'6, and 200, was 190 3 weeks ago but switched up my routine.
AnonI wish I was 9% BF, I measured mine by doing the Armed forces measurement for BF% and came up with 24%. Maybe my tape measure is off, that's what I'm blaming it on anyways.
You mean to say... the 50 new a/c's a week looking for the nod on their 5gram pw 12 month cycles with thyroid and taboo are NOT really 25 y/o future IFBB pro's??? They have been lying to me...lying to us all.... all this time??
Well, denial is not just a river in egypt.
Damnit!
ClassyChassisI agree absolutely with everything you said. I make sure to initiate the movement w the target muscle and only do the range of motion that keeps tension on the muscle. Which will differ on different exercises. And heavy flyes and dips for chest. Strength is largely a matter of CNS efficiency.
Some guys do well with HIT. For me volume is best. Each part twice a week. On chest and back day I do a split and pick up bis and tris in the evening. Basically Arnold’s intermediate routine. Abs every day except in my off day.
I’d say it’s all dependent upon the ultimate goal...
I also subscribe to periodization & cyclical training.
Otherwise well said for Bodybuilding purposes. It’s all about aesthetics—strength & power aren’t entirely necessary to win competitions.
What are your thoughts on strength training for say 8 weeks, then 8 weeks just concentrating on the squeeze, slow, moderate weight. Really working that mind muscle connection. And alternating all year long? Ive just begun this, to be honest my only goal is to stay in shape. I like to keep raising my bench and deadlifts but being 42 I am realistic as to how much more I can go.
Jay,
You ever do weighted pull ups/dips, pressups ect....?
I found the 5×5 program to be excellent mate. My strength went through the roof and pretty fast
It depends on what the goal is mate. In the past IV done alot of 5x5 strength training etc and for sure really helped my lifts go up but I wasn't seeing any progression in my training. If your training for strength then I would recommend it to anyone! I just feel my joints ache I can't get a good pump and it's a different kind of muscle soreness to if I just smash through the volume and time under tension. But then again it's always good to keep the body guessing and switch up the training. Iv decided to stick to volume and pumping the blood in to the muscles. if I change anything it's normally my exercises and training splits. Of late IV just switched up to push,pull,legs,day off then back around this way I'm hitting the muscles twice a week and it's really kicking my ass. But as said above different strokes for different folks
I'm getting alot of shoulder problems of late so have decided to stay away from the bench and hit the hammer strength machines, dumbbells and alot of fly isolation movements
I know it different strokes for different folks, but I agree man! This is definitely what works best for me. I love to squeeze the muscle I’m working while under tension in mid rep... I get that sweet burn
I’m soon gonna be 43, & I have found this to not only be more effective as I’ve aged, but much safer. All it takes is one day with too much weight to ruin an already bad shoulder or bad knee.
100% agree with you Jarhead! IV had so many injuries over the years and I'm only 27! But I also feel my overall phsyique is so much better when I'm getting that burn and pumping the blood in to the targeted muscles. But I also feel that lifting heavy and progressive overload has its place!