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Continuous Tension - Why Count Reps?
by Ron J. Clark
First of all, it's a given that you're interested in gaining size and strength, or you wouldn't be reading this article. It's also a given that it takes serious weight training with some pretty serious poundages to achieve that goal. What is not a given, however, is the right way to handle those serious poundages through a movement's entire range of motion to optimize growth stimulation.
In light of what we now know about the subject of this article - continuous-tension training - we many need to take another look at the age-old concept of simply counting repetitions as a measurement of performance.
Continuous tension means using a slower rep speed. As a seasoned veteran you know that while faster performance generally means more reps per set, the quality of the reps generally suffers as the speed increases. The question is, Which is more desirable, quality of performance or quantity of reps? Before you can answer that question, however, you need to ask yourself several others.
What about the risk of injury when you're moving quickly?
Is it more important to perform a maximum number of reps at any cost than to focus on the sensation you feel in the target muscle?
Is the speed of the contraction more important than the sustained intensity of a contraction?
If indeed slow, continuous-tension rep performance is best for you, is your ego ready for the drop in total reps per set? Moreover, if continuous tension is best, why bother counting reps? Wouldn't it be better to measure progress by the level and duration of intensity generated with each continuous-contraction set?
Let's take these questions one at a time.
What about the risk of injury with faster movement?
If you think that training quickly with heavy poundages may lead to injury, you're exactly right. In fact, using continuous tension is a great safeguard against injury, since more soft tissue is involved, and so it minimizes the stress placed on hard tissue and joints.
Is is more important to perform a maximum number of reps at any cost than to focus on the sensation you feel while using prolonged maximum intensity?
In my 20-plus years of training - six of them spent as a competitive bodybuilder - I've see and heard it all. I remember long ago hearing a professional bodybuilder say during a seminar, "It doesn't matter how much weight you use or the number of reps you get, it's the intensity that matters. "I didn't understand it at the time,. but now I know what he was getting at. He was trying to tell us not to be so conscious of the number of reps but to concentrate on the sensation that accompanies the effort. After all, the key to optimizing your bodybuilding results is not so much the reliance on recorded reps and weighs but the ability to recall, challenge and surpass the physical and mental sensations of intensity you experienced the last time you trained.
Is the speed of the contraction more important than the sustained intensity of a contraction?
This one calls for a slightly more in-depth explanation. There's only one training condition that causes a greater recruitment of fibers via increased speed of contraction than would be caused by continuous tension. That occurs when you use a weight that requires less than maximum effort.
The biological term of momentary maximum contraction is "tetnus". You achieve tetnus intermittently when you properly perform fast-rep sets with lighter weights - or when you perform continuous-tension sets with maximal weights. What's the bottom line? When you do it properly, continuous tension will cause more tissue damage over a comparable contractile duration than fast-rep training; however, continuous tension is not necessarily the best technique for everyone.
For example, what if you're slow to recover from intense workouts? Too much damage may in time result in cumulative injuries. Or maybe your training routine doesn't allow for the extended recovery that continuous-tension training requires. Those are just a couple of things to think about . You may decide to alternate fast rep performance techniques with continuous tension at every other workout to prevent injury and optimize progress - or incorporate a few sets of each type of rep performance in a single workout.
If indeed slow continuo s-tension reps are best for you, is your ego ready of the drop in total reps per set? Moreover, if continuous tension is best, why bother counting reps? Wouldn't it be better to measure progress by the level and duration of intensity generated with each continuous-tension contraction?
The fact is, performing continuous-tension sets does not equate to a disregard for full range of motion. You should still perform full repetitions, only more slowly, with more control and much less emphasis on the number of reps. The key to successful continuous tension training is threefold:
Use maximum resistance.
Maximize the duration of contraction.
Steadily increase the intensity of effort.
by Ron J. Clark
First of all, it's a given that you're interested in gaining size and strength, or you wouldn't be reading this article. It's also a given that it takes serious weight training with some pretty serious poundages to achieve that goal. What is not a given, however, is the right way to handle those serious poundages through a movement's entire range of motion to optimize growth stimulation.
In light of what we now know about the subject of this article - continuous-tension training - we many need to take another look at the age-old concept of simply counting repetitions as a measurement of performance.
Continuous tension means using a slower rep speed. As a seasoned veteran you know that while faster performance generally means more reps per set, the quality of the reps generally suffers as the speed increases. The question is, Which is more desirable, quality of performance or quantity of reps? Before you can answer that question, however, you need to ask yourself several others.
What about the risk of injury when you're moving quickly?
Is it more important to perform a maximum number of reps at any cost than to focus on the sensation you feel in the target muscle?
Is the speed of the contraction more important than the sustained intensity of a contraction?
If indeed slow, continuous-tension rep performance is best for you, is your ego ready for the drop in total reps per set? Moreover, if continuous tension is best, why bother counting reps? Wouldn't it be better to measure progress by the level and duration of intensity generated with each continuous-contraction set?
Let's take these questions one at a time.
What about the risk of injury with faster movement?
If you think that training quickly with heavy poundages may lead to injury, you're exactly right. In fact, using continuous tension is a great safeguard against injury, since more soft tissue is involved, and so it minimizes the stress placed on hard tissue and joints.
Is is more important to perform a maximum number of reps at any cost than to focus on the sensation you feel while using prolonged maximum intensity?
In my 20-plus years of training - six of them spent as a competitive bodybuilder - I've see and heard it all. I remember long ago hearing a professional bodybuilder say during a seminar, "It doesn't matter how much weight you use or the number of reps you get, it's the intensity that matters. "I didn't understand it at the time,. but now I know what he was getting at. He was trying to tell us not to be so conscious of the number of reps but to concentrate on the sensation that accompanies the effort. After all, the key to optimizing your bodybuilding results is not so much the reliance on recorded reps and weighs but the ability to recall, challenge and surpass the physical and mental sensations of intensity you experienced the last time you trained.
Is the speed of the contraction more important than the sustained intensity of a contraction?
This one calls for a slightly more in-depth explanation. There's only one training condition that causes a greater recruitment of fibers via increased speed of contraction than would be caused by continuous tension. That occurs when you use a weight that requires less than maximum effort.
The biological term of momentary maximum contraction is "tetnus". You achieve tetnus intermittently when you properly perform fast-rep sets with lighter weights - or when you perform continuous-tension sets with maximal weights. What's the bottom line? When you do it properly, continuous tension will cause more tissue damage over a comparable contractile duration than fast-rep training; however, continuous tension is not necessarily the best technique for everyone.
For example, what if you're slow to recover from intense workouts? Too much damage may in time result in cumulative injuries. Or maybe your training routine doesn't allow for the extended recovery that continuous-tension training requires. Those are just a couple of things to think about . You may decide to alternate fast rep performance techniques with continuous tension at every other workout to prevent injury and optimize progress - or incorporate a few sets of each type of rep performance in a single workout.
If indeed slow continuo s-tension reps are best for you, is your ego ready of the drop in total reps per set? Moreover, if continuous tension is best, why bother counting reps? Wouldn't it be better to measure progress by the level and duration of intensity generated with each continuous-tension contraction?
The fact is, performing continuous-tension sets does not equate to a disregard for full range of motion. You should still perform full repetitions, only more slowly, with more control and much less emphasis on the number of reps. The key to successful continuous tension training is threefold:
Use maximum resistance.
Maximize the duration of contraction.
Steadily increase the intensity of effort.
