Einstein's School of Muscle Building
Did you know that Einstein invented the theory of relativity in the gym?
Not really, but you can put his theory to the test when you attempt a hollow hold or plank because, I have it on good authority, time does not move at the same speed in the plank as it does during rest periods.
Be that as it may, when it comes to building impressive amounts of muscle, time is a key factor you must consider. Specifically, time under tension or time under load which is the Holy Grail of gainz.
If you want to build muscle as efficiently as possible then you need to accumulate time with your muscles under tension. Tension is one of three necessary ingredients for muscle growth and getting the amount of time that your muscles are under tension correct is important. Too little time under tension and you don’t build muscle, too much time under tension and you find yourself struggling to recover and ridiculously sore all the time.
There are two ways to increase time under tension.
Increase the sets and reps in your workout.
Increase the tempo of your exercises, particularly the lowering portion of the lift.
Both ways have their benefits and I encourage you to try both. If your goal is to build muscle mass efficiently, your sets should last between 20 and 70 seconds. There is quite a bit of room for variety within this time frame and you can get creative with the amount of reps per set. Imagine a set of two reps at a heavy-ish load with a tempo where it takes you five seconds to lower the weight and another five seconds to lift it. Ouch!