EXERCISE TIPS: CONTINUOUS TENSION

Continuous tension

Continuous Tension is the most important principle that needs to be followed in order to maximize muscle growth stimulation. It basically means that you keep the tension on the muscle throughout the complete movement of the rep, including the up-phase, top, down-phase, and bottom. There should be no moment of rest (muscle relaxation) during the entire rep or between consecutive reps at all in order to maximize the intensity of your set.

About ninety percent of the bodybuilders fail to respect this most important principle, and wonder why their muscles are not growing. The main reasons why many bodybuilders fail to follow the principle of continuous tension are ignorance, and because they are using much too heavy weights that forces them to pause at the top and/or bottom of the movement, and/or by letting the weight fall down in an uncontrolled fashion during the down-phase. A typical example of violating the principle of continuous tension is to lock-out the elbows at the top of a bench press or the knees at the top of a squat, as this fully releases the tension from the pecs or quads, respectively. Putting 30% less weight on the bar should solve the problem and really make your muscles grow. Bringing the dumbbells too close together at the top of a dumbbell press or fly is another typical example where the tension is lost at the top of a rep.