Time under tension (TUT) refers to the amount of time a muscle is held under tension or strain during an exercise set. During TUT workouts, you lengthen each phase of the movement to make your sets longer. The idea is that this forces your muscles to work harder and optimizes muscular strength, endurance, and growth.

In TUT workouts, you slow down the movements of each repetition and spend more time on the eccentric phase of the exercise. By slowing down the movement, the muscle is held under tension for a longer period, which may yield better results.

To incorporate TUT technique into your exercise program, slow it down. Performing movements at a slower tempo will stimulate your muscles to promote growth. You may have to use a lighter weight since the increased time will be more difficult to sustain.

To use the tempo method, slow down the eccentric phase of each repetition. Extend each eccentric phase by 2 to 6 seconds. Or you can make the eccentric phase double the length of the concentric phase.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?

• Muscle recruitment is being used maximally throughout the session
• Increase muscle growth + strength
• Adds variety to your training
• Can help to burn fat
• TUT workouts are designed to create tension in your muscles for a longer period, which leads to muscle growth. The harder you make your muscles work, the better the results
• Using slow movements can help you to be more purposeful while at the same time allowing your mind to relax. This can stimulate awareness and concentration, which helps you to be more mindful
• When you pay attention to your movement, you can focus on proper breathing techniques, alignment, and movement patterns

Pre-exhaust training is a strength training concept which was designed to fully stimulate larger body parts that might otherwise be held back by relatively weaker body parts during multi-joint movements or compound exercises.

For example, if you were to do a pressing movement for your chest, this involves many other smaller muscle groups such as the triceps at the back of your arms. These smaller muscles normally tire much more quickly than the large muscles so in theory you stop the chest press movement when your triceps are tired not when your chest muscles are.

Pre-exhaust seeks to address this by firstly working the larger muscle involved in a movement with what is known as an isolation or single joint exercise before moving onto a compound movement or multi joint exercise, meaning in theory all the muscles involved now tire at the same time, so before your chest press movement you would do 1 set of a chest fly type movement (isolation) for 12-15 reps before moving onto your pressing movement (compound)

There are two commonly used ways to use the pre-exhaust concept the first and most used is to complete the isolation exercise first then rest between 60-90 seconds before moving onto your compound movement, or a more extreme method sees you move from isolation to compound movement with no rest.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?

• Muscle recruitment is being used maximally throughout the session
• Increase muscle growth + strength
• Adds variety to your training
• Can help to burn fat
• You are getting double the work on the big prime mover and only one set of work on the smaller synergist
• Pre-fatigue of the bigger mover so both the prime-mover and the small can reach overload at the same time
• The workout intensity is extremely high by forcing the target muscle to a point of muscular failure and then pushing them through even more training volume using a compound movement.

A spin class is a high intensity cycling workout that generally takes place on a stationary machine with a heavy, weighted flywheel that is linked to the pedals.

Most spin classes last for around 30-50 minutes; it’s rarely necessary for them to be any longer and participants can expect to leave sweaty and with heavy legs.

Nearly all classes will be led by an instructor who calls out intervals (when to pedal hard and when to slow it down, when to level up & lower down) – and this person has a huge effect on the class.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?

• Endorphin Rush
• Develop Strong core and back
• Toned quads and Bum (not build muscle)
• Big calorie burner – 500-700cal in a 45 min class
• Time efficient
• Flexible joints – knees, ankles, back
• Healthy skin
• Improve fitness
• Boost immune defences

Flexibility exercises (Stretching) stretch your muscles and can help your body stay flexible. These exercises may not improve your endurance or strength, but being flexible gives you more freedom of movement for other exercise as well as for your everyday activities.
Stretching is a form of physical exercise in which a specific muscle or tendon is deliberately flexed or stretched in order to improve the muscle’s felt elasticity and achieve comfortable muscle tone. The result is a feeling of increased muscle control, flexibility, and range of motion.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?

• Stress relief. If you’re not someone who works out very often, stretching can still help you ease any stress-related aches
• Reduce anxiety
• Relief from sore muscles
• Improved posture
• Less risk of injury
• Better flexibility
• Relief from back pain

Post-exhaust training method basically involves a compound exercise followed by an isolation exercise.

An example of this is a chin up paired with a straight-arm press down (to further fatigue the lats) or biceps curl (to further fatigue the arms). The idea behind this method of training is to further fatigue the major or minor muscle group involved in the compound exercise.

Causing maximal temporary exhaustion in a muscle result in more muscle damage and the accumulation of more metabolic by-products, both of which are important in muscle building.

But be careful not to overdo it with this type of training. With this in mind, ease into this specific type of training method.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?

• Muscle recruitment is being used maximally throughout the session
• Increase muscle growth + strength
• Adds variety to your training
• Can help to burn fat
• You are getting double the work on the big prime mover and only one set of work on the smaller synergist
• The compound exercise requires more energy, so doing this first, whilst you are fresh my allow for more muscle recruitment
• This is good to maintain core engagement if the compound movement has a higher risk of injury i.e. deadlift

The concept of a superset is to perform 2 exercises back-to-back, followed by a short rest (but not always). This effectively doubles the amount of work you are doing, whilst keeping the recovery periods the same as they are when you complete individual exercises.

Opposing Muscle Group

One very common form of a superset workout includes working two different areas of the body. For example, a common superset includes performing one upper body exercise (such as the bench press) and then immediately moving to a lower body exercise (such as the leg press).

Another easy method to plan supersets is to alternate with opposing muscle groups (antagonistic). You can combine the bench, which works the chest, with the seated row, which engages the back.

Same Muscle Group

The second way to perform a superset workout is to choose two different exercises that work out the same muscle group and then perform them back-to-back without a rest. Performing quadriceps extensions immediately after squats is an example of this type of superset. This type of superset works one individual area especially hard. It is a great way to focus on a particular area of the body.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?

• A huge timesaver
• Increase muscle growth + strength
• Adds variety to your training
• Can help to burn fat
• Improves heart health / lowers blood pressure
• Strengthens bones
• Boosts your mood and improves brain health

It combines mobility exercises that increase the range of movements and motions your body can perform. These include flexibility, but also balance, pliability and strength. The full combination is the best way to avoid injury.

Mobility is “proprioception” – our perception and awareness of our body’s positions and movements. Mobility training, then, includes a range of exercises designed to increase your range-of-motion, control muscles surrounding each joint, and help you move more actively.

Flexibility, on the other hand, is the stretching and lengthening of our muscles. When you can increase the stretch and length of your connective tissue, you can help your body through a full range of movements without causing injury, stiffness, and pain.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?

• Promotes good posture
• Helps prevent knots and injuries
• Relieves tension associated with sedentary lifestyles or over-exercising
• Improves all-round functional fitness performance
• Increases range of movement, helping us stay active and healthy longer in life
• Reduces joint deterioration
• Prevents aches and pains
• Helps build stronger, more adaptive muscles and joints