"Power, strength, and endurance aren't about rep numbers, those rep numbers just so happen to tend to put you near the correct set time lengths for certain training effects. It's about time under tension. If the muscles are working constantly for 1-20 seconds, you're going to get a power response. Your nervous system will become more efficient, and you will see strength gains because of that. If your sets last 20-40 seconds then you will get strength results, which means you will be experiencing myofibrillar hypertrophy. In layman's terms, there are going to be more actin and myosin strands in the muscle and so you will be stronger. This adds minimal size. At 40-60 seconds you will be primarily adding size. This is sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, and it's literally the muscle cell increasing its fluid volume. This primarily adds size. From 60-90 seconds you are in the pure endurance zone. This set length really develops the muscular endurance, not strength so much. For these set lengths to mean anything, the set time has to be imposed by the resistance being too much for you somewhere in the given range. So if you do planche pushups and you can do them for a minute, but you stop at 30 seconds, you are not going to get strength out of that even though you are in the numerical range for strength. You did not fail in the 20-40 second range, you chose to stop. Choosing to stop doesn't mean anything. The end of the set has to be determined by the momentary failure of the muscles working for these times to translate to actual progress.Obviously, as you approach one end of the time range for each training effect(power, strength, size, endurance) you will start to get a mixed training effect. It should be fairly obvious that if you fail at 38 seconds you are going to be gaining more size than if you fail at 24 seconds.
If you consider that typical reps take from 2-4 seconds to complete, at a 4 second repetition you would be doing 1-5 reps for power. Surprise! That's the traditional way of doing things. It just so happens that those rep ranges put the lifters in the correct time under tension range. In he same vein, 2 second reps would mean that 20 reps still puts you at the tail end of the strength range. You're moving into strength-endurance, which puts on a bit more size than maximal strength work, but hey, you're still getting a strong maximal strength effect as well."
"Doing 20 reps is not necessary in the endurance range so much as the strength and size range, since at his speed that put him around 45 seconds for the set. It IS higher reps, but doing that helps you develop the smaller muscles and connective tissues. It also puts you in a position where you are now no longer in your strength zone, meaning you can do something harder. It really isn't much different that what Coach recommends with the steady state training, at least physiologically speaking. You end up underloaded, which is the point. It's a different way to get there, and combined with the steady state training it should speed up the timelines."
"80%(of max weight) is still well below myofibrular(strength) range. At 80% you should be doing 10-15 reps, and that is squarely in sarcoplasmic hypertrophy area. I'm not saying that myofibrular won't occur, but it will not be emphasized. You have to be working above 90%(of max) to really be stimulating myofibrular hypertrophy and strength gains. You will obviously gain some strength no matter what you do, but to be stimulating strength as a primary training response you've got to be working with a weight that you can't handle for more than 30 seconds at the most, which tends to be in the 6 rep range on the high end. It could be that those 6 reps take 15 seconds, that's fine. It's still strength work. After that you're moving into size gaining work. You won't get too much size from that unless you're on the juice. Anything you can do 10 or more reps with isn't all that heavy for you."
"There is, and there are two considerations: total time of the set AND number of reps. Usually these correlate pretty closely with each other. It's as much about energy systems as it is about fiber recruitment. As far as energy system stimulation goes, if a set lasts more than 60 seconds it's primarily endurance work. Why? Because any load that allows you to go this long is depending heavily on slow twitch fibers, which take a minimum of 60(approximately) seconds to fatigue. Your energy systems look like this: You've got enough pure ATP stored for 2-3 seconds of work. That's the most powerful source of energy, straight ATP. You don't have to wait for biological processes to kick in, and the advantage is that you have all the ATP you need. Once you rely on the creatine phosphate system, which kicks in at that 2-3 second mark and lasts to 15-30 seconds depending on how well trained and supplemented the individual is, you have the limit of biology. ATP can only be produced at a certain rate with each energy system. That limits the power output each system can provide. After that 15-30 second mark glycolysis kicks in. That's when you start burning sugar. That lasts to around the 1 minute mark in most people, after which the body has to start burning oxygen. At that point you're talking about aerobic respiration, which is the realm of endurance.
The second factor, fiber recruitment, is different. It's not based on time, but rather on loads. The body always tries to use the minimum necessary amount of muscle fibers, and always calls on the weakest ones first, because it tries to conserve energy as much as possible. Slow twitch fibers are "weaker" than other classifications because they process energy at a slower rate. So if the load you are using only requires those slow twitch fibers to handle it, only the slow twitch fibers will work. Loads that only allow 3-5 reps typically keep you well within the creatine phosphate system's range. That's why when you start using slower repetitions you can not do as many reps with the same weight. You start working different energy systems. If a load is light enough to allow you to reach the glycolysis stage, around 20-30 seconds in set length, you are not working pure strength. You're working for some sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, because as you deplete glycogen stores your body says holy CRAP batman, I need more room to store glycogen. And so you start ballooning. That's why bodybuilders typically like higher rep ranges, like 8-14 reps for upper body and 12-20 for lower body. Weightlifters, gymnasts, Olympic lifters, and anyone else who is looking for maximum strength or power is going to be most interested in the 5 or less rep range, because that is where the body is stimulated to get STRONGER by adding new contractile proteins, as opposed to just bigger so it can store more sugar."
"The long rest is to allow ATP/Creatine Phosphate regeneration. This is only of primary importance when working in the strength range: 3-5 reps, 10-30 seconds(maximum, for a highly conditioned strength athlete, for many people this starts off at 20 seconds max).
What do you mean by full recovery? In terms of creatine regeneration between sets, it allows as much as is possible. In terms of from one workout to the next, that's purely determined by your nutrition and your rest. By nature, integrated training tends to take longer per set, which means it's better suited for strength-endurance rather than maximal strength. It should be one of the cycles everyone who wants to build strength should go through. Integrated training can still be very focused on maximal strength work, but not to quite the same degree as single focused sets.
Don't overthink things, all you need to do is remember that if you're primarily working maximal strength, even if you cross into the strength endurance zone a little bit in the process, that you're going to need to rest more between sets. It's really that simple. To avoid wasting time, you can do one or two sets of other exercises that are using different muscle groups while you rest. This will require slightly more rest between set #1 and set # 2 of a particular exercise, but it cuts down on the total workout time, because 3 sets of 3 exercises is taking 15 minutes intstead of 40 or 45 minutes. "
"Low reps (1-5) are used to develop strength and power, and this type of training requires longer rest periods.
Why the longer rests? Because when you can only do 5-6 reps, assuming your total set is less than 20-30 seconds, so if you're 2 seconds up and 2 seconds down or faster on each rep then you're inside that timeframe, then you are burning the small amount of ATP stored in your muscles and exhausting the available creatine phosphate system. It takes 3-5 minutes, sometimes longer, for your body to get rid of the metabolites, make and store more raw atp in the muscle, and replenish the available creatine phosphate.
Since you are only resting for less than a minute, you are preventing your muscles from rebuilding the energy they need to do 5 reps on your later sets. This will slow down your strength gains. That doesn't mean you're wasting your time, all it means is that the short rests you are taking are preventing you from working at your potential, which in turn is keeping you from making the most progress in your strength development."
"Rest time and rep range are both crucial. The rep range is important because it should be determined by ability, and if you are doing 5 reps of tuck planche push ups, for example, because you can't do 7, and your set is lasting around 20 seconds then you're depending on the muscle fibers that generate the most force. This force production is accomplished by using the creatine to generate ATP. This system is the fastest at generating ATP, which means it gives the most fuel per second. This means it lets you do the most work. Unfortunately you only have enough for 15-20s of work, along with 2-4 seconds of actual ATP that gets burned before the creatine is used to replace it. When your muscles run out of readily available creatine phosphate, you have reached failure. Over time this energy system becomes better developed, and your body creates more actin and myosin proteins inside the muscle that use ATP, and you're able to do more reps. When you have developed so many actin/myosin proteins that you can do more than 5-6 reps, you are adapting in a new way. NOW your body starts developing the ability to produce the same amount of force with ATP from glycolysis, which is the burning of sugar in the muscle. This generates ATP slower, and only lasts for another 20-30 seconds. That's why you'll find that you can do more reps if you move faster. If you measure by the clock, you'll see that your time working doesn't actually change much under a given load. You poop out when you use up whatever energy source your body is depending on for that level of exertion. For pure strength, you're never going to make it all the way through glycolysis, and usually you're not even going to get into it.
The rest is important for a related, but different reason. The rest has nothing to do with how many reps you do. It is based off of which energy system you want your body to be working off of. For pure strength and power, you want your body to work off of ATP and creatine phosphate because it provides the most energy per second. Depending on how efficient your body is and how hard your set was, it could take as little as 3-4 minutes or as much as 10 minutes to completely replenish the creatine in the muscles you just used. If you don't take the rest you need, it's like driving on an empty tank. You run out of gas! Always make sure your tank is full, so to speak. It will take some experience, but after a month you'll pretty much know exactly how long you have to rest when working on pure strength. The exact times are different for everyone and sometimes different for each exercise.
Your rest periods do not determine what effect you will get. The emphasis of your work sets will determine how long your rest periods have to be. Doing pulls during the rest between pushes is good. Push, 2 min, pull, 2 min, repeat 4x is a good way to pair exercises for strength.
If you're going for mixed strength and hypertrophy(kind of a misnomer, since strength development is really a different type of hypertrophy) then you're going to want to be in the 30-50s work set range. That means 6-12 reps, depending on your pace. at 2120, that's 5 seconds per rep. That means you'd want 6-10 reps. You'd start with something you could do 6 times at that pace and you'd stay there until you can do 4-5 sets of 10 reps. Then you're ready to move on to the next progression. You're going to be looking at 90s-3minutes of rest. Probably closer to 3 minutes at first. If you need more, take more. Taking MORE rest will NOT hurt you when it comes to strength and size. I know there are some people here who will say, and not incorrectly, that there is more to this statement, but I'm keeping it simple. You want to go into consolidation training, go for it. I don't want to deal with it right now. This is the basic principle for the hypertrophy + strength."
"My point was that if you are doing sets of 30 reps, resting for 7 minutes will not magically make you get stronger. By nature, you are doing endurance work. That's just how it is. Therefore you use the rest period that suits that work. The nature of the work determines what rest periods you should use.
If you try and do 5x3 of PPP and use 45s rests you are not magically going to get better endurance. You are working so hard, and your sets are so short that you never enter glycolysis or aerobic respiration, and that means that you are not even beginning to tax the energy systems that fuel endurance efforts. Because you are not using these energy systems, you are not going to get a training effect in them. What is happening here is that you are not getting the most out of your strength sets. Why? BECAUSE YOU AREN'T RESTING LONG ENOUGH FOR THE ATP and CP TO REGENERATE!!! When you are relying on a particular energy system for fuel, you have to rest long enough for that system to replenish itself. Otherwise you aren't going to be able to do as much work, which means you're not going to get as strong of a training effect. The training effect is the adaptation you're trying to get from your workout. Strength, speed, endurance, etc. You figure out what energy systems you are relying on, and you rest long enough for the slowest one to regenerate. For strength sets, you're only relying on ATP/CP so you should be working with 3-5+ min rests. Strength-hypertrophy mix is still going to get 3-5 minutes, because even though you are delving into glycolysis a little bit, you're mainly relying on ATP/CP, which takes longer to regenerate. If you're doing pure hypertrophy, which is in the 40-50 seconds range, you're not going to need to rest quite as long because you aren't completely relying the ATP/CP system. You aren't functioning at maximum output, so the rate of energy production from sugar can sustain the efforts until waste products build up to the point where they can't be processed fast enough to keep the energy flowing. In this case, you're letting your body flush waste products. That's the main purpose of the rest, not replenishing ATP. The resistance used for this type of set is lower than strength, and because of that you don't need your ATP/CP system to be completely restored. Sugar can handle it. It takes a fairly long time to deplete muscle sugar compared to ATP/CP, longer than a size oriented workout will take for each muscle group if done properly.
Is what I said clearer now? The goal you are shooting for is what will determine your rest times. Your rest times DO NOT CAUSE THE TRAINING EFFECT! They will ONLY affect the quality of your work and the efficiency of your training advancement. It is important to understand what is the cause and what is the effect. The rest period is the effect, which is caused by the training intensity."
"If you look at a bodybuilder's workout, and compare it to a powerlifter or olympic lifter's workout, you'll see some noticeable differences in structure. Most bodybuilders like to move slow, and to feel the burn. They like to start moving past glycolysis and into aerobic respiration if possible. You will see extremely high volume overall, but low intensity. For example, with upper body exercises you will see sets of 8-14 for upper body work, and 15-20+ for a lot of lower body work. Many bodybuilding protocols demand a specific pace be held, like 2-4 seconds concentric, a one or two second hold, and a 2-7 second eccentric. That's one rep. So one rep could take from 5-11 seconds. They do this because this targets lower threshold fibers, and apparently these have the most growth potential, but they do not have the most power generation. This is why most bodybuilders are weak for their size compared to strength athletes. Even the ones who are really strong like Ronnie Coleman are 340 lbs at their strongest, far beyond what smaller men in the powerlifting world often weigh with similar lifts.
Powerlifters do a variety of work, but the largest difference is a focus on lower rep ranges. You'll rarely see more than 6 reps, and while some programs move through TUT cycles and speed cycles, you never really seem them move past 30s of work, because that's when you are starting to train less powerful muscle fibers moreso than your most powerful fibers. This is why you will sometimes see guys who are 5-6 and 140 lbs benching like 350+. Some of that is genetics, and the rest is them training to be strong, not to be big. They still look big and strong, but they don't look out of proportion to their frame, which can be said for gymnasts also. By contrast, pretty much ALL pro bodybuilders look too big for their frame. You look at them and can't help but think that there is just too much meat on them for their level of strength."
OK...all that above is quoted from slizzardman from various posts on here and I thought it would be useful not only to preface my question, but also just for a plethora of knowledge thrown into one pool of a post if you will.
So from what I gather the TUT principle states that the time it takes you to complete a work set dictates what energy system you are using..i.e. strength, hypertrophy, or endurance. I realize the exacts change from person to person and sometimes depending on the exercise in question, but I just wanted to know where volume came in.
For example 10x3(10 sets of 3 reps) is often cited as a mass building template(even mentioned in BtGB). However this would be in the strength system in reference to TUT(unless you are doing very long rep times).
Thoughts, science, waste of a post. Let me know 
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