Breaking down weeks 11 and 12 of our current 13-Week Program

Here’s a cleaned-up version of the video transcript:

Welcome to weeks 11 and 12. This is where things get exciting. We’re diving into the concept of “time under tension.” Essentially, it means moving slowly while handling heavier weights. This approach allows your body to engage more muscle fibers because you’re subjecting them to prolonged stress. It’s quite different from doing squats at a 1-1 speed. When we slow it down, our muscles stay under tension for a much longer duration throughout our working sets.

However, mastering time under tension demands patience and focus. Sometimes, it might even require assistance with time management, like having someone count for you.

To balance this intense focus, we’ll grant ourselves some leeway on Tuesdays. We’ll switch to a boot camp format, where we can relax a bit and not be overly meticulous about slow movements. This doesn’t mean we’ll dive into excessive cardio; instead, we’ll incorporate accessory work to pump up those muscles and dedicate some time to high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and core exercises.

On Wednesdays, we’ll shift our focus to time under tension movements for the upper body, allowing us to recenter after the boot camp session.

For Thursdays and Fridays, we’ll switch to total body workouts. While they still involve strength training, we won’t emphasize time under tension. This provides a nice contrast to the hyper-focused days of moving slowly under heavy loads. Plus, it’s an opportunity to catch up if you missed a day during the week.

So, weeks 11 and 12 are all about two intense days of time under tension, followed by two fun days with muscle-pumping workouts and a makeup day for total body training. If anyone you know is considering starting, now is the perfect time. And don’t forget, week 13 is just around the corner!

Allen Decker: