On any given day you can read, hear, and see conflicting information on best training practices.
Continuous tension sets are defined as “any set in which each repetition is done smoothly without ballistic bounce, cheating or significant pause at either end of the motion,” according to Mel Siff’s strength development bible Supertraining. “Characteristically, the movements are executed fairly slowly without the joints locking completely at any stage of the exercise.”
Continuous tension sets can be used for both isolation and compound exercises and will keep your muscles active at all times. If we’re talking about barbell bench pressing or dumbbell bench pressing, the way to perform this technique is to stop right before the weights are locked out at the top of the movement and move immediately back down into the next rep.