Is Time Under Tension (TUT) an important training variable?

The time under tension (TUT) training variable was first popularised by Charles Poliquin. After taht, everybody jumped onto the bandwagon. Lifting weights "slow" to get the maximum soreness and "pain" seemed to be the main focus for every gym rat. I did that too and boy was it sore. I loved the pump after the workout and the soreness the next day.

However, as i got older and. hopefully, wiser, i asked myself a few fundamental questions about weight training. Is pain or the magnitude of soreness the objective of the workout or is hypertrophy and increasing strength more important? Does increase in magnitude of soreness equals increasing strength and hypertrophy? If magnitude of soreness does not necessarily mean increasing strength and hypertrophy, then what is?

It is intensity of the workout that determines strength and hypertrophy. Lifting a heavy weight explosively is the overiding factor in increasing mass and strength. Increasing intensity means that more muscle fibers are being recruited while lifting explosively fires more of the motor units in your muscle belly thus increasing the neural demands of the workout.

I think we need to get out of the mindset that pain or soreness is a determining factor in a good workout. You might get sore after a high intensity workout but level of soreness should not be a determining factor in whether you had a good workout.