Static contraction training

[quastar]

Hello!

This is my first post here. I just joined a local gym two weeks ago to finally 'get into shape.' My goal is not necessarily to lose weight, but to lose fat. My plan of attack so far has been to build muscles via the 'conventional' way (ie bench press, squats, bicep curls, etc), coupled with some HIT cardio, and of course, a cleaner diet.

While surfing the web, I accidentally stumbled across an alternative training method called static contraction training. This particular training method was 'developed' by Pete Sisco and the workout simply involves holding huge poundage for only a few seconds. For example, for the chest, use a heavy enough weight that you can only lift off the rack and hold for 5 seconds. That's it. If anyone wants to find out more about, you can google it.

From what they make it seem, it almost seems too good to be true. Spend 10 minutes in a gym a week and achieve astonishing results? Yes, please! I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with this type of training? If so, how were the results? As far as my goal is concern (fat loss) would this be ideal? Thanks.

 

[Clinton]

Hi sisco,

I used to have an isometric workout routine.Its an effective hypertrophic workout if done right. It works by recruiting ALL the muscle fibres in that target group. There are also ways to use this in conjunction with reps. Look for ''pre-fatigue isometrics'', ''post-fatigue isometrics'' and ''balistic isometrics''. You'll find some indepth info.

I used to do 10 sec push-up holds at 3 angles(early contraction, mid way and near full contraction) and I did play around with both pre-fatigue and post-fatigue. You can also do them as stand alone. I used to do static single calf contractions and holding them for 3 mins and some other stuff. I found that any growth plateaus after awhile. I later read that its best to use this for short term or sporadic growth. After 4-6 weeks it plateaus.

FYI: the plank is a good example of static contraction

 

[jimaug87]

static contraction is my favorite type of exercise. It allows you to reall focus on the squeeze and you can sure get a good burn with it.

Lifting those huge amounts of weight are good if you're trying to put on pounds of muscle, but you dont need to use that much weight. You can also, for example, go on a dip bar and pause midway then almost all the way down the manuver. The key to static contraction is that the muscle is under load the entire time instead of the on/off that "normal" lifting is (aka dynamic)