Static COntractions

[JohnnyCage]

I have heard of these before and they are suposedly great mass builders, but I have never tried them. Anyone here know if they do work well for building mass, or is it just a lazy way to lift without moving at all? I am not sure what to think, if it is as good as they claim for building mass, then why wouldnt all the pro's be using this method.

Also I have heard that the hold should only last 7 seconds, but I read on the internet on multiple sources that it should last 10-30 seconds. Which one do you think is best if the method of static contractions works?

[JohnnyCage]

See there is this one 10 week program, I do not know if the claims it makes are true, but.. this is what it says
Some exciting things about this program include:
1. Workouts usually last about 3 minutes.
2. After 2 weeks of training you train 1 time a week or less!
3. Each workout your strength will increase 20-30%
4. You WILL progress in strength every workout.
5. You will be able to avoid overtraining and make gains in muscular strength and size unprecedented by natural bodybuilders!
6. On average, during a test conducted by SCRS Peter Sisco and John Little, natural bodybuilder's who had gained 20+lbs of muscle in the past 2 years along with having above average lifts( bench 300, squat 400) Also being an of 32-34 years old, averaged A GAIN OF 25 lbs OF MUSCLE OVER A 10 WEEK PERIOD of training using the SCT(Static Contraction Training) method!!


Now I dont beleive that anyone can make gains like that in strength or mass from only working out twice a week for 3 minutes.

[p.s.]

If it sounds to good to be true then it is!!

This test/research that they "conducted" sounds way to much like the Colorado Experiment that Art Jones used to prove how well his theories and Nautilus machines worked. They used Casey Viator (youngest man to ever win the Mr. America) but neglected to explain that Casey's great gains actually were attributed to a number of factors IE his being in a detrained state, coming off an illness, and no gear for 6 weeks. Then once Casey was recovered from his illness etc they took his before pics/measurements and then after the training his massive after pics/measurements, and all was roses with how great Arts theories and equipment proved in this "research project".

Here's the write up/article:

"THE COLORADO EXPERIMENT"

"In 1971, bodybuilding champion Casey Viator was involved in the now-famous “Colorado Experiment,” which was financed by Nautilus and conducted by the exercise physiology department of Fort Collins University in Colorado. The objective was to see how much muscle could be gained on a 28-day program of brief, very intense weight workouts.
Lean body mass and fat content determinations for two subjects (Nautilus creator Arthur Jones and bodybuilding champion Casey Viator) were calculated by the Whole Body Counter under the supervision of James E. Johnson, Ph.D., who was the Associate Professor for the Department of Radiology and Radiation Biology at Colorado State University. The experiment was supervised by Dr. Elliot Plese, the then Director of the Exercise Physiology Lab at Colorado State.

Viator trained from May 1, 1973 through until May 29, 1973. He trained a total of 14 times in an every other day fashion (to allow a minimum of 48 hours off for recovery to take place), with each workout averaging only 33.6 minutes in length for a total training time of 7 hours, 50 ½ minutes.

Jones trained from May 1, 1973 through until May 23, 1973. He trained a total of 12 times in an every other day fashion with each workout averaging only 24.8 minutes in length for a total training time of 4 hours and 58 minutes.

According to Jones:

Only Nautilus equipment was used in the Colorado Experiment; equipment designed to provide all of the requirements for full range, rotary form, automatically variable, direct resistance… Full Range resistance is provided only when the involved bodypart is moving through a full range of possible movement against constant resistance … from a starting position of full muscular extension (a “pre-stretched” position) to a finishing position of full muscular contraction. Rotary-Form resistance is an absolute requirement for full-range exercise … since muscular contraction produces rotary-form movement of the related bodypart it is necessary for the resistance and the bodypart to rotate on a common axis. Automatically Variable resistance is an absolute requirement for high-intensity exercise … since movement produces changes in usable strength, it is necessary for the resistance to vary in proportion to the resulting changes in strength. Direct Resistance is also required in order to avoid the limitations imposed by the involvement of smaller, weaker muscle structures. The resistance must be directly imposed against he bodypart moved by the muscles being exercised. Conventional forms of exercise provide none of these requirements; the results being that …muscles are not worked through a full range of possible movement ... resistance is limited to an amount that can be moved in the weakest position.

With this in mind, the experiment began. A mere 28 days later, the results on these two subjects were as follows:

CASEY VIATOR:
Time: 28 days
Workouts: 14
Sets Per Exercise: 1
Exercises Per Session: 8-14
Total Hours Training: 7 hours, 50 ½ minutes
Average Length of Workouts: 33.6 minutes
Bodyweight gain: 45.28 pounds
Bodyfat loss: 17.93 pounds
Total Muscle Mass Gain: 63.21 pounds

ARTHUR JONES:
Time: 22 days
Workouts: 12
Sets Per Exercise: 1
Exercises Per Session: 8-14
Total Hours Training: 4 hours, 58 minutes
Average Length of Workouts: 24.8 minutes
Bodyweight gain: 13.62 pounds
Bodyfat loss: 1.82 pounds
Total Muscle Mass Gain: 15.44 pounds

Viator’s strength – tested before and after the experiment – demonstrated a phenomenal improvement. An hour before his first workout he performed 32 repetitions with 400 pounds on a Universal leg press machine. Three days after his last workout, he performed 45 repetitions with 840 pounds on the same machine – despite not having performed a leg press at all during the experiment.

In addition, Viator’s flexibility was tested after the experiment and was found to be far in excess of that possible by any member then on the Colorado State University Wrestling team – even though he now weighed in excess of 200 pounds."



This is just more useless BS being pushed by what could best be considered liers! IMO static contractions have their place as do supersets, rest/pause, drop sets, forced reps, negatives etc etc, but the basis of all training is sets and reps period.

[JohnnyCage]

Thats what I was thinking.

[BEEF]

Some of these articles really do amaze me. Seems 99% of them are simply bullshit and you could spend hours sifting through this information to find a single sentence of fact. This is one the reasons I love this site, no bullshit, just tried and tested methods and people to explain how to perform them, and why and how they work. So I feel you definately did the correct thing by posting this question here JohnnyCage.

In your reply p.s., you stated that you believe static contrations have their place as well as the other methods. What would you mean here, say using them once in a while definately not regularly? I am not even considering these at all, as I'm simply a beginner but I am very interested to learn where their place is.

[JohnnyCage]

I'm thinking you might be able to fit it in with your reps of a certain exercise maybe for added mass, just a guess.

If you guys want I will volunteer to test this method for three or four weeks and let you know my mass and strength gains.

[p.s.]

Some of these articles really do amaze me. Seems 99% of them are simply bullshit and you could spend hours sifting through this information to find a single sentence of fact. This is one the reasons I love this site, no bullshit, just tried and tested methods and people to explain how to perform them, and why and how they work. So I feel you definately did the correct thing by posting this question here JohnnyCage.

In your reply p.s., you stated that you believe static contrations have their place as well as the other methods. What would you mean here, say using them once in a while definately not regularly? I am not even considering these at all, as I'm simply a beginner but I am very interested to learn where their place is.

As I stated yes static contractions have their place, but not for a newbie to lifting. Things like static contractions, rest/pause, supersets, negatives etc etc are very advanced theories/techniques and should only be used when you've pretty much peaked you're potential using basic exercise techniques. IMO most guys should be able to achieve a solid 315 bench for a few reps as well as a 400+ squat etc before ever considering anything more advanced than pyramiding and possibly a forced rep here or there.

[JohnnyCage]

Pyramiding is a good technique that I use for benching when PLing. But I dont get why you have to go down in weight once youve already lifted the 1RM.

[BEEF]

As I stated yes static contractions have their place, but not for a newbie to lifting. Things like static contractions, rest/pause, supersets, negatives etc etc are very advanced theories/techniques and should only be used when you've pretty much peaked you're potential using basic exercise techniques. IMO most guys should be able to achieve a solid 315 bench for a few reps as well as a 400+ squat etc before ever considering anything more advanced than pyramiding and possibly a forced rep here or there.

p.s., I'm not considering doing them but what's the actual concept behind static holds? Of course, normally for example on a leg workout you'd have to pound and pound the legs with squats and what not going up and up on the weight and keeping form good going through the best range of motion possible. Is this the same with static holds for forearms? Just squeezing takes the forearm through its ROM and holding it for 10 to 25 seconds gives it the intensity?