Isometric duration study

[douglis]

Please take a look at this study:


"Isometric unilateral elbow extension training was conducted for 10 weeks (3 times per week) on 12 young adult men to investigate the effects of equivolume exercise programs with different combinations of intensity and duration on the morphological and functional aspects of the triceps brachii muscle. One group of 6 subjects trained by developing maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) for 6 s per set with 12 sets per session (100%G), while the other group of 6 subjects trained at 60% of MVC for 30 s per set with 4 sets per session (60%G). Training significantly increased the muscle volume ( V(m)), fascicle pennation angle of the triceps brachii, and torque output during concentric and eccentric elbow extensions at three constant velocities of 0.52, 1.57, and 3.14 rad.s(-1) as well as under the training condition, with no significant differences in the relative gains between the two programs. However, 100%G showed significantly greater V(m) than 60%G after training, when V(m) before training was normalized. Thus, only 60%G significantly increased the ratio of torque to V(m) developed in the eccentric actions at the three velocities and concentric action at 1.57 rad.s(-1). The present results indicate that isometric training programs of medium resistance/long duration and high resistance/short duration produce different effects on V(m) and dynamic strength relative to V(m), even if the training volume is equalized between the two protocols."

Based on this study i made a marriage between the method used by the 100%G group and powerflexing.
Take a look at what i call "my way of HIT":

"Lets take for example wide grip pullups.
Consider a rep an all out effort to pull while resisting with your shoulders for 6 sec.Why 6 sec.?Because this is the max time that I found I can keep an all out effort.I'm doing one set of 10-12 reps at various angles of ROM.Take a deep breath(3-5sec) between reps.
That's it.It's a perfect workout for both lats and delts.
Reminds me of the old rest- pause training method from my weight lifting days."

I'm doing this for a month and i'm already seeing improvement.Prior to that i was doing VRT only for 1.5 year with amazingly good results.

[John Peterson]

Hello Douglis,


From personal experience I can tell you that the combination of VRT and Isometrics together work incredibly well and the synergy of the two together yields extraordinary results. Please keep us posted as to what improvements you make.

---John Peterson

[Viking Dan]

I'm doing this for a month and i'm already seeing improvement.Prior to that i was doing VRT only for 1.5 year with amazingly good results.

Improvement in what sense?

[douglis]

Improvement in what sense?

Size.Although not something measurable yet.I think it's too early for that.

[Hank_Z]

Please take a look at this study:


"Isometric unilateral elbow extension training was conducted for 10 weeks (3 times per week) on 12 young adult men to investigate the effects of equivolume exercise programs with different combinations of intensity and duration on the morphological and functional aspects of the triceps brachii muscle. One group of 6 subjects trained by developing maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) for 6 s per set with 12 sets per session (100%G), while the other group of 6 subjects trained at 60% of MVC for 30 s per set with 4 sets per session (60%G). Training significantly increased the muscle volume ( V(m)), fascicle pennation angle of the triceps brachii, and torque output during concentric and eccentric elbow extensions at three constant velocities of 0.52, 1.57, and 3.14 rad.s(-1) as well as under the training condition, with no significant differences in the relative gains between the two programs. However, 100%G showed significantly greater V(m) than 60%G after training, when V(m) before training was normalized. Thus, only 60%G significantly increased the ratio of torque to V(m) developed in the eccentric actions at the three velocities and concentric action at 1.57 rad.s(-1). The present results indicate that isometric training programs of medium resistance/long duration and high resistance/short duration produce different effects on V(m) and dynamic strength relative to V(m), even if the training volume is equalized between the two protocols."
I'm doing this for a month and i'm already seeing improvement.Prior to that i was doing VRT only for 1.5 year with amazingly good results.

Hey douglis,

Where's the link to or citation for this study?

The 15-year study that "Physiology of Strength" summarizes is the most thorough study of isometrics that I've seen.

Hank

[Viking Dan]

Hey douglis,

Where's the link to or citation for this study?

The 15-year study that "Physiology of Strength" summarizes is the most thorough study of isometrics that I've seen.

Hank

http://www.springerlink.com/content/hphy89kd9c07jjbe/fulltext.html

[EyeDoc]

Thanks for the link. I'd like to read the whole thing.

[Reader]

If I misunderstood a part, I'm sorry...

12 sets of 6 sec.?
Should I perform twelf-times a 6 second contraction??

[douglis]

I prefer to describe it as one set of 12 six sec reps with one deep breath between reps but i think it's exactly the same.
The bottom line is that it works!!

[John Peterson]

Hey douglis,

I think it's great when people experiment with levels of intensity and contraction. Steve Justa conducted personal experiments with a wide range of variables in terms of the intensities that he used and he found that each offered something a little unique and different. Personally, I prefer the one rep approach and changing the angle on subsequent reps. This is what Hettinger and Mueller determined worked out best for most people over all. And it was also what professor James Baley (one of America's foremost researchers during the 60's and 70's) discovered to be true in terms of practical application with hundreds, if not thousands of college athletes. Bottom line: I'm sure that for some people the 12 X 6 second approach could work quite well.

---John Peterson

P.S. If you read the Hettinger and Mueller studies, you'll notice that not all muscle groups respond equally. Some muscle groups showed for more dramatic growth and improvement than others but all responded very favorably to Isometric Contraction. In the case of this particular study that you have posted it was the triceps that were tested. The response may have been different with other muscle groups as Hettinger and Mueller discovered in their experiments.

[gruntbrain]

Rubberbus
If you use some form of grip assistance with your isometric deadlifts, your "pulls" will be greater. My tests with weights verified the significant pulling power that grip assistance provided; I was able to pull 150# more with assistance.
In any case, I hope you try some assisted pulling moves. Why be grip limited with your isometric pulls? Work the grip separately.