Tim Dewey - FYI

Posted By: Donna
Date: Wednesday, 23 October 2002, at 11:59 a.m.

Hi Tim,
I thought I'd give you a little of Dr. Mel Siff's  thoughts involving
isometrics from his book  'Supertraining.'  Supertraining is described as a
book  that "combines methods developed by generations of  Olympic
weightlifters, powerlifters, bodybuilders,  physical therapists and sports
scientists, with many of  the so-called secrets which turned the former
Soviet Union into the greatest sporting machine known."

I'm sure you know who Mel Siff is but just in  case you don't, "Siff was
Senior Lecturer in mechanical  engineering at the University of the
Witwatersrand in  Johannesburg, South Africa for many years, where his  major
areas of research were biomechanics, ergonomics,  strength conditioning and
injury rehabilitation. His  Master degree (Applied Mathematics) was awarded
summa  cum laude in brain research and his PhD was in  physiology,
specializing in biomechanics. He has  presented papers internationally at
conferences in  sports science, physiology, physiotherapy, sports
medicine, psychology, engineering, ergonomics, physical  education,
linguistics and communication. He has  published widely and lectured in many
countries. He is a  former weightlifter who received university, provincial
and national awards for many years, he was chairman of  the South African
Universities Weightlifting Association  for more than two decades and was
manager-coach of the  South African national weightlifting team in 1983 and
1984." He now lives in the U.S. and has an internet site called Supertraining
(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Supertraining).   Both the site and the book
are  interesting resources for information.

"During the mid-1950s, isometric exercises were very  popular as a method of
developing strength.... The  success of isometric training provoked research,
much of  it being concerned with the question of its  effectiveness compared
with dynamic training. This  research produced rather contradictory data.
However,  research produced the general conclusion that isometric  training
can be more effective than dynamic exercises in  those cases where the
specific exercise requires muscle  contraction of large magnitude at a
certain stage of a  movement or during the early stages of injury
rehabilitation."

'The book goes on to distinguish between two classes of  isometric training,
explosive isometrics and slow  isometrics. As part of that information, Siff
says, "Each class of isometric training  produces its own distinct training
effects. If isometric  exercises are executed with the accent on the speed of
 developing force, then they can be as effective for  developing explosive
strength as dynamic exercises."  He also says, "… it makes sense to
distinguish  isometric training for developing absolute strength and
isometric training for developing explosive strength and  to use one or the
other in the appropriate  circumstances. However, this still requires
detailed  experimental corroboration. Nevertheless, isometrics  should not be
neglected as a means of strength  development, so that negative evaluations
of this method  are premature."

Regarding isometrics and the angle being worked, he has the following to say,
"Many studies have reported  that isometric training produces maximum
strength gains  at or very close to the angle at which the isometric
contractions are used, with the result that athletes  often avoid using any
form of isometric training.This  observation of angular specificity must
be viewed more  critically, in that other studies have shown that  isometric
training also produces significant strength  increase over a range of up to
as much as 15 degrees on  either side of the training angle."  He also goes
on to  say, "… isometric training of muscles in a relatively  lengthhened
state can produce substantial strength  increase not only near the region of
training, but also  throughout the range of movement. This finding, however,
should not be interpreted to mean that isometric  training can replace other
forms of strength  training…..
He also says, "Sometimes the isometric holding of a  heavy load at certain
'sticking points' in an exercise  can decrease any deficiencies in that
region or prime  the nervous system to cope with greater levels of  loading
which will eventually be encountered during the  process of gradual
progressive overload."

There are some  lifters out there Tim who have used isometrics to  strengthen
a bench sticking point for example, by  pushing against pins in the rack set
at what they  consider to be their sticking point.

A final quote I'll take from the book is, "An  appreciation of its value and
breadth of application  should restore isometrics to a place of importance in
 all training programs."

I've only taken bits and pieces of the information  contained in
Supertraining regarding isometrics Tim but  it gives you some idea of Dr
Siff's thoughts on the subject.  If you'd like to learn more, check it out
sometime.
 

Siff MC ,  Supertraining   Denver, CO, 2000, p 223 (mcsiff@aol.com)