HighIntensity.net View Mike Mentzer Bodybuilding Topic

Well I tried it, and everyone in my gym called me insane and a complete psychopath, I didn′t mind.

And Did It Hurt! Extreme Pain.

Sore as Hell!

What do You all think of this? Holding it at the contracted or bottom portion of the lift untill your legs give out. I actually wanted to stop countless times because of the overwhelming pain, but ended up stopping when my legs gave out after 40 seconds! Yes, it wasnt′ my one rep max, what do you all think? Static Contraction Squat? Dafortae believes whole heartedly that Static Contraction is indeed the way to go, I don′t wanna do another 40 seconds, what would be the best tut?

I think this really really will break through new gains for my legs, as well as sheer strength power.

I do this after a set of squats to failure. It really felt very intense, I loved it.

You did that AFTER a set to failure? Man, you are one brave dude! LOL
So you did it in the bottom position? (if so that is the stretch position and also by the way, the superior postion to be in for isometric/statics )

Az

Vaines,

I don′t know how safe it would be to do a static hold as you′ve described. Static holds are meant for exercises where you are at near-maximum contraction in the END position of an exercise(e.g., calf raises, pulldowns, leg extensions, any type of nautilus machine). The squat does not offer this advantage. The bottom of the squat is the pre-stretched position, not the contracted position; therefore, it′s not a true static hold. And, if you sit in the bottom position with the bar on your shoulders, even though your thighs will assume some of the weight, most of the stress will be on your knees.

Was this on a Smith Machine, or did someone have to help you back to the top position afterwards? If I′m doing squats, I usually use the plate-loading squatting machine at my gym. I′ll do a slow negative on my last rep, but that machine has a safety bumper at the bottom so I can′t get stuck under the weight. I wouldn′t consider doing a static hold at the bottom. Squats are strenuous enough on their own.

Be careful.

CM

The lumbar muscles often fatigue before the muscles of the hips and thighs. Doing a static hold squat in the bottom position would put you in a position in which your lumbar spine could easily move into a flexed position due to fatigue. This would leave the discs of your spine in a very vulnerable position. I think that the risk far out ways the benefits.

I see

Well I knew it was dangerous before I did it, however what I did was I loaded the plates on a Free Weight Bar and uses the squat rack to full advantage. Meaning I went down to a little above parallel, but I placed two poles for safety several inches below. So when I gave out, I didn′t have to pull the weight back up, simply drop it. It worked amazingly. I also had 2 spotters one on each side to ensure further safter. I understand the risk on the spine, I believe 40 seconds was too much, and by a extreme rare chance cause potential damage to the disks in my back. However, I wish to know the ideal TUT for a Static Hold Squat. 10-15 seconds? This would undoubtedly help maintain stress only on the legs, and reduce the stress on the lumbar greatly.