HighIntensity.net View Mike Mentzer Bodybuilding Topic

I have read on here that some of ya′ll incorporate static holds into your routine. How do you do that? For example chest, the way I have done it is after my single set to failure, I will wait about a minute then press the same weight to the static hold postion and hold for as long as a can. Then I try to end it with a negative, but usually that is almost a lost cause because I am so weak. Does that sound good or could I do better? Has anyone attempted pure static hold training? What I mean by that is using significantly more weight than for a regular set and do static holds only exercises. No lifting the entire workout.

hey Mate
I do static training only. My bench bress is about 470 lbs, I push it up, lower slightly and wait for it to fall back to the pins. My last attempt was 33 seconds. That was all I could do no matter what. My chest grows from this, but my triceps have grown like mad. I could not press this weight full range, but I dont care. I just do static, if someone asks me about full range I just pretend to not understand what they are saying. I did full range for years. I would work up to 315 on the bench for about 3, then my shoulders would go to hell. I have not hurt myself at all with static contraction training. Plus my body has a tight dense look. I like to think what kinda pecs I would have if I could hold 600 lbs for 5 minutes. They would have to grow. I cannot see any other way. Plus I am rarely sore.
Jetro

Hi Jetro,

It would be interesting to see a summary of your workout, including the exercises used and the frequency with which you train.

I have heard a lot of people on this forum who use static holds with great success and it would be great to hear some of the stats you have achieved using this method.

Cheers

Hey Mdm
I train once a week every tuesday. I do only one static hold, and when possible I do only isolation movements. I am 183 cm tall and I weigh 106 kilos with a 34 inch waist. I have gained at least 8 kilos with static training. If you hold a heavy weight long enough the muscles will simply have to grow. Plus the extreme weight taxes the bones and connective tissue which is something the limited weight of full range reps cant touch. I train my whole body each workout. Then I rest a full week. I do leg extensions with 142 kilos now for about 28 seconds as of last time. What is even more crazy is that I once did full range reps with 100 kilos and banged out close to 30. My friends nearly shit. 100 kilos was the whole stack. Man static contraction works, but you gotta go heavy and try to hit higher times. I used to go as high as two minutes, but around 30 seconds seems to feel perfect before my lungs start to fry. A friend of mine said that I think we do reps because that was what the first guy did about 100 years ago with the first dumbell and bar. I would never trade back my car for a horse, that is how I feel about static training. Full range reps mean nothing. What the hell is a full range rep anyway. Mine would not be yours, or your mine. We got chicks at my gym that are made of rubber and their full range reps would blow me away. So what is full range to be exact. I have never seen one really. Anyway thanks for asking about my routine, If I did not answer enough ask again and I will be happy to write more about my training. Like I said imagine if a person could hold 300 kilos on the bench for 5 minutes. The pecks would simply have to grow. Cheers Jetro

Hi Jetro,

Thanks for the reply. I have used static holds in the past when training my legs but my results actually suffered in the following workouts, rather than me getting stronger. After thinking about it and after reading what you have said, I am beginning to think that there is a good reason for this. When you are using much heavier weights than normal (as you are in a static hold), a much greater stress is imposed upon the body and thus more recovery must be allowed. When I was using static holds I was using them in the isolation part of the pre-exhaust cycle and this may have been too much for my body to handle.

Now that I think about it, I have a good example of how much a static hold stresses the muscle. Looking back at my training journal:

On Saturday 27th March, 2004 I did the following superset for my legs:

Nautilus leg extension: 10 reps at 160lb followed immediately by
Nautilus leg press: 13 reps at 300lb

Then on my next leg workout on Saturday 24th April, 2004 (the workouts are far apart because I was on holiday) I did the following workout:

Nautilus leg extension: static hold to failure at 230lb followed immediately by
Nautilus leg press: 7 reps at 300lb

Perhaps the reason that I achieved so few reps on the leg press in the second workout when compared to my previous performance was that the static holds took so much out of my functional quadriceps strength that I had very little left to give when it came to the leg press.

Since one of the principles of HIT is trying to get maximum inroad in minimum time, perhaps static holds are of greater value than I previously thought. Taking those two workouts as an example again:

When I did 10 reps on the leg extension, that set took me approximately 70 seconds to complete. However, my static hold only lasted about 23 seconds, yet it made a far greater impression on my leg press set, leading me to believe that it made a far greater inroad.

Any thoughts?

Thanks