Have any of you guy’s heard of Pete Sisco? He wrote the book Power Factor Training…he is a firm believer in “static contraction training”. In stead of doing a full range of motion on the bench press, he recommends holding the weight (but not locking out)with 30%-100% more weight for 7 seconds…and so on with other muscles. I’m really not sure what to think of this type of training. Has or does anyone train in this manner? The link where I read this article is: Health & Sports - AskMen bodybuilding_60/73_fitness_tip.html
Isometrics and partials have their place in certain training protocols, but they should NEVER be the cornerstone of a program. Their carryover is too limited. My opinion is that Sisco just wanted to publish a workout system different than what everyone had published, and he relied on the public’s ignorance to maintain an air of scientific plausibility. Hell, to the uninitiated even the “logic” behind Heavy Duty seems sounds.
I’ve used Power Factor.
It did work for me for a time, just like most other training methods. The benefits of PF training was that I became significantly stronger while gaining some size. The drawback is that it’s really tough on joints and ligaments. After 4 weeks on I was hurting all over (and that wasn’t soreness) I think that PF can/should be done at times as a supplement to your normal full-range training - it will give you that extra kick in strength as you get to handle super-heavy weights that you normally wouldn’t touch.
/TinyWulf
[quote]TinyWulf wrote:
I’ve used Power Factor.
It did work for me for a time, just like most other training methods. The benefits of PF training was that I became significantly stronger while gaining some size. The drawback is that it’s really tough on joints and ligaments. After 4 weeks on I was hurting all over (and that wasn’t soreness) I think that PF can/should be done at times as a supplement to your normal full-range training - it will give you that extra kick in strength as you get to handle super-heavy weights that you normally wouldn’t touch.
/TinyWulf[/quote]
This is pretty similar to the results I got from partial range and SC. Pretty decent gains for awhile, but then hit a plateau.
[quote]J.D wrote:
Have any of you guy’s heard of Pete Sisco? He wrote the book Power Factor Training…he is a firm believer in “static contraction training”. In stead of doing a full range of motion on the bench press, he recommends holding the weight (but not locking out)with 30%-100% more weight for 7 seconds…and so on with other muscles. I’m really not sure what to think of this type of training. Has or does anyone train in this manner? The link where I read this article is: Health & Sports - AskMen bodybuilding_60/73_fitness_tip.html
[/quote]
From an article by Thibaudeau (by the way, I interviewed Sisco and his co-author, John Little, about this methodology some years ago and I agree with Christian):
In recent years, mathematician-somehow-turned-bodybuilding-author Pete Sisco, wrote about a training method called Power Factor Training. In his more recent work called Train Smart he details a training method that he claims as his own, yet it’s really nothing more than an exact reproduction of the old Bill Marsh method! Not to take anything away from Sisco’s work, the methods he describes do work, but they work best if used as part of a grander scheme of training which also includes full range of motion lifting.
It’s been several years since the first book. I wonder what these guys look like/are lifting now?
I remember that crap. It was the dumbest thing I had ever heard of…and to think that people decided to only start training by using partial movements at the strongest part of their lifts. After doing this for one week (about 10 years ago), when I went back to doing the full-range of motion on the same exercises, I was weaker!
Another fad gone bad. Don’t do it!