The best workout plan out there for achieving maximum intensity!
This is the best workout plan that I know of for enabling you to generate maximum intensity, and thus for enabling you to build maximum muscle in minimum time. This workout plan is much more effecive and more complete than Little's earlier book "Static Contraction Training" that he co-authored with Peter Sisco.
For starters, Little gives the most useful, complete and accurate definition for intensity (as it relates to strength training ) that I've found in any book. This is extemely important, because without the right definition for intensity (i.e one that works in both theory and practice), you won't know which strategies work most effectively to maximize the intensity of any exercise that you do. And if don't generate maximum intensity due to that limitation, you simply won't build maximum muscle in minimum time. So the right definition for intensity (i.e. one that works in both theory and can be applied practically) has always been the missing piece of the puzzle when it comes to devising the ideal workout plan, which explains why the ideal workout plan has eluded even the experts in this field for so many years.
With that said, Little doesn't always consistently apply his definition for intensity to every exercise in the book, which surprised me. And that is one of the major problems with this workout plan. That of course is a problem that the reader can take care of on his or her own, but it might confuse some people.
Also, as good as this plan is, it's still incomplete, because it leaves out a number of important motions (and therefore exercises) that should be done if you really want to fully develop every skeletal muscle that you possibly can throughout your entire body. Fortunately, I developed my own workout plan that remedies these problems, and it basically begins where Max Contraction Training leaves off. My book hasn't been published yet, so the closest you're going to get to it is this book by John Little.
Now there are die-hard aficionados of conventional training methods who will deride Little's workout plan and book, because they still wrongly believe that you need to do repeated body motions to build muscle. But repeated body motions are not a requisite for muscle growth stimulation; muscular contraction is! And the one and only underlying factor behind the effectiveness of all strength-training plans that lead to greater muscle growth is muscular contraction, especially muscular contraction against a net external force. Isometrics are evidence of that.
Finally, I disagree with Little's approach to nutrition. Obviously he adheres to the old school of nutrition, which teaches that you can get everything you need from a diet based upon the 4 basic food groups. But that approach is so outdated, and the study of human nutrition has come a long way since then. For example, simply eating fruits and vegetables every day does not guarantee that you'll get all the Vitamin C you need for optimum health, because not all fruits and vegetables are high in Vitamin C. And if you cook them (such as a white potato), that destroys the Vitamin C. But Little's nutritional advice is not the reason to buy this book; the workout plan is!
Max Contraction Works - 50-70% increase in strength
I read the reviews claiming no improvement and injuries - that is the opposite for me - age 53 and my son - age 25. We followed the Max Contraction system for 9 months and then bench marked our progress on a Hammer Strength machine incline bench press. Prior to Max Contraction we maxed out at 150 lbs - after 9 months we were able to do 250 lbs. At age 53 and weighing 185 lbs my comparisons in strength are as follows: Curl machine - 110 lbs vs 65 prior, pushups 55 vs 35, decline bench 300 lbs vs 180 on Hammer St. machine, and 220 lbs vs 130 on the Pec machine. The workout takes 30 minutes only 1 time per week, I found no injuries, it greatly increased strength. The only negative was I have gained some weight and need to do more aerobic and calorie burning. I was refered to the book by a friend who at age 54 said he was stronger than he has ever been in his life from Max Contraction. I highly recommend this method and have been shocked at the results. With 30 minutes of lifting per week I was figuring I would be happy to see even a 10% increase in strength but was shocked to see the results. With a busy schedule, I never would put in the 3 days per week but this book makes it clear that it is intensity not time that inceases strength. I would have never believed it if I did not see it happen myself. I did not buy the max straps and just adapted equipment at a fitness center to accomplish the exercises. My pull down for example is loading 220 lbs on the machine and pulling it down with both hands and then holding for 10 seconds with one hand. A partner helps but I do all the stuff alone since my son got married. I do not understand the negative articles and cannot imagine what these guys did considering the results my son and I experienced. Good luck to all of you.
Max Contraction Training, Excellent book, 5 stars
I have been spending lots of time at the gym on weight training. This book really made sense to me. Trying Max Contraction protocol at the gym and anxious to see if it works for a 67 yr old guy in pretty good shape. This protocol would cut down weight training time and allow more time for great programs like yoga class. I heard about Maximum Contraction in an article about Dana Torres, great Olympic swimmer.
Which part of the range of motion is best?
This book is fantastic, as it has a lot of information to make you think about the best way to train for building muscle and strength.
However, one question arises: is it really best to train in the maximum contraction position? In that position your muscles are contracted and shortened, thereby strongest. To stimulate them in that position you need much heavier weights than at the beginning of a movement. How do you get the weight there if training on your own?
I contend that training in the recommended fashion at the BEGINNING of a range of motion has less leverage, the muscles are not shortened, therefore you can stimulate them maximally with much less weight, therefore the intensity is still maximal, but with less weight. The max number of fibers is involved because the weight is still heavy enough to barely allow you to budge it at that point in the range, therefore requiring the involvement of all available fibers, for a maximum intensity short contraction.
Since the weight is less than in the fully contracted position, but it is as hard to contract at this beggining of the movement position with the lesser weight, you will involve ALL available fibers for a MAX CONTRACTION at that point, the same way you would do with heavier weights in the maximum contraction position (at the fully contracted part of the range of motion). Therefore you achieve maximum intensity and muscle stimulation with a relatively lighter weight, making it possible to train in this fashion even on a home gym (otherwise you need extremely heavy weights - often unavailable).
Only one caveat: possibility of injury can be higher as muscles' strength increases possibly faster than the tendons have time to adjust. Warming-up may be important if one trained this way.
All up, the book is about the best way to train, in least time, in order to gain the most muscle, naturally.
A Strength Training Book for Strong Minds
...and by strong minds I mean those willing to question what they believe to be true.
Little does an excellent job of applying the scientific method to the problem of efficient strength training. Go into any gym on the planet, well, let's say 99.99% of them, and you'll find that MOST of the people are doing the following:
o Sets of repititions.
o Working a particular muscle group 2 or 3 times a week.
Little establishes directly and by reference, that intensity stimulates muscle growth, not repitition.
If repetition stimulated growth, then Phil the fifty year old bus-boy who has been working six days a week for the last twenty years, would have legs larger than Mr. Universe (genetics aside), for that matter so would marathon runners.
When I talk to people at my gym, I find it perplexing that they accept that a marathon runners leg muscles don't become massive, yet are pushed to their limit of repatitous (Low Intensity) endurance. They ache the days after a race, they need 'repair time' and so forth. They accept this without a hint of doubt.
Point out someone at the gym with massive legs and they will accept, again without question, that the hugely muscled legs are the result of heavy weights (ie High Intensity).
Now take these two data points and compare them, most peoplem, I find, are unwilling to believe (at a gut level) that intensity, and intensity alone, is the stimulator of muscle GROWTH. Further that sufficient rest is as essential as the excersise itself to obtain optimal results; time to repair the muscle, and FURTHER, time to allow the GROWTH that was the very reason you walked into the gym in the first place. "Getting GROWTH by NOT going to the gym before Wednesday???" Yes Sparky, that's exactly what he's saying.
If you want to be stronger, EACH TIME you return to the gym, then you have to be willing to look at experimental data to see what produces the largest gain in strength FOR A GIVEN TIME. That is, who can spend 3 months in the gym and produce the best result. This book will show you that.
I did find that some material in the book to be stated rather repititiously, and it would have had more of an impact if the material were stated more concisely. I'd have tossed some of the philosopy and the quotes, didn't impress me and seemed distracting. Read on though.
Sometimes we (all of us) can find imperfection in something or someone and use it to make ourselves 'uncoachable', when we'd be better off taking what value we can, and ignoring the rest. In this regard, I think Little has a HUGELY important message to deliver to the strength training world. I recommend his book whenever I get the opportunity.
If you are interested in improving your strength, and you want to do it in a way that ignores 'established practice' and instead focuses on 'experimental result', then this book is for you. It may really change some perceptions you may have about muscle growth.
