Not recommended
I have been involved with competitive bodybuilding and power lifting for over 15 years. I was looking for something different / new and I thought this would be it. Well... not really. My "holding" strength went way up but the full range of movement strength really didn't budge at all. I followed the plan to the letter and it just didn't have the impact I was hoping for. If you want to get big, train 3 days per week for no more than 90 mins per workout. Train with basic movements for the first 6 months then add to it as you progress. Maximum days of training should only be 4 per week... any more than that and you are just tearing yourself down! And remember, YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT!
Conceptually a great workout plan,but it's only the beginning...
This is one of the best workout plans out there for generating maximum intensity, and thus for obtaining "maximum results in minimum time". The only plan that I know of that is even better than this one for the purpose of achieving maximum intensity is John Little's later book "Max Contraction Training". And I've read and analyzed virtually every book out there on weight-lifting and strength-training.
However, the book is not without flaws, and furthermore, the workout plan presented here is far from complete. Also, not all of the exercises in this book really do enable you to achieve truly maximum intensity, even though the concepts and the strategies in the book are headed in that direction.
For example, there is no way that you can generate maximum intensity when doing the bench press (even when you do a static hold at your strongest point, as recommnended in this book), simply because you cannot obtain maximum dynamic contraction when doing the bench press, at least not in regards to your pecs. And if you cannot obtain maximum DC when doing any particular motion, then you cannot generate maximum intensity for that particular motion, which means you cannot get really "maximum results in minimum time".
Also, I disagree with the authors that for any given muscle group,you should always choose the exercise that enables you to handle the greatest amount of weight. For example, the bench press does allow you to handle more weight than say, the double-cable crossover, or the dumbbell flye. But there are reasons for that (that I won't go into here), and it has nothing to do with the strength of your pecs or the intensity of the exercise. In fact,as stated, you cannot generate maximum intensity when doing the bench press, even the SCT version,for the reason described above, regardless of the fact that it enables you to handle more weight.Actually, the bench press (any version) is pretty much a waste of time for most people, since there are better ways to pack on the pecs.
So what I did with the workout plan in this book is that I corrected the flaws inherent in the system (while using the same basic concepts), and I filled in the plan with many more exercises that should be in this book (but are not). And each one of those exercises does enable you to achieve truly maximum intensity, unlike several of the exercises in this book, some of which come close to maximum intensity, but don't go all the way. I was able to do this because I came up with the "right" definition for intensity to begin with (the "right" definition being one that works in both theory and can be applied practically), which is something that's missing from this book. And as a result of that defintion, I was able to come up with the right strategies for generating truly maximum intensity. And anyone who gets to know this new plan I developed from the one in this book will learn that SC Training has come along way since this book came out in 1998.
I have written a book about this new workout plan, which I believe is the best ever discovered. But it has not been published yet, so for now, the closest you can get to it is the plan in this book, or even better, the plan in Little's more recent "Max Contraction Training" book.
Static Contraction Training -Train your brain, train body
In this book you'll find completely information about high intensity training by using Sisco's and J.Little's method.
This training is pure science. The authors explain the physiology of the muscle; how it grows and how is the best way to train it.
There's also some information about nutrition. They explain why you don't need any supplements instead for a well-balanced diet.
This book will answer the majority of the questions you may have about muscle grow.
"Enjoy it"
Destroyed my shoulder joint, even doing the exercises correctly!
I was a HUGE advocate of SCT because it all seemed to make so much sense. I had a subscrition to the Pete Sico newsletter and once almost ordered the ridiculously expensive Expolisve Fitness machine.
I did SCT and though my hold tiems went up, my strength throughout a full range of motion didn't. I began replicating the isometric exercise of the machine he was hawking and after several months of doing it, I sustained 2 joint injuries - 1 to my neck, which left my right are falling asleep for 3 months till the radiopathy healed itself. The 2nd one I've been suffering with for several months now. My left shoulder is destroyed, Ahces all the tiem, and when I move it in any one of several direction, the agony kicks in. It feels liek arthritis, but I think it's joint and tendon damage. In the end, I got no lasting muscle increases and no strength increases.
Conventional working out gives you the mass you want. Mayeb throwing in a little more rest time makes sense, but this method does nothing but sell you pipedreams. Nobody that works out this way ever has the body you envy. Believe that.
My analytical mind says yes, but.........
For starters I'm NOT Angelbabiesmom.....that's my wife!!
I've read the book several times and gave it a go several years ago. My weights did go up dramatically but I eventually gave it up. I don't even remember why. All the info contained seems logical and scientifically valid. People seem so dead set on believing the traditional gym myths that have been around for decades. Funny, considering traditional volume training (overtraining) works for so few people (drug free people, that is). I personally have never known anyone who gained signifigant mass working out in the traditional way. And EVERYONE I grew up with lifted weights. Some lifted year after year "hoping" something would magically happen (pure lack of logic). Some would lift for months, see no gains, and quit (common sense). There is a lot of hatred for an idea that flys in the face of traditional theory. Interesting, seeing how traditional body building theory has served so few people. It has even hurt people...myself included. As I write this, I just returned from getting an MRI to try to pinpoint the location of a herniated spinal disc that I ruptured 14 years ago doing BB shrugs. 14 years ago!!!! I'm still paying with both dollars and extreme pain.
I will start this program again and do it to the letter except for one thing that did NOT clear the checklist in my analytical mind. I will NOT be holding in the "strongest" portion of the lift but rather in the weakest. The whole goal is to overload the muscle to the maximuim degree possible. The strongest part of a lift (bench press for example) is due solely to leverage advantages. When you are approx. one inch below lockout on Bench press your forearm and upper arm are almost straight. You are only capable of holding extreme weights because of the leverage advantage. You are not stressing you pecs so much as your arm bones and joints. The stress on the pecs could be just as intense if you were in the weakest range with much less weight.... your bones/ joints being spared.
(102 reviews)
