Comments on: Canadian Study Says You Can Add >3lbs of Muscle in 6 Days

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 10 Jun 2015 13:11:09 +0000

How about shoulders, Mark? What exercise can you do heavily loaded static hold for shoulders? I find that when doing db front and lateral raises even lowering the weight slowly and under full muscle control is very difficult at 8-12 rep weight range. When using conservative “optimized form” I can lift a lot more than I can hold at max contraction. What are your thoughts? Thanks.

By: Leon

Leon — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 18:35:31 +0000

Mark , do you think its smart to do them at the start of every workout or just once in a while?

By: jerry

jerry — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 18:19:54 +0000

This sounds like a variation of isometric exercises which have been around for centuries. Isometrics can produce impressive increases in strength but I did not expect such a significant increase in muscle size.

By: Aanand

Aanand — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 14:22:59 +0000

OK. Got it. Thanks Mark.

By: Mark McManus

Mark McManus — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 10:36:44 +0000

@Aanand. No, the bullworker simply cannot put enough tension on the muscle. It’s too easy. The idea is to use a weight that you cannot contract against for more than 6 seconds max. The bullworker cannot provide this high level of resistance. It’s just too easy.

By: Mark McManus

Mark McManus — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 10:34:30 +0000

@Tommy. I would recommend you do 2 or 3 sets (1-6 seconds) followed up by your normal sets.

By: Mark McManus

Mark McManus — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 10:33:45 +0000

@BP. I think Sisco promotes static contraction, not maximal contractions. So he has people using insane weight in an almost extended position on say a leg press. Problem is, the weight is simply ‘resting’ there on the bones. There isn’t much actual muscular contraction going on. So his system sucks in my honest opinion.

By: Mark McManus

Mark McManus — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 10:31:26 +0000

@JaSoN. Well that hasn’t been studied so you’ll just have to test it out, bud. Try it over 1 week and see what happens the following week.

By: Aanand

Aanand — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 03:50:50 +0000

Seems the Bullworker may well be the best for this type of static contractions.
https://www.google.co.in/webhp?tab=nw&ei=UcIwVbXDCMLi8AXVkoGoDA&ved=0CAQQqS4oAQ#q=bullworker+exercise
Mark, request your views on this.

By: Tommy

Tommy — Mon, 08 Jun 2015 16:16:24 +0000

Great stuff. Gonna do it. One thing though. If I’m supposed to do it at the beginning of the workout, should that be all the work the muscle gets? Like if I did the pec deck for chest like this, should I stop hitting the chest afterwards or can I then do my normal lifts?

By: BP

BP — Mon, 08 Jun 2015 14:44:18 +0000

Pete Sisco has been writing about this for years. I’ve read his stuff but never tried. He writes convincingly and seems to have science behind him but I don’t know…in his system you can get to the point where you’re only training each muscle like every 2 weeks or something crazy. He (not coincidentally I’m sure) even sells special equipment to work with this kind of system. It’s interesting stuff, I’d like for someone like Mark to really do it and report on the results.

By: JaSoN

JaSoN — Mon, 08 Jun 2015 14:28:29 +0000

Mark.. im going to add this to my 3 day full body THT routine, On the 2nd set only and add negatives and static holds to ignite new growth, my question is…how many workouts do i do this for, and when i go back into the usual progressive THT will i still gain after doing a super intense workout using the negatives and static holds? Hope that makes sense.

By: Tank

Tank — Mon, 08 Jun 2015 13:53:26 +0000

I did hear about this before but never looked into applying it. Seems very interesting. Hard to imagine what 150% will feel like!!

By: Adam

Adam — Mon, 08 Jun 2015 13:52:16 +0000

Love new stuff! I’ll try this before my next biceps day. We do have the preacher machine in my gym 😀