ExRx.net

Wondered what the community thoughts and/or science has to say on the effects of static holds. For instance holding a weight out for several seconds (not with locked joints) or, pausing during the hard part of a repetition.

I do all my reps with a one count at the hard part of the repitition. Was something I was told to do in physical therapy and carried it over to all my lifts. Makes the lifts "harder" in that I fail with less reps, although I'm not sure the time efficiency versus just pumping fast.

On anterior tibialis, I actually do 3 sets 30 second hold with weight on toes, since this was the only way I could figure to work it.

I take it you mean isometrics as in, things like planks or push up holds?

I think they are a good tool and in some situations can be extremely valuable. I also think the 'core' should be trained primarily in an isometric fashion. That's my opinion so, I'm not into situps and crunches.

You just need to be carefull and not over react to somethign which you have found to be useful and end up devoting most of your training to it - never stray from the basics unless you have a very good reason, they should always be the core of your routine.



I'm not sure what the reasoning would be behind that. Did they tell you? Making the lift harder isn't much of a reason. In general, you'll benefit more from a controlled eccentric and an 'explosive' concentric (the hard part of the lift). There are times when it would be beneficial to slow down the tempo and other things like that but, that's an exception other than the norm although it's good to use a slower tempo on a new exercise until you've sussed the movement. Then you would just lift fast.

That's my views, anyway...

KPj

I think it is the same rationale as doing a negative. Also, he wanted to prevent me from being ballistic.

I usually do a brief stop at the end of movements where the end is still high load, to ensure I'm not cheating with momentum.

Hamstring curls and standing scapular plane raises are examples where a slight pause at the end seems good. It's really hard not cheat with momentum on those - a constant battle for me anyway.

Dead lifts or standing press is the reverse though - I try not to excessively pause at the end, since the end is sort of a resting position.

There's deffinitly some good reasons to pause at the end - i never realised that's what was meant. I seen pausing at the 'hardest part' and thought "that could be anywhere...", so I visualised getting to a sticking point and, instead of driving through it, STOPPING for a while.

I like to encourage a pause at the top of a DL, too, especially with newbies, just to really encourage a good lock out.

Prone trap raises are a good one too. I force a pause at the start and end/top of the movement. It's too easy to 'swing' into to it at the start, and it's too easy to carry momentum through to the top without actually having the strength to hold it there.

KPj

I do Barbell Holds for grip. I load up a heavy barbell 2-3 inches below the lockout position of my deadlift. Then I lift it to lockout and hold it for about 10 seconds (sometimes 15) using more weight than I can currently deadlift.

[quote][quote="TCO"]Wondered what the community thoughts and/or science has to say on the effects of static holds. For instance holding a weight out for several seconds (not with locked joints) or, pausing during the hard part of a repetition.

I do all my reps with a one count at the hard part of the repitition. Was something I was told to do in physical therapy and carried it over to all my lifts. Makes the lifts "harder" in that I fail with less reps, although I'm not sure the time efficiency versus just pumping fast.

TCO,

As KPj said, that's a isometric. Like you said it makes the movement harder.

It increases the "Time Under Tension". Thus, increasing strength of the msucles at that angle.

You can use that method with other exercises, as well. You can also increase the length of the pause from one count to increase tension on the muscle.

Kenny Croxdale

TCO--two questions; you specifically added "not with locked joints." Usually there isn't anything wrong with locked joints. Also, you said that the PT "wanted to keep me from being ballistic". In injury treatment there are situations where you should avoid being ballistic, but it's often a good thing. We usually call it "lifting explosively" or "lifting for power". It is sometimes a bit tricky to control the deceleration of the weight at the end of the ROM, but once you learn to handle that this can be a valuable kind of lifting.