Static Contraction Training

Unfortunately the book contains quite a few pictures of some well known bodybuilders. Whether the aim is just window dressing or a serious attempt to link the 'look' of these bodybuilders with SCT the fact remains that these people did not achieve that look by training in this manner, and the authors acknowledge that, but only in a roundabout way. Indeed, as you read the book you will learn why using SCT without all the 'supplements' used by the top bodybuilders cannot make you look like them, and after reading the chapter on 'Reality Versus Perception in Bodybuilding' you may not WANT to look like them! Personally I would have preferred it if pictures of the trainees who went through the SCT testing procedure had been used, much as Ellington Darden did in some of his books. That way you gain a more realistic idea of what can be achieved by following the protocol for the same length of time as the original experiment.

However, this does not really take much away from the real meat of the book, which is the presentation of the SCT method. The authors have gone to some length to test the method scientifically, although I have some doubt over just how valid their testing procedure was, and have some reservations about how they presented the results of their testing, that in no way acted as a barrier to testing the method on myself!

From my own experience of training in a SCT manner for the last few months I have seen very large increases in the weights I use, with greatly reduced training time. I have seen a greater return in terms of increases in my strength for each SECOND of exercise using this method than I have ever experienced using any other method. Perhaps the most significant thing though is the psychological effect of using much heavier weights than with 'normal' training regimes. It really has make a huge impression to find the weight I can hold has gone up by twenty kilos a week, or more in some cases, and that the total weight on the bar is now far in excess of what I ever thought was possible for me to even move, let alone hold using my own strength.

So as far as my experience goes, the method works. I have been using it in good faith, and thinking things through rather than just following what the book says for the sake of doing so. Although please don't think that your results will be the same as mine if you buy the book. As the book clearly indicates there is a spectrum of improvement, not everyone will get the same results.

So there you have it. Buy it and give it a go. It takes less time than other methods of weight training, and training this way might just vastly improve your strength, what more could you ask?