For my workout on Thursday, was upper body, and later that week, was gonna do lower, but forgot to.

Gonna do a 3 day workout routine, so lift on Monday, Wendsday, then Friday.

Good job so far with your journal. Is there any chance you could dress it up a bit? It's your journal, but it's kinda hard to read.

Keep up the good work! ;)

Lifted on Monday. Did one set per body part.

Preacher Curls: 1 set, 5 reps, 105
Military/frount: 1 set, 6 reps, 125
Shrugs:1 set, 6 reps, 265
Reverse fore-arm curls: 1 set, 5 reps, 95
Standing tricep extensions: 1 set, 5 reps, 70
Squats: 1 set, 6 reps, 285, I would go heavier, but need a belt at home
Leg curls: 1 set, 4 reps, 130
T-Bar raises: 1 set, 5 reps, 130
Sumo Deadlifts: 1 set, 5 reps, 270

Thats about it for Monday, off days are gonna be Tuesday, and Wendsday, maybe Thursday. Going Bowling today...with some friends.

Been reading a book on working out, called Max Contraction Training, great book so far. Basicly have been reading this from it, the guy goes over this, all you need to do is lift a few days of the week, 1 set per muscle group, but go so intense that while you do the lift, all the main muscle fibers that used for making bulging muscles comes out, and switches the mind to use those muscles to tear, and repair that muscle area, in over time, take a longer rest period before lifting again. Still reading it, should get done with reading it this weekend sometime.

Ah, yes John R. Little, former writing partner of Peter Sisco.

I like his Bruce Lee books.

I read the first line on Amazon. Is yours the one that starts out how bodybuilding as it is done today is one of the most mindless and unscientific things in the world?

I'll tell you straight up, what these guys don't know about growing muscle could fill a book. Here, he seems to be taking one important aspect of muscle growth and throwing out everything else.

If you are a complete beginner then I'd think you could get some results from it but otherwise don't waste your time. What I supect, however, is that your would see your apparent strength (max contraction wise) continually increasing and get very little muscle growth. I also doubt much of this strength would translate into more lifting strength.

From what I've read, the first Max Contraction book is entirely centered around isolation exercises. The idea being that you can use a leg extension in the position of max contraction to fully stimulate all the fibers of the quad.

Most so called scientific books like this are based on people taking what they already believe or would like to be true and conducting experiments around it, then using the results that support their belief while ignoring the results or info that refute it.

were all these sets done to failure...?

why only 1 set per body part...?

whats the outline of yuor routine...?

can u really squat 400 lbs...?

Yes, I can squat 400. And yes, was to failure, as many as I can, main number was around 5-7 reps or so. I found that you don't do reps with this lifting routine. You contract the weight: Basicly, i.e, preacher curls for instance. I start out my arms way out, and curl the barbell half way, then hold it for 1-6 seconds, for as long as I can.

I am just wanting to try it for a month, and put down the results, if any.

Basicly I am lifting two days out of the week, Monday, and Thursday.

I do one set, 1 reps, hold for 1-6 secs, on some of the heavier compound lifts, i.e sumo dead lifts, I hold it longer, if I can. If I can hold it longer than 10 sec's, I put heavier weight on it. Basicly after the first week of lifting, I start to add 2-5 percent more weight to what the current weight was. And go heavier.

I wanna try this to see what the results are. After that, I might go back to a split routine like I was doing, but with Max: OT, or do what my brother is telling me to do. Upper one day, lower next, Sunday off.

But as far of what I read in this book, I've read that you don't need so much protein each day, for my weight, its saying I Only Need 170-200 grams of protein, to build muscle, any more used, will just be crapped out, and not used. Is this true? I've read alot of things in this book, like when you hold the weight for a long a few mere seconds, you stimulate over load, and all the muscle fibers used to build big muscles are then recruited, and start building muscle.

First, be sure to read my thread on "Why aren't you growing" It'll answer a lot of your questions you have or mistakes you're making.

Nope.

Myth #2: You can only assimilate 30 grams of protein at one sitting.

Fact: The body has the ability to digest and assimilate much more than 30 grams of protein from a single meal.

Speaking of high intakes of protein, people have been perpetuating the myth that you can only assimilate ~30 grams of protein at a time, making protein meals any greater than a 6 oz. chicken breast a waste. This is anything but true. For example, the digestibility of meat (i.e. beef, poultry, pork and fish) is about 97% efficient. If you eat 25 grams of beef, you will absorb into the blood stream 97% of the protein in that piece of meat. If, on the other hand, you eat a 10 oz steak containing about 60 grams of protein, you will again digest and absorb 97% of the protein. If you could only assimilate 30 grams of protein at a time, why would researchers be using in excess of 40 grams of protein to stimulate muscle growth?1

Critics of high protein intakes may try to point out that increased protein intake only leads to increased protein oxidation. This is true, nevertheless, some researchers speculate that this increase in protein oxidation following high protein intakes may initiate something they call the "anabolic drive".13 The anabolic drive is characterized by hyperaminoacidemia, an increase in both protein synthesis and breakdown with an overall positive nitrogen balance. In animals, there is a correspondent increase in anabolic hormones such as IGF-1 and GH. Though this response is difficult to identify in humans, an increase in lean tissue accretion does occur with exaggerated protein intakes.14,15

The take home message is that, if you are going to maximize muscle growth you have to minimize muscle loss, and maximize protein synthesis. Research clearly shows this is accomplished with heavy training, adequate calories, and very importantly high protein consumption. This means that meals containing more than 30 grams of protein will be the norm. Not to worry, all that protein will certainly be used effectively by the body.

References:

1. Tipton K., Ferrando A., Phillips S., Doyle, JR D., Wolfe R. Post exercise net protein synthesis in human muscle from orally administered amino acids. Am. J. Physiol. 276: E628-E634, 1999

13. Millward, D.J. Metabolic demands for amino acids and the human dietary requirement: Millward and Rivers (1988) revisited. J. Nutr. 128: 2563S-2576S, 1998

14. Fern EB, Bielinski RN, Schutz Y. Effects of exaggerated amino acid and protein supply in man. Experientia 1991 Feb 15;47(2):168-72

15. Dragan, GI., Vasiliu A., Georgescu E. Effect of increased supply of protein on elite weight-lifters. In:Milk Protein T.E. Galesloot and B.J. Tinbergen (Eds.). Wageningen The Netherlands: Pudoc, 1985, pp. 99-103



It's called a static contraction. All this does is cause a little extra metabolic stress to your muscles at the completion of your set(s). There is absolutely nothing magical about this. If I were you, just do a heavy negative on your last rep and be done.

The guy that wrote that really needs a better source for his first paragraphs. That study has nothing to do with what he's talking about.

Regardless, I agree completely. You need much more protein than the book recommended, prob around 300 grams a day (around 1.5 grams per pound of lbm). Actual research has shown this to be optimal, not too mention many, many bodybuilder's experience.

And it's not just about what your body uses. It's more complicated than that (as per the second paragraph from above). The extra protein does more in your body than just provide amino acids to incorporate into muscle protein. If you looked at it in terms of just how much protein was incorporated into muscle tissue (which is what Little is prob. thinking of) then the book may be somewhat correct. But it is dead wrong. To ensure an optimal anobolic state, all the available info is pointing to the fact that you need the extra protein. You WILL be setting yourself at a disadvantage if you follow the book's suggestion.