here is Message 27655, the article by the late Dr. Siff. It's a long one. Still dont know what to do about the graph though.
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From: Mcsiff@a...
Date: Fri Jan 10, 2003 6:27 am
Subject: Time Under Tension Archives
Several years ago, I wrote a lengthy biomechanical critique of the popular
beliefs about Time Under Tension (TUT) on several discussion lists and it
drew some rather irate attacks from certain fitness professionals. Excerpts
from this old material may still be of interest to Supertrainers.
Charles Poliquin (and Ian King) both demanded on the Testosterone website to
see how scientific research by this "alleged exercise physiologist Mel Siff"
(Poliquin's words) applies his research outside the laboratory to matters of
muscle tension training - well, here is a fraction of the necessary
information. I trust that their real concern for obtaining this information
as a service to their readers means that they will place this article
unaltered or unabridged on that website - I will happily grant them
permission to do so, even if its length necessitates several issues..
Failing this, I will be forced to deduce that their comments were not meant
to further the quest for knowledge, but to play out some personal agendas.
[Note - Testo mag never published my response. MCS]
FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE
...... The following aspects of muscle force production are relevant to the
idea of tension time:
1. The way in which tension begins, is maintained and falls off - i.e, the
shape of the tension time curve determines the results of training more than
mere counts of phase timing. Thus, the time taken for the concentric phase
may not be as important as the time taken to reach peak tension or the time
for which close to peak tension is held or vice versa, depending on whether
your training history is one of traditional bodybuilding, explosive lifting,
'superslow', HIT, 'aerobics' or certain types of machine training.
The effect of a given tempo method is determined to a large extent by one's
existing nervous and neuromuscular patterns, so that what works with one
person does not necessarily work as well with another. The (short and
long-term) 'after-effects' phenomenon is relevant in this regard. What this
means is that, before contemplating using a given 'tempo', speed or
acceleration regime, one should assess the individual's training history and
individual adaptive characteristics.
For example, one would list which exercises and methods of conditioning every
muscle group have proved to be successful or unsuccessful at a given time in
eliciting specific training effects (objectively and subjectively). This
would include observations on after-effects such as soreness, stiffness,
functional range of movement, coordination, reaction time, rate of fatigue
and rate of recovery in simple field tests. We have all noticed that each
muscle group responds at a different rate and to a different extent to
similar loading - this method of individualisation at the outset enables one
to adapt any highly prescriptive 'tempo' or 'speed' guideline to the
individual.
This process of individualisation is central to much of the training in the
Supertraining book. Maybe now some folk will appreciate why I appear to have
been so critical of standard guidelines for 'average' clients (in many ways
it is insulting even to talk of 'average' clients, since all clients are
special individuals).
When I stayed in Russia, coaches and scientists constantly demanded to know
why American coaches were so preoccupied with specific 'guidelines', computer
periodised programs, early specialisation, endless lists of so-called
'plyometric drills' (note that the word 'drills' is very military and
prescriptive in nature) and so on. They were very amused when I pointed out
to them that we thought that THEY are far more drilled, authoritative and
mechanistic in approach.
What is important is an appropriate mix at any given time of objective and
subjective methods of training and restoration (this latter aspect is
essential to optimal growth and progress).
So - Step 1 - 'know thyself' via basic tests and adapt 'tempo' or 'speed'
training guidelines to suit your characteristics and training history. If
you are changing to a tempo scheme very different from what you are used to,
build in a suitable transition phase and periodically return to or cycle your
old training with the new in an overlapping scheme called 'conjugate or
linked system training', never forgetting to include 'general preparation'
methods for restoration and stabilisation.
2. There is a region of accentuated force production during every movement -
powerful operation in this zone is essential for optimal results. Sometimes
the use of momentum, via methods such as cheating or use of stored elastic
energy in a bar, can be helpful in this regard.
Other methods of concentrating effort in these accentuated regions include
use of the 'double-knee bend' or 'scoop' method in the power clean and
similar movements involving subtle realignment and re-flexion or re-extension
of joints during the movement. Most of the time these adjustments take place
so quickly that any attempt to time the tempo is superfluous. Instead one
learns an inner working feel for this via trial and error guided by the
coach's hands-on 'biofeedback'.
3. Tension below a certain minimal threshold level produces minimal
hypertrophy, and this minimum training tension level increase with training
growth, as does the shape of the tension time curve, so that one has to alter
the 'tempo' methods, use various 'shock' methods or even avoid tempo counting
for a suitable period.
4. Tempo or speed counting methods used for repeated movements need to take
account of FOUR stages of action:
- transition 1 (before eccentric phase begins)
- eccentric phase
- transition 2 (after eccentric phase)
- concentric phase
The transition phase is a very underrated part of all training, since it
contains some exceptionally important aspects of motor action, such as
prestretch, concentrated loading, explosive isometrics, ballistic
sensitisation, restoration, decay of acute training after-effects and
overflow signalling to other joints).
To give thorough details on each of these would cover many pages, but mere
awareness of these points should help many of you devise your own approaches
to 'playing with' each transition phase. In 'Supertraining' we stress the
central importance of these phases to all explosive and 'plyometric'
training. The 'mystery' of why Olympic lifting can produce significant
hypertrophy should be less mysterious now.
5. The patterns of tension development are different if a given exercise
involves several joints simultaneously, concurrently or sequentially. For
instance, a strict 'bicep curl' does not produce the same build up and level
of tension as a cheat curl which allows for shoulder and shoulder girdle
movement. Similarly powerlifting and weightlifting squats, irrespective of
depth, recruit the hip, knee and spinal muscles in different ways with
different patterns of tension production.
Explosive movements or oscillatory (bouncing) isometrics of the larger
muscles groups over their optimal reflexive region may stimulate growth more
powerfully than slower methods over the full range in some subjects
('Supertraining' 1998 Ch 4.2). For those who are familiar with the world of
aerobics dance, the Callan Pinckney's system of 'Callanetics' used lightly
loaded ballistic pulses based on this principle to produce physical changes
which some bodybuilders said was impossible to girlfriends and spouses who
did it!
6. Timing of tension or specific phases of any movement depends on processes
of conditioned reflexes, a concept pioneered by the great Russian
neurophysiologist and psychologist, Pavlov, whose work still remains
influential in Russian sports preparation. The speed of reflex activity and
reaction time depends on which sense is being used to stimulate the body, so
if one counts out or listens to a certain cadence via the sense of hearing or
learns a rhythm via touch or sight, the reaction timing is different and the
pattern of muscle tension is different.
During bygone days when I underwent dance training, taught aerobics and
studied for judges certification for aerobics championships, our teachers
often reminded us of the limitations of constantly relying on counting aloud
and cueing too early, too late or too frequently when new choreography had to
be acquired.
Sometimes use of the mirror was encouraged, sometimes it was discouraged
(later some of our colleagues went on to compare the different effects of
externalised imaging via mirror vs. internalised imaging via 'visualisation'
or imagined kinesthesis so that we could apply these methods more
effectively).
Several types of visual, auditory and tactile cueing were taught and some of
these, as well as the use of carefully sequenced excerpts or synthesized
phrases of music, can be used very productively in weight training (I prefer
the use of 'Walkmans' so as not to disturb other clients). There is no need
to count aloud or silently to establish tempo - suitable music can program
the nervous system and condition the reflexes very effectively so that one
can time production of muscle tension and relaxation almost precisely as you
wish it. I have also experimented with a popular system which agrees with
and draws information from certain Russian and Eastern methods (and good old
Pavlov, in particular) - it is called NLP (Neurolinguistic Programming).
Many types of rhythm and 'breaking' of rhythm may be used to add some
worthwhile and effective methods of muscle 'tempo' training - chat to a good
aerobics/dance instructor and you may be surprised to learn that they can
offer you far more than just a few aesthetic dance steps! Considerable
research has been done on the effects of music on human movement, health and
development and any department of dance kinesiology or music therapy will
have a wealth of information on how to use it for many forms of training.
I used various forms of musically choreographed and visualised martial arts
forms during the early phases of my own cardiac rehab and still perform some
of these as an integral part of restoration. Later, of course, all methods
of tempo timing had to be shelved in my return to weightlifting, since most
Olympic lifting training is too rapid for counting or cueing. Nevertheless,
one can use tactile, kinaesthetic and visual cues for timing important stages
of the movements.
7. Changes in the tension of so-called 'antagonist' muscles or in the muscles
of the opposite limb affect the patterns and level of tension in a given
muscle group (those familiar with physical therapy or PNF will know of the
reciprocal innervation or inhibition principle).
For example, if you wish to produce greater tension or prolong the tension in
a 'biceps curl' then all you have to do is do alternate DB curls and curl the
DB on one side while forcing out a powerful triceps extension backwards of
the body on the other side. Some bodybuilding instructors give this method
many names, but full credit must go to the pioneering physios who introduced
it many years ago into rehab.
The patterns of muscle tension development during elbow flexion and elbow
extension are different and therefore, tempo counting can offer only a weak
compromise in any movements where there is alternation of joint action or
region of force production changes.
8. Kinaesthetic and proprioceptive methods may be used to increase one's
awareness of tension changes in muscle. Following on from my research with
myotonometers and EMG apparatus, I adapted this work so that it could be used
simply and easily in bodybuilding training to enable the client to be able to
judge via biofeedback methods how tension was changing through any movement.
I simply used broad elasticised bands (with 'Velcro' fasteners in some cases
for certain limbs) placed over the muscle that we were interested in
exercising and let the client feel how the pressure from these limb cuffs
changed in response to joint angle, rate of movement, reflex activation and
concentration. At other times, I simply squeezed or palpated the muscles to
offer much the same feel and to alter pressure to serve as a much faster
method of timing the different phases of movement ('Supertraining' 1998 gives
some details of these methods of what we call 'kinaesthetic manipulation'.
9. Tension in an apparently discrete muscle group is not the result of
activity in that muscle alone, nor are the same groups of fibres recruited or
fatigued in the same sequence or pattern from rep to rep. Patterns of
activation tend to change all the time, a phenomenon which is known as
facultative pacemaking in the brain - and it is vital to remember that all
patterns of muscle tensioning are determined by nervous programs. Thus, one
has to pay careful attention to the transition phases, visualisation
(feedforward sensations and images) and kinaesthetic changes (mentioned
earlier) without evoking the well-known 'paralysis by analysis' phenomenon.
10. Training based upon discrete muscle fibre types is due to premature and
contradictory conclusions about fatiguing and preferentially using either one
group of 'fast twitch' fibres over another. Research has shown that the
supposedly 'normal' patterns of fibre recruitment may be altered by rate of
movement and the application of electrical stimulation. So, if you really
insist on recruiting some 'fast fatiguing' or 'high intensity' muscle fibres
first and other fibres in specific patterns at given tempos, go ahead and use
what some Iron Game fanatics have been doing over the years and apply an
appropriate pattern of electrical stimulation.
Due to FDA regulations, it is not my role to offer the whys and hows for
public consumption, but it should not be too difficult for anyone to find
athletes who have effectively managed to supplement their training with
simultaneous or sequential application of what physical therapists call
Faradic and Interferential currents. Some of my senior physio students
successfully carried out several projects on the hypertrophic and
strengthening effects of electrostimulation (ES). At the time we collected
over 500 references on the various aspects of ES and by now considerably more
will be available.
There are numerous other ways to 'play with', manipulate or vary patterns and
timing of muscle tension in any movement, but this lengthy collection should
suffice to show that there are some very practical ways of using the
scientific answers to my original 17 TUT questions [posed in an earlier
letter which caused all the disturbance MCS].
As Pete said: "......Mel or Yuri brought the subject of set length in the
first chapter in "Supertraining" with some basic parameters. As a side note,
I'm still on the first chapter. This book is huge!!".
The "Supertraining" book IS huge and attempts to integrate as much as
possible of the best Eastern and Western research so that one can acquire a
far more scientifically practical background to train more effectively for a
wide variety of sports, including bodybuilding and weightlifting. The above
lengthy application of muscle tension training methods is a tiny sample of
how we can borrow some training 'secrets' from the laboratories of the world
to grow bigger, stronger, more supple, more powerful and better performers in
many other ways.
Reference
Siff MC (2003) Supertraining (latest edition of the book referred to above)
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