Eliminating The Stretch Shortening Cycle (SSC).

H

HNF

New Member
Hello everybody.  
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Short introduction, since it is my first post here(Been a member since 2008). I have training for a total of 8 years, having spent 4 of those years with powerlifting. Now I am back to training purely for hypertrophy, using HST principles for the last 1½ year.

Now back to the actual subject:

I stumblede upon this article at t-nation.com

<a href="http://www.tmuscle.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance_bodybuilding/what_speed_of_movement_should_i_use" target="_blank">What Speed of Movement Should I Use?
</a>

And I found this paragraph especially interesting..

Australian biomechanist Greg Wilson did some great research in the 1990s in quantifying the role of the SSC. He found that if you do a conventional bench press with an eccentric or lowering phase that was about a second, it took a full four-second pause in between the eccentric and concentric to completely eliminate the stretch shortening cycle, i.e. if you lower the bar and you rest it on top of your chest for a period of less than four seconds, you're still getting an added boost from all the elastic energy.

The only real work you'll do is during the last third of the concentric movement! If, however, you negated all that elastic energy by taking a four-second pause, you had to work all that much harder — recruit that many more muscle fibers — to lift the bar. All things being equal, this may mean more muscle growth.

So I am asking myself if this should be applied to my entire rep-scheme considering my goals of purely hypertrophy?

The only disadvantage that I can think of would be one's own ego, as the lifted poundages will suffer.
 
I believe that pausing for more then 4 seconds is quite impractical for squat and bench. Maybe it is best to offset the fact that the stretch-reflex is helping you with more weight and more reps then to try to eliminate it. Of course you can increase the difficulty of an exercise by pausing but 4 seconds is too long to be practical in my opinion.
 
I agree. The difference between a gymrat lift and a PL lift with a one-second pause on the chest is enormous. But training with the pause is true lifting, no bouncy-bounce, and very little stretch reflex. If you held it there for 4 seconds, you are not only cutting off some of your circulation in the arms, but are using up ATP stores holding the weight.
...or glycogen, whatever, I'm not a labcoat.  
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I would guess that the one second pause is enough to true things up and grow. If you lose energy stores holding the weight, you'll acheive less TUT, right?
Also, I'm getting some pretty weird looks from the gym squirrels doing them properly! They will hate me someday when I can pause 405 and press it.
 
<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">this may mean more muscle growth.
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My opinion is three parts.  First, proven methods first.  There are other techniques that one can use that have some scientific backing to their effectiveness.  If there isn't a bottom line that reads &quot;...increased muscle hypertrophy by [   ] percent over control group&quot; than its just speculation and there is plenty of that in bodybuilding.  The correct understanding is that just because its logical doesn't mean its physiological.

Second part, all this about storing energy in the tissue for an elastic effect is irrelevant even if its true.  The stored elastic energy, like a bench shirt, exerts some force on the bar, but so do your muscles.  If you take the elastic energy away, be it bench shirt or stretch-shortening cycle, you'll simply reduce its respective contribution to the lift.  Your poundage will drop for sure, but what your muscles lift will stay the same, SSC, bench shirt, or not.

Third part, studies examining rep speed effect on muscle hypertrophy are undecided.  Some studies show higher speeds are better, other show lower speeds to be superior.  This fact comes right out of a book co-authored by Kraemer.  There is not yet a consensus.  According to Pavel T. soviet researchers found that if one varied the speed often there was a significant growth effect but no one speed was shown to be superior over another.  Interpret this as you like.

All this SSC bashing aside, I do not wish to discourage you from trying it.  There is anecdotal evidence, such as from Westside, that supports the practice only they start the lift from an already contracted position.  But this evidence isn't my point.  Methodical experimentation with your training regimen builds experience, knowledge, and the confidence that comes with the two.  If you think pausing for four seconds may work then do it!  But do it methodically and all the way.  No half @$$ing.  Give it 6 weeks, take pictures and measurments, etc.

Good luck.
 
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(QuantumPositron @ Aug. 28 2009,10:42)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE"> <div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">this may mean more muscle growth.
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Second part, all this about storing energy in the tissue for an elastic effect is irrelevant even if its true.  The stored elastic energy, like a bench shirt, exerts some force on the bar, but so do your muscles.  If you take the elastic energy away, be it bench shirt or stretch-shortening cycle, you'll simply reduce its respective contribution to the lift.  Your poundage will drop for sure, but what your muscles lift will stay the same, SSC, bench shirt, or not.</div>
Not sure if I'm disagreeing with your 2nd or not, QP -
All I know is that there is a definite help from stretch that disappears on a pause. But the stretch ONLY helps in the hole: you are correct in that the muscles still have that much weight to lift.
I feel like the pause is not only training me to do comp lifts, but developing strengths in the hole that I don't have from doing gymrat lifts. (unpaused)
...and waddayaknow, I'm failing near the TOP now! Next I'll be carrying boards into the gym.
 
<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">All I know is that there is a definite help from stretch that disappears on a pause</div>

That's what we would expect.  The elastic energy is transferred into deforming tissue leaving no stored elastic energy to be transferred to the bar.

<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">I feel like the pause is not only training me to do comp lifts, but developing strengths in the hole that I don't have from doing gymrat lifts.</div>

This isn't surprising.  I'm sure you know that strength development is joint angle specific.  This is of course why isometrics only develop strength at a specific angle with some transfer to other angles within 15-20 degrees.  If the muscles are loaded in the hole for a longer period of time you are likely going to develop strength at those joint angles.

No magic here. Just clean, rational, science.
 
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(quadancer @ Aug. 28 2009,4:35)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE"></div>
Thanks for all the input so far.
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I did test this method for 3 workouts and found the use somewhat limited. Actually I belive this is a very good description of the problem:

<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">If you held it there for 4 seconds, you are not only cutting off some of your circulation in the arms, but are using up ATP stores holding the weight.
...or glycogen, whatever, I'm not a labcoat.
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</div>

I found myself getting tired of simply just holding the weight in most excercises. I have now limited the 4 second pause to calf exercises Since a 1 second pause will eliminate 90% of the SSC I have decided to go with that. 90% is close enough for me.

<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Second part, all this about storing energy in the tissue for an elastic effect is irrelevant even if its true. The stored elastic energy, like a bench shirt, exerts some force on the bar, but so do your muscles. If you take the elastic energy away, be it bench shirt or stretch-shortening cycle, you'll simply reduce its respective contribution to the lift. Your poundage will drop for sure, but what your muscles lift will stay the same, SSC, bench shirt, or not.</div>

I thought this over myself and I see one major disadvantage to my initial thought of completly eliminating the SSC effect.

Although there might not be much of a difference in the concentric part of a lift, as the muscles are basically lifting the same share of the total poundage, the eccentric loading will be reduced when eliminating the SSC.

The advantage, if we assume that it would not make a difference in the overall picture of hypertrophy, would be a reduced chance of injuries as the lifted poundages will go down. Theorectially less weight on the bar should be safer...
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<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">
All this SSC bashing aside, I do not wish to discourage you from trying it. There is anecdotal evidence, such as from Westside, that supports the practice only they start the lift from an already contracted position. But this evidence isn't my point. Methodical experimentation with your training regimen builds experience, knowledge, and the confidence that comes with the two. </div>

You are correct, however since I am currently dieting it would not be feasible to do a methodical experimentation at the moment.
 
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