Here are the results for the exercises selected for the Burn Count program, following the protocol in the manual, which is to warm up, take 3 attempts, then log the average of the 3 attempts. Numbers are in pounds, rounded to nearest whole number.
Romanian Deadlift Medium Angle: 203
Shoulder Press Low Angle: 66
Drag Curl: 45
Zercher Lunge Left Leg: 92
Zercher Lunge Right Leg: 95
Chest Press: 35
Seated Row: 87
Part of the reason my RDL (Romanian Deadlift) tested lower than when I tested to start the Iron Man program, is I decided to work one link lower on the Isochain than where I had it set for Iron Man, which is the link on which I put a green tag to indicate high angle regular dealift. I just thought it was time to increase the mechanical disadvantage just a little bit more, to work the muscles just a little bit more, without introducing too much more risk of reinjury to the lower back or spinal erectors. Mechanical disadvantage means lower force output. The purpose of the 1-rep max test was just to establish a starting target load anyway for Burn Count. In this program, we are not working on improving our max strength. Instead, we are working on sustaining force at a given target load for enough time to stimulate hypertrophy, as well as get practice at generating muscle tension.
Clearly the low angle (bar at about chin height) is still my strongest angle for Shoulder Press. I haven't trained at this angle since this past February, when I was working at a target load of 65 lbs. After February, I explored the medium (head height) and high (arms nearly straight) angles. For today's testing, there was a jump of 5 lbs or more with each successive 1-rep max attempt. This corroborates with research that suggests that isometric training at any angle has carryover in strength to all other angles, albeit to varying degrees.
To start Iron Man, my 1-rep max in the regular Bicep Curl at High Angle (forearms about 45 degrees from biceps) was 62 lbs. I expected to test quite a bit lower than that in Drag Curl because of the mechanical disadvantage induced by pulling the elbows back to load the biceps more intensely. 45 lbs however is little higher than I thought. For Drag Curl, I decided to set Isochain to 1 link above the link on which I have a white tag to indicate medium angle bicep curl. This takes my hands close to what I estimate to be the top of the drag curl movement, but not quite at the top. I just have to remember to pull the elbows back, then down, to help minimize the load on the forearms (don't want Golfer's Elbow again!) and distribute more of it around the back.
I figured out that the Isochain coil needs to be near my heel for Zercher Lunge. It will take some practice to exert force for this exercise without letting the foot plate move. I had guessed my right leg would be the weaker leg but it's intersting to verify it. I forgot to write down the chain setting for this exercise, so I had to find a setting again - not so low as to cause discomfort, nor so high that I won't feel like I'm making much effort. I decided to got with the same setting I used for Calf Raise in Iron Main.
My Chest Press 1RM is very close to what it was when I tested my 1RM for it to start Promethean Mk II earlier this year.
I expected my Seated Row numbers to be lower than my Bent-Over Row numbers, due to the standing position allowing more extension chain muscles to be used. But wow, what a drop! I was pulling in the 150s in the standing Bent-Over Row. I thought about going with supinated grip, but decided a pronated grip would be better to balance out the supinated grip used for Drag Curl, and thus try to avoid Golfer's Elbow.
I was tentatively planning to start Burn Count with target loads of 40% of 1RM, but then I found this video by Chrys, a professional fitness trainer on the Isochain discussion group. I think Chrys is actually talking about the 3 Days On program, which is a different hypertrophy program in the manual. Still, he's an experienced trainer so if he says 60% of 1RM is the way to start for hypertrophy, that's where I'll start. I'll round down to the nearest multiple of 5, because I'll be at the start of the program, and I'll be spending 6-8 weeks on it. If I do a hold for 45 seconds easily, per program guidelines, I'll just raise the load by 5 or 10 lbs for next time. If I can't make the minimum 20 seconds, I'll just lower the load for next time, no big deal.
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