Isochain 6x6: Week 3

The book The Ultimate Isometrics Manual by Paul Wade states that for each rep of high-tension isometric exercise, a 6-second hold produces maximum strength gains according to scientific research. The book also states that 6 reps of 6-second holds is optimal for strength gains, mosty based on a chart by researcher Verkoshansky which appears in Supertraining, the well-respected book he co-authored with Mel Siff. Thus the 6x6 Program in the Ultimate Isometrics Manual is based on this ideal rep-hold scheme. The 6x6 guidelines say to measure your 1-rep Max values using the 1-Rep Max protocol in the book, then train with target loads set to 70% of your 1RM values. They also say to retest your 1-Rep Max every 2-4 weeks. So I began the week with the Monday session spent on 1-Rep Max testing.

The results in pounds:

Jefferson Lift - 240.33
Shoulder Press - 50.6
Drag Curl - 36.93

Based on the results, these will be the new target loads in pounds, which are roughly 70% of the above values:

Jefferton Lift - 170. Rounded up from 168.231
Shoulder Press - 36. 70% is 35.42, but I decided to round up instead of down
Drag Curl - 26. Rounded up from 25.851

The apparently loss of shoulder press strength was disappointing, but not entirely surprising. My low back did not feel fully recovered from the injury last week. Effort in the shoulder press did not add pain to the lower back. I paid attention to not tucking in my tailbone. Some people can cheat on the shoulder press by tucking in the tailbone and thus leaning back and adding their back strength to the press, so I tried to avoid that. Still, the thought of avoiding aggravating the back may have caused me to hold back from a true maximal effort shoulder press. All I can do is work at the lower target load, compared to last week, and continue practicing scapular protraction, squeezing the bar harder, and firing up the triceps more.

The Wednesday session began with my lower back feeling much better. This seemed to have been reflected in my performance in the 3 drills. The max force readings upon the last rep of each of the 3 drills were higher than my official 1-rep max values, despite the Jefferson Lift set making me sweat and feel a little fatigued before I did my Shoulder Press and Drag Curl sets.

For the Friday session, I decided to skip the 5-min. "shell warmup" period recommended by Ultimate Isometrics Manual because I figured doing the Jefferson Lift set first would warm up my body by itself. I also decided to raise my Shoulder Press target load to 38 lbs., in recognition of my offical 1RM values being temporarily lowered by the back injury. I still got a max force reading of 49.4, which is very close to the official 1RM of 50.6. I then decided to raise the target load to 40 lbs. for the next Monday session. My Drag Curl last-rep max reading of 39.1 was a little lower than what I scored Wednesday, but it was still higher than the official 1RM of 36.93. So I decided to raise the target load to 28 lbs. for the Monday session. I'm being a little more cautious about how quickly I raise the target load for this drill because my Golfer's Elbow isn't entirely gone and could flare up if I gamble too much with any bicep curl. The 6x6 guidelines seem to say that I should stay at the same target load until the next 1RM test but, again, my latest 1RM values were lowered by the back injury so I'm allowing modest raises whenever a 6x6 set feels a little too easy.

Instagram finds:

Mindful Mover on training at Rate Of Progress
Eduardo Orihuela on Locomotion Exercises for Handstand Training
Eduardo Orihuela on Improving Handstand Balance for HSPU

Some information on Nordic Curl, the exercise I plan to pair with Pistol Squat for my next calisthenics cycle:

Reddit post on Nordic Curl: What it is, why do do it, etc.
Nordic Curl using Yoga Strap and Door