Isochain 3 Days On: Week 2

I did not feel like the high position deadlift or the middle position Zercher Squat worked my glutes as much as the Zercher Lunge. So I replaced both exercises with the Zercher Lunge. This exercise is a unilateral exercise, and thus takes up twice as much time as a bilateral exercise since it has to be done on each side. So my Day 3 routine just has the two exercises - Zercher Lunge and Calf Raise.

My Calf Raise sets on Tuesday were cut off by my grip wearing out. I understand why some people think that lifting straps/hooks should never be used. However, I think that if my grip is getting a decent enough workout from the Drag Curl, shrugs, and rows already, then it's ok to use my lifting hooks for the Calf Raise. The objective of the Calf Raise in the 3 Days On program is to stimulate calf growth, not target my grip. How can I stimulate calf growth if I let my grip prevent me from training my calves to failure? So for Friday I decided to use the lifting hooks

In this video, this trainer claims that most people do not need to do the Front Raise, because they target the front delts, which are active in most pressing exercises anyway. He also mentions that a front delt vs. rear delt imbalance could lead to more shoulder injury.

I was thus convinced to eliminate the Front Raise from my Day 1 routine. I moved the Tricep Kickback out of the Day 3 routine into the Day 1 routine. To work the rear delts, I added the Rear Delt Pull to the Day 3 routine.

Monday - Day 2

Zercher Lunge
Calf Raise

Tuesday - Day 3

Rear Shrug
Hinged Tricep Kickback
Seated Row

Wednesday - Off

Thursday - Day 1

Shoulder Press
Hinged Tricep Kickback
Drag Curl

Friday - Day 2

Zercher Lunge
Calf Raise

I tried a variety of chain settings for Hinged Tricep Kickback. I searched for a position that would minimize the load on my lower back. I settled on a setting that puts the bar fairly close to my butt and below the butt. This allows me to lean forward only a little, which does not seem to make my low back work as hard as a more pronounced lean.
For the Friday session, I used the lifting hooks with the Calf Raise. They do not totally removed the load from my grip but did decrease the load enough to let me perform the exercise for a longer amount of time, and at slightly heavier load.

Isochain 3 Days On: Week 1

I realized that "3 Days On" means 3 days of training, then at least one day off. That's why in the book The Ultimate Isometrics Manual, the schedule has workouts for Days 1-3, then Day 4 as an off day, before repeating the cycle of days. The book does say that if training 3 days in a row is too hard to recover from, then add one or more rest days to your schedule. With that in mind, I scheduled 4 workouts for this week.

Monday - Day 1

Shoulder Press
Front Raise
Drag Curl

Tuesday - Day 2

Regular Deadlift (high angle)
Zercher Squat
Calf Raise

Wednesday - Off

Thursday - Day 3

Rear Shrug
Hinged Tricep Kickback
Seated Row

Friday - Day 4

Shoulder Press
Front Raise
Drag Curl

This week was more about learning all the exercises that were new to me, than training hard to stimulate muscle growth. I spent more time and effort searching for good chain settings and body positioning than really burning the muscles. It's the first week, so it can't be helped.

Isochain: Transitioning to 3 Days On Program

In the book The Ultimate Isometrics Manual, the Burn Count program is purported to build strength by holding a load for a progressively longer amount of time. It is also purported to build muscle. I tried it last year for about 6 weeks and gained some strength, but as noted, I forgot to measure my biceps with sewing tape. Tape measurements at the start of Burn Count and at the end would have provided useful data for measuring gain in muscle size (hypertropy). I did not observe obvious hypertrophy in the mirror.

The book has a page entitled "Pro Tip: Isometric Bodybuilding". It mentions research indicating that stress to the muscle and depletion of ATP-PC energy system in the muscles are strong triggers for muscle growth. It also mentions research indicating that muscular fatigue/failure - not load or volume - is the key factor in triggering hypertrophy. The page concludes by referencing Burn Count as the program based on these findings. However when I compare the Burn Count guidance to the guidance for another Isochain program called 3 Days On, the latter program seems to match the research more closely, with 3 sets of 20-45 second holds per exercise, and a shorter rest period (20-30 seconds). Burn Count recommends 60 seconds of rest between holds, which seems like a rather long rest for a hypertrophy-focused routine. If the goal is to drive the muscles to failure - deplete APC-PC as much as possible - shorter rest between reps makes more sense. So, for the goal of stimulating muscle growth, I decided to try the 3 Days On program

The 3 Days On guidance in the book is to set Isochain to Feedback Mode, and try to apply enough force during the 20-45 second hold so that muscle failure is achieved within this time frame. One issue with Feedback Mode is that the Isochain timer is not available in this mode, so I would have to use an external timer. I feel like I would struggle to coordinate using the external timer, with executing a proper rep of the exercise. Also, I'm not really sold on relying on my own imagination/perception to regulate the force output during the exercise. Thus, one modification to the program is to use Load mode on the Isochain instead of Feedback mode. Load mode does have the timer function, which will start as soon as I reach the target load. Being able to set a target load would help me ensure that I am applying enough force to induce muscle failure within the 20-45 second timeframe. It should not take long to find suitable target load values. This week I tried some of the exercises and was able to identify target loads for them. For the rest of the exercises, I'll work with an arbritrary target load, and use the average force reading to help find suitable values.

Another modification to the book guidance is the exercise selection and order. This is the lineup I'm envisioning:

Monday

Shoulder Press - same as book
Front Raise - same as book
Drag Curl - A Red Delta Project favorite because the biceps work harder than on the regular curl, especially if the bar is at a lower position than what the video shows.

Wednesday

Hack Deadlift/Behind The Back Deadlift - Doing first instead of last because it wears out the forearms if mixed grip is not used.
Zercher Squat - does not demand extreme wrist flexibility like Front Squat and works the abs more
Calf Raise - Doing last instead of 2nd because the grip will need a break after Deadlift

Friday

Rear Shrug - Front Shrug stimulate upper trap growth while Rear Shrug stimulate increased thickness.
Hinged Tricep Kickback - Another Red Delta Project favorite because it involves shoulder extension which lights up more muscle mass of the triceps. Also, weak shoulder extension was found to be one of the strength deficits that may cause more stress on the elbow.
Seated Row - much safer for lower back than Bent-over Row

There's one more thing that needs to be done before starting 3 Days On or any hypertrophy program: Measurements! I got a sewing measurement tape and measured the widths of my arms, shoulders, chest, and calves, with the muscles in as relaxed state as I could get them. Accurate measurement is impossible because it's way too easy to squeeze the measured body part just a little too tight, because of the pliabilty of skin, muscles, etc. However, if there's any hypertrophy at all after 6-8 weeks of 3 Days On training, there should be a difference in measurement, even if there's an error of plus or minus half an inch. I don't believe looking at myself in the mirror is a reliable means of assessing progress in muscle growth. Tape measurements, even if not 100% accurate, should give me data that is more useful than simple visual judgement.