Rating: 
Summary: It didn't work
Review: I followed this routine presicely as this book instructs for nearly three months. In that time I made huge gains in static strength in most of the exercises. I then went back to see how much my strength had increased with normal lifting technique. My strength had decreased as if I had done no lifting in that time. In addition, I gained no muscle. I wonder if these other reviews were simply written by the authors to help them sell books. It seems odd that these two non-physiolygist guys would discover something that qulaified researchers hadn't. The book contradicts many common assumptions about nutrition and lifting. I tried to ask them a question at their web site, but they wouldn't write back. Bottom line: it didn't work. I think these guys may be con-artists.
Rating: 
Summary: BUY THIS BOOK -- GET BIGGER, STRONGER, FASTER!
Review: I always thought that building muscle was supposed to be a slow process. You know, you will get bigger and stronger -- eventually. Evidently I was mistaken in this belief (and quite mistaken, as it turns out) as Static Contraction has put no less than 20 pounds of muscle on my frame in only four weeks! I know it is all muscle because I had my bodyfat percentage taken before I started the program and then once again four weeks later. My arms are two inches bigger, my chest is four inches bigger, my waist measurement is down two inches and the weights I'm presently using are so heavy that most activity in the gym stops when I load them up! The workouts are brief (a total of five minutes of actual training time per workout) and the gains are extraordinary! Buy this book and throw out the rest -- Static Contraction Training is IT!
Rating:
Summary: Extraordinary
Review: Those who claim that this training method isn't working, must be doing something very wrong.Perhaps haven't they even tried it(?) Anyhow, I have tried all sorts of training routines during the years, with some progress. I have studied magazines such as FLEX, Musclemag etc,and put in a tremendus amount of work in those training routines. Still, my bench press 1rm was just 200 pounds, and I didn't look very impressive at all. After ten weeks, following the static contraction workout, I have added 70 pounds to my 1rm bench press (full range), and my body actually starts to appear as a bodybuilding physique. I would like to thank Pete Sisco and John Little, for writing this book, wich has helped me to achive results, that would have taken me several years to achive if I had trained as before. Why not have a look at the gains I have made in these ten weeks. All exercises are measured in full range before and after ten weeks: Shrugs:270 pounds to 470 pounds Squats:220 pounds to 300 pounds Bench press:200 pounds to 270 pounds. But just don't take my word for it, go ahead and try it!
Rating:
Summary: THE PATH TO SUPER-HUMAN STRENGTH!!!
Review: I have been using the principles in this book for 8 weeks now, and in this time my strength has increased by 108%!!!I can now do leg presses one leg at a time with 1760lbs(for 46 seconds).I would recommend this book to anyone with common sense,who is not stuck with pre-conceived ideas about how to gain muscle mass.This is the ultimate book!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Unqualified and possibly Dangerous!
Review: The book recommends that you increase resistance until you can hold it for more than a perscribed time. Being very careful of form and positioning, I approached this program with the requisite "maximum intensity". The result? The amount of weight I was able to achieve rapidly exceeded my orthopedic strength! I hit a physiological wall. I could not increase weight further, was holding it more than double the time recommended and suffered joint injuries to both shoulders, both elbows and a knee! When I returned to my full range of motion routine, I found I had lost ground, setting me back a solid 8 weeks, plus the loss of time I spent "experimenting" with Static Contraction. The authors of this book are not excercise physiologists, one has no formal education, the other only a B.A(Business). You want a SERIOUS 5-STAR BOOK on weight training? Get "A PRACTICAL APPROACH TO STREGTH TRAINING" by Matt Brzychi. He is exceptionally well educated in the field, highly qualified and has an enourmous amount of REAL information and research support! I have made exceptional gains, and learned a great deal from his book. As far as 'Static Contraction', it's filled with all the big-dude photos, that were not achieved by the program, includes a great deal of innacurate assumptions, and describes a program could result in serious injuries you will take some time to overcome. Hardly a program worthy of recommendation! Skip the goofy experiments, get the Brzycki Book.
Rating:
Summary: The number 1 bodybuilding book in the world!!!
Review: I would like to give this book 7 stars if it was possible beacuse the training system it describes is simply the best.I was using the Power Factor Training before this with very good results, but with this system i realized range of motion doesn't mean anything.What can i say,my strenth now is incredible with static holds on the close-grip bench on 900lbs,and one-leg static hold on the legpress on 1300lbs.Nobody can tell me that this training program is nonsens. My arms are 20 inches and my quads are 31.5 and all this with training once every two weeks. This book teels it all,minimun dose of trainng with very very good gains. Buy it today!Train smart train static!
Rating: 
Summary: Buy the book and try static contraction for yourself.
Review: This book does have too many pictures of professional bodybuilders who probably did NOT get all those muscles from static contraction training. At the same time, if you are not lifting really heavy weights now, this system might work well for you.When I firest learned about static contraction training, I helped my wife try it on her bench press. She started off being able to hold 50 pounds for only 5 seconds. Two weeks later, without touching a weight in between, she could hold the weight for 15 seconds. This strength increase may have been caused by learning to hold a heavy weight rather than building more muscle, but who cares? She got stronger fast. I'm looking forward to trying the system this week. If you are interested, I suggest you give it a shot. Static Contraction Training should be especially useful for those with joint problems or limited time.
Rating:
Summary: Bold training theory, certainly worth a read
Review: This book discusses and gives guidelines to a training protocol called static contraction, where an arbitrarily heavy weight is neither lifted nor lowered, but held at the "strongest" position of an exercise. Although, truthfully, static contraction is not a new concept (authors such as Mike Mentzer has been backing it for years), the authors goes into length to discuss the theory behind it. Therefore, the first half of the book offers a good introduction to exercise physiology, high intensity theory, and the biology of the muscle. What's particularly interesting is how they discuss various aspects of static contraction and showed studies that help explore those issues. While the authors admit that more research needs to be done, their candidness gives the reader a better understanding. Finally, the book lists a program and has a Q&A section. It's an excellent presentation of their theory. However, there are flaws to this book. Two, which is common with bodybuilding books, are the oversized font and needless pictures of probably nonnatural BBers. Also, I strongly agree with their dietary recommendations, which seem to counter much of the existing research without offering a solid counterexplanation. Otherwise, it's a great read. If you're interested to know more, feel free to ask.
Rating:
Summary: It works.
Review: I was skeptical at first... but I must admit that it works. Just make sure you warm up before you get into it. If not, you could end up with serious injuries. Also, have a buddy help you. No buddy? then use available safeties. Good luck!
Rating:
Summary: Just finished my 9th workout
Review: I was introduced to Static Contraction by watching a video that came with a Tony Robbins tape. I went ahead and bought the book off Amazon if for no other reason cause I truely did not think that it would really work. In short it does.
I've been working out since I was 14 years old, now 36, and have always kinda stayed at the same level of weights, 200lb shrugs, 400lb leg press, 35, 40, 50 dumbell curls, 180-200lb lat pulls, etc with Max 1 rep about 20% above those weights. I started the program about 10 weeks ago and I'm amazed at the increase in strength and yes muscle mass I've put on in the last few months.
My program now consists of 12 exercises here are the results from a few... 250lb to 540 lbs on Bench press, my shrugs went from 200 to 540lbs, 400 to 1010lbs, 130 dumbbells, 300lb lat pulls to name a few, 10 weeks ago I could not even budge the max weights I'm using now... In fact, my biggest problems is I've maxed out every machine in the gym except the leg press sled.
NOTE:I have not included an aerobic portion to my training because I wanted to be able to eval these results by themselves. I've gained 6lbs of muscle and stuck to pretty much the same diet. No more and no less junk food (chocolate, ice cream etc) than I normally eat and caloric intake has not gone up or down during the past 10 weeks. I did not change my diet at all.
The one thing I would tell someone just starting is, this workout is extremely physically and mentally demanding. You can just pop in the gym and pump out a few reps. After a few weeks and once you are up to some serious weight, it takes a long time just loading the machine up with 500+ lbs. I'm still in the gym for 1hr to 1.5hrs but most of it it spent setting up and mentally preparing for the lift. And believe me you will be very sore for 2 to 3 days afterward but then I'm fine until the next workout. Very sore. I never thought holding a weight for 5 to 10 secs I could get so sore. But I have not had one injury in the 10 weeks, no injured shoulders, backs, just sore muscles. Now my workouts are 14 days apart I do upper 1 week and lower the next week.
Keep the journal. This is an absolute must. You must keep a record of the weight and time. Don't do a second set even if you think you can. It will inhibit your progress. I learned that the hard way.
Get your sleep. The two days after a workout I feel like I need more sleep.
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