Rating: 
Summary: Power Factor Training: A Scientific Approach...
Review: My husband purchased this book about 1 year ago and suggested I try this new approach to building lean muscle mass. At first I was very skeptical because for years I have been doing full range of motion reps with small weight amounts, increasing as I got stronger. I did see results, but it was taking forever. When I moved about 2 years ago from the south to the northeast, it took me a while to get back to working out hard and sticking with it. Last September, I joined a local health club and decided this is the time to get serious and build muscle and get in good shape again. Both of us tried this method and boy, did we see results. I have seen more results in the last 6 months than I did in 1 year!! That's amazing. I have gained more lean muscle mass and did adjust my diet slightly, but nothing drastic. I saw results after just 2 months. More definition in my muscles. This program is not for everyone, but you never know unless you try. The health club I attend is totally against this method of weight training and try to tell me that it doesn't work. To each their own I tell them. Not all weight training programs work for everybody, seeing that we all have different body types and preferences for working out. But if you want to build lean muscle in a shorter period of time, this is the way to go.Thanks to Sisco and Little for their great insight and writing a book that goes against traditional ways of lifting weights and proving that it does work.
Rating: 
Summary: Some poor science in their 'scientific' approach
Review: This book claims scientific research into their partial-range repetition program, and lists the amazing progress the authors made using it. On first glance it is excellent. I must admit, I do not have access to a power rack and gobs of plates, so I have not had an opportunity to test their theories on partials. I did not have good progress when I tried to use it with a full range of motion. I can only criticize it as a book, and these are the criticisms I have: 1. The authors represent Power Factor for an exercise to represent the number of pounds of resistance multiplied by the number of repetitions divided by the number of minutes in the exercise. 300 lb bench press * 20 reps /2 minutes = Power Factor 3000 pounds per minute. Body mechanics and range of motion are constants for any one trainee, so they cancel out. You cannot meaningfully compare the power factors between two trainees for any given exercises.
They don't have a minimum repetition speed. Now obviously, with a very small range of motion, you want a relatively fast repetition speed. Still, fast movement introduces momentum into the situation. Momentum increases the risk of injury and it reduces the actual amount of work your muscles do. If you press 100 pounds slowly, you are exerting 100 pounds of force the whole time. If you press it quickly, part way through the repetition you are only exerting 50 or 60 pounds because momentum is doing the rest of the work.
If you follow the program, I believe you should establish a minimum repetition time to minimize momentum. That will work the muscles harder, and reduce injury risks. 2. The authors don't focus on negatives - resisting the weight when you lower it. Their reason is that you never know exactly how much force you are exerting during the negative. That is a glaring mistake in their book, something a high school physics student should be able to catch. Force equals mass times acceleration. If you lower a 100 pound resistance at a constant speed, you are exerting 100 pounds of force. You exerted less than 100 to start it to lower, and you must exert more than 100 to get it to stop dropping at the bottom. In the middle, you must be exerting exactly 100 pounds. Otherwise, the speed of movement will be accelerating or decelerating.
That error demonstrates that the authors don't know as much as they let on, and they ignore the negative because of it. If they had known that, they might have structured the program differently. 3. Some of the strength in a strong range partial repetition comes from the mechanical advantage, not using the most muscle fibers. Bench pressing 300 pounds for a 4 inch range of motion starting 14 inches from your chest may be better for your ego than bench pressing 100 pounds for a 4 inch range of motion starting right at your chest, but the mechanical disadvantage of the latter makes it just as much hard work as the former.
I'm not saying partial repetitions don't work, but I am saying that using the most resistance doesn't mean that you're working the muscle as hard as possible. You can often work the muscle just as hard, or at least very nearly as hard with lighter resistance if you change the range of motion. 4. The book has many pictures of colossally powerful men wearing Power Factor T-Shirts. Nowhere does it state that these men actually used Power Factor Training. They have Power Factor T-shirts, but that hardly constitutes solid evidence that they even once tried this program. If they had testimonials or contact information for those models, explaining their own progress with Power Factor Training, I would have been impressed. If they had normal men depicted in the book with slightly above average musculature and stories of their progress, I would have also been impressed.
Instead, I am reminded of advertisements featuring hugely muscular men in Flex magazine for supplements that promise to add 20 pounds of muscle in a week, guaranteed (but no money back, of course) if I will just send $50. 5. The authors claim phenomenal strength gains on this program when they tried it for themselves, yet nowhere in the book are they depicted. I don't need to see Schwarzeneggar to believe in the book, but if indeed their Power Factors and Power Indices increased by insane amounts, surely they must have some muscles to display. 6. Last but not least, the authors claim that using very heavy weights in a strong range of motion will stimulate stronger tendons and ligaments. Their justification for this is rather shaky and poorly explained. The book is worth a read, but I wouldn't label it the holy grail of bodybuilding just yet.
Rating: 
Summary: F for Frustration, Failure, and a Farce
Review: Sisco and Little had me convinced. I read this book inside and out twice, and couldn't wait until I started short range training. The first couple of workouts felt a little weird but I thought I had to get "used" to the method. 6 weeks into the program, I was down 14 lbs. in bodyweight (205 to 191), and my strength had obviously plummeted when I was able to bench 285 x 5 before PF Training, 275 fell on my chest--HARD. I'd say my bench went down about 55 lbs. Not only did I lose a few months worth of hard work, I also have a legitamite rotator cuff injury, and pulled a muscle in my upper back, both of which have been nagging me for months. Sisco and Little tried to innovate, but fell short with this one. The only good concepts to come out of this book are the Mentzer beliefs of lifting once every 4-7 days, and the nutritional concepts of only needing to eat 300-500 calories over your maintenance to build muscle. Take these techniques, and apply them to a sound routine, and you'll grow like never before. Try the Power Factor method of training with these techniques, and you'll likely end up injured, depressed, and having your muscles cry out for something more.
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Summary: chest and arm
Review: I read this book letter by letter, one by one. Now I have been working outfor five weeks and got great output. But, and trying to introduce another body part eg. Back and Shoulder. My question is, can I mix or workout my upper body at all? Need some tips for a rutine thats include ; CHEST & ARMS, ABS & LEGS and BACK & SHOULDERS. How to split them? How to mix or combine one with another? For how Long in ? and How long resting?. I'm sure about the first I did started, ARM & CHEST, but the others muscles goups? Please Help Me Out. Salvador Romero
Rating: 
Summary: Certainly some radical ideas
Review: Metaphors and muscles aren't the same thing. I don't think any serious certified personal trainer would back these ideas, or those put forward in "Static Contraction Training." These methods encourage lifters to only exercise a certain part of the muscle during the range of motion. So.... the muscles may be getting stronger at a certain angle, but the remainder of the muscle is not getting adequate attention. Minor problem? No. A guy who's done partials with 550 lbs on the bench press, may suddenly find how much weaker he is when he tries to go to a full range of motion, blowing out his rotator cuff in the process because it wasn't trained properly. And using this formula requires far too much work on a calculator. You can impress yourself by working up these numbers and coming up with how much you've been lifting over a certain period of time. But... would it ever occur to you that you could use the same formula for using regular reps? Partial training can be an effective tool in weightlifting when used in conjunction with standard range of motion reps. They can be a very good way of finishing a muscle part, because they can help the lifter target both the slow and fast-twitch muscles. Also, why does Sisco quote himself in the book? Beware an author who has to quote himself when he's trying to make his case with you. Following the advice in this book is like going from first to fifth gear in your car without going through gears two through four.
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Summary: Maybe this is for you
Review: I am not going to get overly technical in this review. If you are in the beginner or intermediate stages of weightlifting, then I would not recommend this book. Go buy Beyond Brawn. If you are really thinking of buying this book though, consider the following points. Point one is that you really need a power rack. If you dont have one then this workout is dangerous. Poiint two is that you really should have a strong partner. This is not a necessity, but it will make things a lot easier. Point three is that the authors recommend doing your reps quickly, and say that the ability to do reps at a fster rate means you've gotten stronger. I dont know about all that but I do know that the faster you do your reps the more likely you are to get hurt, so be careful. Overall I would say that this is not for beginners, if you are already strong and are lokking for something different then you may want to try this book. It is interesting, but keep the above points in mind.
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Summary: Hands Down The Best Way To Build Strength and Muscle Mass
Review: Power Factor Training is by far one of the best ways to train to build size and strength the natural way. This book is 2nd only to Static Contraction Training (also written by the authors) which is another form or strong-range training. Lifting the heaviest possible weight while in the strongest range of motion is the safest way to quickly build the most amount of muscle in the shortest amount of time. PFT works if you follow the workout word for word, by the book. The exercises in the book are basic compound movements which work the muscles completely and efficiently. I honestly believe that there will be a point in time in the near future when all forms of weight lifting will be done in the strong-range. But until that happens I suppose that all the wt. gainers and steroid companies will just continue to make more money off the uneducated and ignorant weight lifters.
Rating: 
Summary: Minor flaws in system
Review: The bottom line is that you CAN and SHOULD track your progress. This way you can track if nutritional or weight or rest changes help or hurt your workouts. There is a Stanford University report that states that the Power Factor system is flawed because it does not measure (D) the distance that the weight is being moved. I agree that would be helpfull in testing if a Leg Press was better than a squat. The problem is that we do not care about that. I only want to test if I should increase the weight on my curls or bench press. I am not comparing which is best. Using the Power Factor system you can test if adding 5 pounds to your second and third set will help your bench press or hurt it (by taking too long to do the sets). You would need to test for at least 2 or 3 workouts before figuring out what is best. The idea is to keep tracking your workouts and keep making changes to see if they help or hurt. There is nothing wrong with that!
Rating:
Summary: HORRIBLE
Review: There are several reviews that sum up the quality of this book, so I will not add to that discussion. I just wanted to encourage people not to waste their money here. Part of becoming well-read in this area is sifting through all of the !@#$ and wasting money here and there. I truely believe you can get something out of any book you read; but this book put a stretch on that one. The only good to come from reading this book is the opportunity to have a positive effect on the effort of others to learn a bit more about strength training. Time is a valuable commodity that you should not have to waste on material like this in your pursuit of information. There are lots of other good books (about strength training) on Amazon like stuff by Siff, Komi, Poliquin, Tsatsouline and others.
Rating:
Summary: Great book for anyone interested in lifting wieghts
Review: Power Factor Training : A Scientific Approach to Building Lean Muscle Mass is an excellent book and help me tremendously Im 16 years old and I used to train 1 or 2 times a day in a wieght room 5 times a week I was always tired and did not gain strength in fact I lost some. After I read this book I cut down my workout time and most of my workouts become personal bests. I recommend this book too anyone serious in gaining strength.
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