5-6-7 Isometric Protocol

[Bruce Tackett]

Most of us here are aware that a certain internationally renown health and fitness coach has proclaimed the 5-6-7 protocol to be the fitness breakthrough of the ages, and he has lauded its "inventor" from the highest roof tops.

"Anyone who says he is not the inventor is a lying bastard."

Further, this internationally renown health and fitness coach stunned the fitness world when he took the unprecedented step (unprecedented because the 5-6-7 protocol had never existed before) of adding one second to each interval, making it an astounding 6-7-8 protocol! It was advised that those who do not possess his "off the charts strength" not even attempt this vastly improved 6-7-8 protocol, as it is "brutal"!

Funny thing, though, there has been no mention of either of these protocols for a very long time. They seem to have gone the way of DSR's, DVR's, the Living Strength Rebounder, the Living Strength Exergenie, and Living Strength. Actually, Living Strength. hasn't really fallen by the wayside, it's just been in a state of limbo for the past nine years, or so, with continuous assurances that it is right on the verge of being released. Very close now. Very, very close. So close you can almost taste it. Just a few more tweaks here and there and a release date will soon be announced. In short, much the same thing that has been said time after time over the last nine years, or so.

Anyway, the reason for this post is to ask what the great advantage the 5-6-7, or, shudder, the 6-7-8 isometric protocol has over any other isometric protocol. With 5-6-7, you select an isometric exercise, and you hold it for 5 seconds, release and relax for a couple of seconds, and then repeat for 6 seconds, relax, and then finish with a 7 second hold. I've thought about this, and I, for the life of me, cannot think of any great benefit in doing this. Instead of 5-6-7, why not just hold the iso for the 18 seconds, or, in the case of 6-7-8, hold it, if you dare, for 21 seconds?

Awhile back I concluded a 12 week experiment doing 60 second isometric holds. I held each iso for the duration of that minute, increasing the effort as the minute went by. I didn't pause to relax and smoke a cigarette a couple of times during the iso hold. I just can't see any reason to.

Does someone here know the reason for the pauses?

[gruntbrain]

Busted up weight lifters like me very briefly pause between heavy singles without having the mental bandwidth to analyze the benefits; the brief pauses are likewise applied to max isometric exertions without counting the seconds .

[Bruce Tackett]

Mar 17, 2018 22:05:27 GMT gruntbrain said:

Busted up weight lifters like me very briefly pause between heavy singles without having the mental bandwidth to analyze the benefits; the brief pauses are likewise applied to max isometric exertions without counting the seconds .

As usual, cryptic. What is a heavy single - an unmarried overweight person?

[gruntbrain]

BTW, in busted up weightlifting circles a heavy single is an 1 rep max

[Deuce Gunner]

Bruce, as you once told someone on the old forum wanting to start working out but was suffering paralysis by analysis, "just lift the weights". To the isometrics I say, just do the contraction.

[macky]

I think it must be accepted that the said fitness guru is a sandwich short of a picnic, with his outrageous and unproven assertions of 5-6-7 and the astounding improvement he was able to reveal to the world, namely 6-7-8 second holds. I mean, all he could come up with after being publicly found wanting on his own forum re his "specialty", isometrics, was a one-second addition to Soly's 5-6-7 protocol.  Pathetic.  I'm certain he's on medication.

Just from my experience with isometrics, I've found that "pulsing" seems to provide extra impetus in the workout (or just with single exercises performed through the day). While hardly ever feeling sore the next day from a bout of isometrics, the effects from pulsing are noticeable over single timed holds.

I've always been keen to do "sets" of isometric holds, usually 2 but no more than 3 e.g. 2 or 3 holds of 30 seconds of the one exercise, then have a day off between, but lately I've added 8-second holds followed by 8-second rests in a "single set" of around 10 pulses.

In other words, for one of my favorites, steering wheel pushes, a single set of 30 seconds followed by 10 pulses of 8-second on/8-second off, then that's it for the next 48 hours.

Or performing the pulses first, then finishing off with a 30-second sub-max hold.

I also believe it's not necessary to go all-out on a hold if you don't want to on the day.  Progress can still be made on "sub-max" timed holds, even with the pulses.

In fact, sub-max isometric pulses could possibly be regarded as the equivalent to volume weight training, perhaps.  Going through the ten, sometimes around no.5 or 6, a full effort can be applied then the rest at near-full.

Shorter-time pulses (say 4 seconds) can give you a feeling of "explosive strength".  It's a huge area for experiment. 

[Bruce Tackett]

Mar 17, 2018 22:29:47 GMT Deuce Gunner said:

Bruce, as you once told someone on the old forum wanting to start working out but was suffering paralysis by analysis, "just lift the weights". To the isometrics I say, just do the contraction.

Did I say that? Boy, that was heavy!

[Bruce Tackett]

Mar 17, 2018 23:35:10 GMT macky said:

I think it must be accepted that the said fitness guru is a sandwich short of a picnic, with his outrageous and unproven assertions of 5-6-7 and the astounding improvement he was able to reveal to the world, namely 6-7-8 second holds. I mean, all he could come up with after being publicly found wanting on his own forum re his "specialty", isometrics, was a one-second addition to Soly's 5-6-7 protocol.  Pathetic.  I'm certain he's on medication.

Just from my experience with isometrics, I've found that "pulsing" seems to provide extra impetus in the workout (or just with single exercises performed through the day). While hardly ever feeling sore the next day from a bout of isometrics, the effects from pulsing are noticeable over single timed holds.

I've always been keen to do "sets" of isometric holds, usually 2 but no more than 3 e.g. 2 or 3 holds of 30 seconds of the one exercise, then have a day off between, but lately I've added 8-second holds followed by 8-second rests in a "single set" of around 10 pulses.

In other words, for one of my favorites, steering wheel pushes, a single set of 30 seconds followed by 10 pulses of 8-second on/8-second off, then that's it for the next 48 hours.

Or performing the pulses first, then finishing off with a 30-second sub-max hold.

I also believe it's not necessary to go all-out on a hold if you don't want to on the day.  Progress can still be made on "sub-max" timed holds, even with the pulses.

In fact, sub-max isometric pulses could possibly be regarded as the equivalent to volume weight training, perhaps.  Going through the ten, sometimes around no.5 or 6, a full effort can be applied then the rest at near-full.

Shorter-time pulses (say 4 seconds) can give you a feeling of "explosive strength".  It's a huge area for experiment. 

[Michael]

Bruce there is so many ways that isometrics can be used. I'll try to explain the idea with the pauses. Each set or second counting is a ramp up in intensity. Example: the 5 second is a warm up, 6 second is a more intense contraction, and the 7 second contraction is the hardest. It's like doing sets. Honestly I don't see anything wrong with doing this but they make it sound like it's magical. It's not the only thing that works with isometrics.

Everyone here knows this statement is a bunch of You know what,"Anyone who says he is not the inventor is a lying bastard." Come on, no one else every thought of this stuff in the past. People forgot more about isometric proticols than he can borrow. I think someone could write a book about all the books he didn't write in those 9 years before he makes up another one to write.

[Bruce Tackett]

Mar 17, 2018 23:54:11 GMT Michael said:

Bruce there is so many ways that isometrics can be used. I'll try to explain the idea with the pauses. Each set or second counting is a ramp up in intensity. Example: the 5 second is a warm up, 6 second is a more intense contraction, and the 7 second contraction is the hardest. It's like doing sets. Honestly I don't see anything wrong with doing this but they make it sound like it's magical. It's not the only thing that works with isometrics.

ok. Well, if it works for some people then that's just hunky-dory. I just don't see any earth-shattering improvement in doing so. Again, I'll just do an isometric from start to finish, increasing the effort as I go with no pauses in between.

Mar 17, 2018 23:54:11 GMT Michael said:

Everyone here knows this statement is a bunch of You know what,"Anyone who says he is not the inventor is a lying bastard." Come on, no one else every thought of this stuff in the past. People forgot more about isometric proticols than he can borrow. I think someone could write a book about all the books he didn't write in those 9 years before he makes up another one to write.

[Bruce Tackett]

Mar 17, 2018 22:18:02 GMT gruntbrain said:

BTW, in busted up weightlifting circles a heavy single is an 1 rep max

Let me get this straight. You lift a weight that is so heavy that you can only lift it once and that you pause somewhere between the start and the finish of the lift?

[macky]

Mar 17, 2018 23:42:33 GMT Bruce Tackett said:

Mar 17, 2018 23:35:10 GMT macky said:

How the hell did you get hold of one of my "after-workout" photos ? 

[Michael]

Bruce that's why I said there was nothing magical about the 5-6-7 or 6-7-8 or whatever other way to use Isometrics. I think it's all in what the individual likes and feels works for them. Blue Speedo just tries to make people feel like lesser people if they don't do what he claims to do. If he did half the stuff he said he did there would not be enough time in the day.

[doomfarer1]

My take on it is that it’s a good way to achieve a better contraction. Meaning tight (50%) tighter (75%) tightest(as close to 100% as you can). It allows you to gauge. I’ve been doing them this way (with the belt) for a year... and I have found that once you get used to the rhythm it is the best way I’ve found to get the most out of an Iso workout. From what I’ve experienced, a “max” contraction just going right into it doesn’t give me that same satisfaction of a deep contraction. Additionally, it guards against injury or strain to tendons and ligaments, a real concern with deep contractions when pulling against something; esp when beginning as most people will put too much emphasis on these weaker areas while they learn to incorporate more of the actual muscles. Lastly, it allows for good blood flow to the worked area. A “pump”?
It takes a bit of practice to flex from the toes to the neck, while coordinating the breath and still focusing on a particular muscle area to work during a max contraction. And that protocol seems to be an effective way to learn/train to reach a deep contraction. I’m always amazed at how with concentration I can always somehow reach an even deeper contraction. It’s fun, makes you feel terrific afterward and I really love it. And I’ve never been a fan of ISO’s until I learned it. Pick 12 angles/Exercises, and use it while progressing immediately from one to the other. It usually takes less than 15 minutes and it’s good work all around.

[stormshadow]

This is an excellent thread. Thanks for the insights. I think you can get excellent results with high volume isometrics and the Macky pulses. The original frog isometric study with one leg tethered was constantly pulling on the roped leg releasing pulling again straining. Not in accordance with 4/5/6 or 5/6/7 and so on