Back To The Rack, Part Six - Complete Iso Program

I've said that the best way to introduce isotonic-isometrics into your strength program was to insert a few positions throughout the week as you continue your regular routine. That enables you to learn how to perform isos. As I've mentioned, even though the system is extremely simple to understand, it involves a great deal of technique. The more you do isos, the more proficient you'll become which means they'll be more productive.

After a month or so of doing two or three isos a week, you should feel confident about your form. At some point you'll be able to tell for sure that your putting forth maximum effort. Of course, no one can actually contract his muscles 100 percent. That occurs only in extreme situations of fright- you know, the lady who lifts a car off her trapped child. You can do contractions in the 75-to-80 percent range, however, and that's sufficient for your purpose, which is to improve your strength.

What often happens when athletes become familiar with this system of strength training and discover that the positions they've been using have had a positive effect on certain lifts is that they want to do more than just a few positions during the week. They want to give isos priority for the next two months and use free-weight exercises as complementary movements.

That's exactly what many of the Olympic lifters at the York Barbell Club did in the 1960s. Almost all of them- including me- did some isos throughout the year. During the off-season, from late June to September, we'd shift to workouts that featured more isos than fee-weight work. The change paid dividends in a number of areas. Doing less heavy pressing, cleaning and squatting gave our abused joints a much-needed rest. Not having to worry about moving big numbers in preparation for an upcoming contest was a huge mental releif. Since the isos were enabling us to gain strength, we could concentrate on honing our technique with lighter poundages. It was also an ideal opportunity to deal with weaker areas and improve our endurance base.

The relatively quick iso sessions and lighter-weight workouts left us with plenty of extra energy to expend on our aerobic conditioning- plus, we had more time to do so. During the season we'd lift almost every Saturday or at least every other week, with demonstrations thrown in for good measure. Hoffman insisted on exposure, and we all learned how to deal with competing frequently. Then there was work. Everyone had a job. No one got a free pass, though that was often the conception about York lifters. Bill Bednarski, Bill March and Roman Mielec worked in the warehouse, Tommy Suggs and I put out Strength and Health. Garcy was a school teacher, and Gary Glenney, Fred West and Homer Brannum worked in town. Tommy and I tried to get to the YMCA at least once a week to play racquet ball or volleyball, but as everyone knows, an hour a week isn't going to help much.

In the summer, though, we had plenty of time, and we did our best to do aerobics: We knew that having a strong endurance base was most useful. Some of the meets would go on until the wee hours of the early morning. At the Philly Open one year, Barski was clean and jerking at 2 a.m., and his class had started lifting at 6 p.m. We also realized that a better aerobic base would help us train harder and faster. That was a plus when you ended up following yourself on the platform, and it happened often to lifters like March, Tony Garcy and Barski because no one else was handling nearly as much weight as they were.

So there were plenty of positive reasons for us to give isos precedence in our off-season strength work. When we resumed our regular Olympic lifting regimen and relegated the rack work to an auxiliary role, we were more physically fit, free of old injuries, stronger and eager to get back into competition.

I've received a number of letters from readers- for example, a football player, an Olympic lifter, two powerlifters and three from older men who wanted to use isos to help maintain a high level of strength fitness- requesting that I present sample programs for building a routine around isotonic-isometric exercises. As Dr. John Ziegler designed the system specifically for Olympic weightlifters, the first program is for them. Keep in mind that the military press was part of official competition at the time, so the routine puts more emphasis on the jerk. I include pressing positions, however, because I think they improve strength inbthe arms, shoulders and back, which is directly transferable to the jerk. In addition, shoulder strength benefits from both the clean and the snatch. It's a five-day-a-week program.

ISOTONIC-ISOMETRIC PROGRAM FOR OLYMPIC LIFTERS

Monday, Wednesday and Friday will be all isos. Tuesday and Thursday will be free-weight exercises.

MONDAY

Three press positions: start, eye level and lockout.
Three pulling positions using a clean grip: start, below the knees and high top pull on your toes.
Two front-squat positions: deep bottom, as low as you can squeeze under the bar and still hold your position, and midpoint.
Calf raises.

TUESDAY

Clean and jerks: three cleans and two jerks per setfor six to eight sets. use light-to-moderate weights and concentrate on form.
Back squats: five sets of five; go heavy but not to max.
Good mornings: four sets of 10, and push them to limit.

WEDNESDAY

Three pulling positions using a snatch grip: start, just below knees and top pull high on toes.
Two press positions: start and another where you climb on your toes and fix the bar at the top of your head. You want to emulate where you drive the bar for your jerk. When you improve your strength in the start and the important follow-through position, your jerk will show instant improvement.
Jerk Lockout while in a deep split. Try to split a bit deeper than you normally do when performing the lift.
Two back-squat positions: deep bottom and midpoint.
Calf raises.

THURSDAY

Snatches: six to eight sets of three reps, light to moderate weight.
Inclines: three sets of five, then three sets of three. Work them hard.
Front squats: six sets of three. As with the back squats, go heavy but not to max.

FRIDAY

Three pulling positions: slightly below start using a clean grip, just below knees using a snatch grip and waist level with feet flat to the floor using a clean grip.
Two press positions: start and eye level.
Jerk lockout with a tiny split.
Two front-squat positions: deep bottom and about six inches from lockout. Try to find the position you use when you dip down to start a jerk.
Calf raises.

The emphasis on the free-weight days is perfecting your form on the three phases of Olympic lifting: cleans, snatches and jerks. That means the amount of weight you use is of little importance; making all your reps with minimal flaws is your goal.
If you think you need to handle some heavy weights on the two quick lifts during the week, as many of the York lifters did, add a Saturday or Sunday session. Meanwhile, the two exercises in the program that you do want to lean on are good mornings and inclines.
The inclines aid your quest for more overhead strength, and the good mornings ensure that your lower back is getting plenty of direct work. I felt that the iso's weren't hitting my lumbar to the same degree as they were the other parts of my back, so I always included them with purpose. Good mornings can also be done as an iso movement, but I was never comfortable with that position.

Barski liked to start his training week on Sunday with an iso workout. He'd do two more on Tuesday and Thursday. On Monday and Wednesday he handled light weights on either the snatch or the clean, did some presses and squatted. He took Friday off, as did the other lifters. Friday afternoon was officially party time. Then on Saturday, he went all out on the press, snatch and clean and jerk, and he finished off with more squats.
Another workable plan I have Olympic lifters use is to stay with the light weights as outlined in the recommended program, then every third week drop the Friday iso session, totaling out on Saturday. That helps them determine their progress on the various lifts.

AN ISOTONIC-ISOMETRIC PROGRAM FOR POWERLIFTERS

This is the same formula I suggested for Olympic lifters, three iso workouts per week and two using free weights.

MONDAY

Three pulling positions: slightly below where you start your deadlifts, just below your knees and midthigh.
Three bench press positions: start, midpoint and lockout.
Two back-squat positions: deep bottom and midpoint.
Calf raises.

TUESDAY

Incline presses: three sets of five plus three sets of three. Work them to limit.
Back Squats: five sets of five. Work them but not to max.
Good Mornings: four sets of 10. Push to limit.
Weighted dips: four sets of eight.

WEDNESDAY

Three pulling positions: start, just above the knees and shrug at waist level.
Two back-squat positions: deep bottom and midpoint.
if possible: inclines: start, middle and finish.
if not possible: standing presses: start, middle and lockout.
Or: bench presses: start, middle and lockout.

THURSDAY

Bench presses: four sets of eight.
High pulls with a clean grip: five sets of five.
Back squats: five stes of five. Same as Tuesday; work hard but not to limit. Your final sets of five should be with a weight you could handle for eight.
Weighted dips: five sets of ten.

FRIDAY

Three pulling positions: low start as on Monday, just below knees and midthigh.
Two back-squat positions: deep bottom and midpoint.
Three bench press positions: start, middle and lockout.
Calf raises.

You may be wondering why I included calf raises, or what the original iso program called raise on toes, in a program aimed at powerlifters, who do not extend high on their toes the way Olympic lifters do. The reason is that strong calves are extremely useful to powerlifters when they break the bar off the platform in a deadlift and when they drive out of the hole in a full squat.

Keep in mind that I'm presenting a model routine. You can and should adapt it to your specific needs. For example, I use only two positions for the squat. You might feel that your finish isn't as strong as you'd like; you can add a top position for the back squat.
When setting up your program, always give your weakest lift priority on both the iso and free-weight days. If you know that the lift hurting your total the most is the bench press, do the exercise for your upper body first at every session. In the event that your lifts are all pretty much in balance, switch the order of the exercises regularly. Start with squats one day, do pulls the next and presses the next; then change them again.

A note about incline isos and overhead presses in the rack. I believe incline isos are most beneficial because the strength gained in that angle converts directly to the flat bench. That's also why I have lifters work it hard at the first free-weight session. I'm aware, though, that many can't perform inclines inside a rack. Some don't have racks that are wide enough, and some just don't have incline benches. The next best substitute is the overhead press. You may well ask how presing overhead can help the flat bench. The isos strengthen the deltoids and the triceps, which play a major role in bench pressing. The added bonus is that overhead isos hit the muscles of the upper back, and a stronger upper back helps you pull and squat heavier weights.

Your objective on the free-weight day is t improve form. I'd keep the reps on the bench fairly high to restrict the amount of weight and to force yourself to pay closer attention to small points of execution. You should do every rep perfectly- same for the squats. Notice I said to work them hard but not to max. That may need some clarification. Let's say you can handle 405x5. While your doing the iso's three times a week, work only up to 385x5. The lesser poundage will help you concentrate better on your technique yet still be heavy enough to force you to exert yourself.

You'll notice, too, that I haven't put any deadlifts in the routine. You don't need them. The isos three times a week provide the strength component, and you'll also be hitting high pulls hard and attacking your lower back with good mornings. What's important is to establish the same line of pull on the high pull that you use when you deadlift. In reality, a high pull is no more than a deadlift followed by a shrug. You do it much faster than a deadlift, and that's good because the dynamic move builds a different type of strength.
The weighted dips are optional. I think they're a great shoulder exercise and know for certain that they have favorable influence on the bench press. Should you feel that by adding them to your program you're overworking, however, drop them or do them just once a week.

Every three or four weeks, skip the Friday iso session and total out on Saturday. It doesn't have to be an all-out test, but you need to go heavy enough so that you can determine which lifts and what positions require additional attention. Let's say your deadlift is stronger than ever except at the finish, which had always been a piece of cake, and now it's the weakest link. Remedy: switch from high pulls to shrugs on Thursdays, and do iso lockouts three times a week until that position gets proportionately stronger. What you're looking for when you max out on all three lifts is weak points and in very specific areas. Try to pinpoint a problem in a lift, and then do isos in the corresponding range. It's a never-ending process. Improve strength in the weakest part of a exercise, determine what area takes over that role, and then go after it.

Next month I'll present more sample iso programs plus an extensive review of all the subtleties of the isotonic-isometric system. Meanwhile, here are a few reminders. When you do any iso position, the time you fix the bar against the top pins in a maximum contraction is more important then how much weight your using. If you can't hold the isometric contraction for at least eight seconds, use less weight.

Never do more than three positions for any body part, and change the selected positions regularly. Even moving the pins up or down one hole is beneficial. Make sure the muscle groups your about to put under great stress are thoroughly warmed up. Isis are very concentrated work, and you must prepare your body in order to gain the desired results and avoid being dinged. Move quickly from position to position. Finally, keep accurate records: which holes you used, the amount of weight you handled and how long you held the isometric contraction.