Adarq.org

Instant RFD Part II : ISO EXTENSION STIM

By: Andrew Darqui

adarqui@adarq.org

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In this small article I will demonstrate an effective method of stimulating instant performance results that last several minutes, yet also provide an effective training stimulus for the erector spinae, glutes, abs, hamstrings and calfs.


 Before I go on, it would not be fair to explain any of this without pointing you towards one of the best sources of information I have ever read: “ SUPERMETHODS OF SPECIAL PHYSICAL PREPARATION FOR THE HIGH CLASS ATHLETE” By Yuri Verkhoshansky. Most of the information in these series of articles are derived from my own experimentation & implementation of the concepts detailed in SUPERMETHODS.  If you would like a comprehensive discussion of shock and stim, refer to SUPERMETHODS.  You can find this publication at www.verkhoshansky.com.



 1. ISO EXTENSION STIM (IES)

 ISO EXTENSION STIM (IES) began as an experiment, to see if I could replicate Verkhoshansky’s use of squat in his stim methods.  I wanted something that would keep the knees relatively fresh and highly activatate the plantar flexors (calfs), hamstrings, and glutes.  Athlete’s that are not at an advanced level don’t generally experiment with heavy squat singles to stimulate subsequent jumps/weighted jumps etc.  Beginner or Intermediate athletes who use heavy squat singles as stim, most often feel drained, achy, and less explosive. For this reason, intense stim methods are only prescribed to advanced athletes who are very experienced in explosive & intense training.


 IES works by creating a large amount of tension in the calfs, hamstrings, glutes, and erector spinae. This tension highly activates these muscle groups. Above normal activation in these muscle groups will lead to more powerful lightly loaded movements; such as jumps, sprints, and broad jumps.  The one main difference between ISO EXTENSION STIM and SQUAT FOR STIM, is that the later will induce much more CNS fatigue. The amount of weight that can be used in a squat, in addition to the utilization of more muscle mass (quads), creates more CNS fatigue. For advanced athletes with excellent work capacities, this fatigue can be overcome quite easily. For less advanced individuals, this fatigue will negatively impact subsequent performance exercises.



2. WHO CAN USE IES?

 Only intermediate to Advanced athletes should use this method. Beginner’s risk injury to the spine or hamstring insertions.

3. WHY USE IES?

 This method is used to maximize training sessions in a few ways:

 - Increase the probability of obtaining a personal best in a jump or sprint
 - Take an athlete out of a state of staleness/fatigue to a state of hightened nervous system excitability/feeling of “freshness”
 - Strengthen the posterior chain
 - Possibly potentiate greater p-chain activation for a few days


4. HOW TO PERFORM IES?

 IES is performed using a 45 degree hyperextension. Feet are to remain pointed into the plate, knees extended, glutes squeeze, and focus on maintaining position. A barbell (or EZ-curl bar in this example) is held by the hands in double overhand grip with shoulder blades retracted. Below this is pictured:

INCORRECT VS CORRECT FOOT POSITION PICTURED BELOW

 Warmup sets are done using light loads by holding the bar in position for 15-30 seconds. The goal here is just to warmup the musculature for the heavier work sets. At least 3 warmup sets should be done. These warmup sets can be done at the same weight, or they can be progressively heavier warmup sets.

 Once the warmup sets have been completed, it is time to begin IES. Since IES is the prolog, you now need to choose an epilog. The epilog can be anything you’re trying to enhance such as running vertical jump, broad jump, 10 yard sprint, and squat. Once you have chosen your epilog exercise, it is time to get to work. Each IES rep should be held for 7 seconds. Using holds for 7 seconds allows us to maximally stress the ATP-PC energy systems. Stressing this energy system ensures we are using enough intensity to stimulate gains in the epilog exercise - since the epilog uses the same energy system.

 There are a few ways to program IES:

prolog, rest, epilog, rest, prolog, rest, epilog, rest ...
prolog, rest, prolog, rest, epilog, rest, epilog, rest ...

5. EXAMPLE USAGE & SESSION

 4-07-2008

 session 1:
 standing vert touch: 122"
 running vert touch: 129.5"

 iso extension stim for broad jumps, experimenting:

 round 1: broad jumps: 89, 90, 91, 93, 92.5, 92.5

 round 2: stim: iso extension: 45 lb. @ 1x3, 2min rest before broad jumps
 round 2: broad jumps: 94.5, 93.5

 round 3: stim: iso extension: 95 lb. @ 1x3, 2min rest before broad jumps
 round 3: broad jumps: 95, 95

 round 4: stim: iso extension: 115 lb. @ 1x3, 2min rest before broad jumps
 round 4: brouad jumps: 97, 96

 round 5: stim: iso extension: 135 lb. @ 1x3, 2min rest before broad jumps
 round 5: broad jumps: 97, 95

 results: 93” to 97"

EXAMPLE BROAD JUMP SESSION

6. REFERENCES

“SUPERMETHODS OF SPECIAL PHYSICAL PREPARATION FOR THE HIGH CLASS ATHLETE”.    Yuri Verkhoshansky.   SSTM of March 2007.   www.verkhoshansky.com

this is damn interesting bro, would love to give it a shot if we had the bench for it

thanks man, ya not many people have ever tried it.. iso extension on a back raises is a good p-chain exercise itself, don't even need to focus on stim with it, if just overall p-chain strength is a focus.. it's a quasi isometric load, lots of small eccentrics/concentrics, but it definitely transfers.

Dumb question: Would this work on a GHR? My guess is not, but we don't have that fancy bench at my gym so I figured I'd ask. Maybe a swiss ball...

i was never able to get in the right position on a ghr bench. swiss ball dno, just can't see someone going heavy on this, on swiss ball.

dno, 45 deg hyper was the only thing that felt perfect

pc

I wanted something that didn't fatigue the quads at all, instead, highly stimulating the glutes, hamstrings, and calfs. I felt that heavy squatting as stim, prior to jumps, was just killing my quads too hard. I never had a problem with fatigue when doing jumps after IES, and that was the point.. stim without quad fatigue.. sure you'd want to stimulate the quads for vert, but, in this exercise, you're stimulating glute/ham/calf, which still is recruited during vert so, it's going to give those muscle groups some extra pop.

short sprinting/broad jumps after IES felt amazing.

peace

I wonder if this method can make the deadlift more posterior chain oriented. For a guy like me who "wants" to use his quads at everything, maybe doing this could make me shift more into posterior chain work during deadlifts.

try it out, tell me how it goes, i need to get myself a 45deg hyper to play around with that stuff again.

if yall ever find a good cheap used one, link me up.