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Are you actually quoting Jay Schroeder?, or did you make it up?. It's pretty good if you did, but it sounds like something that would come straight from the horses mouth to gloss over his methods.

I just made that up. If I were quoting Schroeder you woulda seen the word "methodic" in there about 9 or 10 times. That and several other worlds are unique to evo-sport.  Go read some of James Colberts posts on the subject sometime for some entertainment.

You guys talking negative about Isos obviously haven't tried ISO EXTREMES. The key is you have to establish a relaxed alpha dominant physchological state and (utilizing super 7 positioning) pull yourself for at least 5 minutes to activate the inherent recriprocal antagonistic neuro feed back mechanisms in your nervous system for the required musculature. Over time this enables your body to literally rewire and reshape itself internally to external.  The results in drastically improved force production over a more thorough range of motion, increased FT fiber expression (drastically increased muscularity), increased health, increased vitality, better elimination, and pure domination on the field.  The real world results of those who dedicate themselves to iso extremes over a period of time are nothing short of spectacular.  Take Jay Schroeder for instance: He went from being an old man with a blown out back to a world class masters level sprinter and cyclist using nothing but iso extremez.  The key is you have to dedicate yourself 100% and work proper iso extreme positions every day for several months straight before the miraculous gains suddenly appear. Utilizing iso extreme methodology it's fairly common to go 1 month, 2 months, 3 months with no gains then all the sudden you turn into an athletic superstar overnight as your body, mind, and spirit synchronize in tune with positional mastery. 

That's exactly right - it is and should be an involuntary thing. The point is your body will try to use the strongest muscles to get the job done. 

It depends on body-fat levels. Someoe with some bodyfat to spare need not worry about gaining weight, it's the toothpicks who starve endlessly who shouldn't be deathly afraid of it. Keep the body-fat low and things work out. Raptors approach is better for people under 8% body-fat and he's exactly right, each cycle of weight results in greater relative strength than would be there had the person stayed weight stable. Even the O lifters in light weight classes cycle their weight.  3-5 kilos up, 3 kilos down etc.

I've never seen any research that demonstrated the impact of core strengthening had any positive effect on any power, speed, strength, measurable, and there is quite a bit of research on the topic. In the functional world the only positive thing in the research is negative performance on the functional movement screen correlated with injuries, which makes sense. If you're tight to the point you can't move you're more succeptible to injury.

But anyway, here's a good article by Rippetoe on the topic of core strength:

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http://www.coachr.org/core_stabilisa...aining_for.htm

People love to take a nugget that sounds good in theory and base an entire paradigm around it - the fascination with all things core is one of those things.  Does that mean core strength is uniimportant? I would argue you need enough core strength to optimally control your pelvis, which is really more an issue of coordination than it is strength.

if i read the 2nd study posted correctly, does that mean that calf strength is important?

Of the things they looked at yeah the adaptations typically brought about by heavy strenght training (muscule thickness and increased pennation angle) correlated with power, but they weren't looking at stuff like hip strength etc. The main thing is other studies have shown the inherent structure of the calf more important than the strength adaptations for things like 100 meter sprinting, which is the opposite of that study and fits with the overall theme of this thread.  The more intense and powerful the activation (jumps, accelerations, changes of directions etc.) the more likely you are to benefit from calf strength or at least not be hurt by having a shitty structure (low insertion points) when compared to less intense rhythmic activities like speed endurance or distance running.

Yeah here are a few relevant to the topic:



Why is countermovement jump height greater than squat jump height?
Bobbert MF, Gerritsen KG, Litjens MC, Van Soest AJ.

Institute for Fundamental and Clinical Movement Sciences, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. M_F_Bobbert@fbw.vu.nl

Abstract
In the literature, it is well established that subjects are able to jump higher in a countermovement jump (CMJ) than in a squat jump (SJ). The purpose of this study was to estimate the relative contribution of the time available for force development and the storage and reutilization of elastic energy to the enhancement of performance in CMJ compared with SJ. Six male volleyball players performed CMJ and SJ. Kinematics, kinetics, and muscle electrical activity (EMG) from six muscles of the lower extremity were monitored. It was found that even when the body position at the start of push-off was the same in SJ as in CMJ, jump height was on average 3.4 cm greater in CMJ. The possibility that nonoptimal coordination in SJ explained the difference in jump height was ruled out: there were no signs of movement disintegration in SJ, and toe-off position was the same in SJ as in CMJ. The greater jump height in CMJ was attributed to the fact that the countermovement allowed the subjects to attain greater joint moments at the start of push-off. As a consequence, joint moments were greater over the first part of the range of joint extension in CMJ, so that more work could be produced than in SJ. To explain this finding, measured and manipulated kinematics and electromyographic activity were used as input for a model of the musculoskeletal system. According to simulation results, storage and reutilization of elastic energy could be ruled out as explanation for the enhancement of performance in CMJ over that in SJ. The crucial contribution of the countermovement seemed to be that it allowed the muscles to build up a high level of active state (fraction of attached cross-bridges) and force before the start of shortening, so that they were able to produce more work over the first part of their shortening distance Lateral gastrocnemius thickness was the strongest predictor of absolute power for all jump types and between jump types (SJ: r2 = 0.181, p = 0.034; CMJ: r2 = 0.201, p = 0.014; DDJ: r2 = 0.122, p = 0.049; CMJ-SJ: r2 = 0.201, p = 0.014; DDJ-CMJ: r2 = 0.146, p = 0.034). Lateral gastrocnemius pennation angle was also the best predictor of relative power for all 3 jump types and between jump types (SJ: r2 = 0.172, p = 0.038; CMJ: r2 = 0.416, p = 0.000; DDJ: r2 = 0.167, p = 0.024; CMJ-SJ: r2 = 0.391, p = 0.000; DDJ-CMJ: r2 = 0.136, p = 0.039). Results for jump performance differ from those previously found for sprinting in that greater pennation and shorter fascicles, positively predicting jumping ability at increased prestretch loads reinforcing the need for training specificity. Our findings in resistance-trained men indicate that where jumping is vital to athletic success one can benefit from developing LG muscle architecture along with addressing eccentric strength.



Mechanical and muscular factors influencing the performance in maximal vertical jumping after different prestretch loads.
Voigt M, Simonsen EB, Dyhre-Poulsen P, Klausen K.

Department of Medical Anatomy, Panum Institute, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Abstract
The objective of the present work was to study the interaction between the tendon elasticity, the muscle activation-loading dynamics, specific actions of the biarticular muscles, preloading and jumping performance during maximal vertical jumping. Six male expert jumpers participated in the study. They performed maximal vertical jumps with five different preloads. The kinematics and dynamics of the jumping movements were analysed from force plate and high speed film recordings. The amount of elastic energy stored in the tendons of the leg extensor muscles was calculated by a generalised tendon model, and the muscle coordination was analysed by surface EMG. The best jumping performances were achieved in the jumps with low preloads (counter movement jumps and drop jumps from 0.3 m). A considerable amount of the energy imposed on the legs by prestretch loading was stored in the tendons (26 +/- 3%), but  the increased performance could not be explained by a contribution of elastic energy to the positive work performed during the push off. During the preloading, the involved muscles were activated at the onset of the loading. Slow prestretches at the onset of muscle activation under relatively low average stretch loads, as observed during counter movement jumps and drop jumps from 0.3 m, prevented excessive stretching of the muscle fibres in relation to the tendon length changes. This consequently conserved the potential of the muscle fibres to produce positive work during the following muscle-tendon shortening in concert with the release of the tendon strain energy. A significant increase in the activity of m. rectus femoris between jumps with and without prestretch indicated a pronounced action of m. rectus femoris in a transport of mechanical energy produced by the proximal monoarticular m. gluteus maximus at the hip to the knee and thereby enhanced the transformation of rotational joint work to translational work on the mass centre of the body. The changes in muscle activity were reflected in the net muscle powers. Vertical jumping is like most movements constrained by the intended direction of the movement. The movements of the body segments during the prestretches induced a forward rotation and during the take off, a backward rotation of the body. A reciprocal shift in the activities of the biarticular m. rectus femoris and m. semitendinosus indicated that these rotations were counteracted by changes in the direction of the resultant ground reaction vector controlled by these muscles.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)