Timed Static CONTRACTION

NO MOVEMENT

In 2012 a new form of exercise was introduced to a select group of fitness and medical professionals.

“Timed Static Contraction” (TSC) is described as “a system and method for providing compound function static exercise with feedback information.”

What this meant, essentially, is that an isometric version of Super Slow was being proposed.

Ken Hutchins had formulated “Super Slow, The Ultimate Exercise Protocol” thirty years before. Now he was applying the same principles that had been developed for the exceptionally slow-motion movements of Super Slow to static or non- movement exercise.

It made perfect sense to do this, even if it was likely to take another thirty years to explain to everyone’s satisfaction.

NO IMPACT FORCE

Somewhere along the trail of discovery it was realized that if the aim of Super Slow was to fatigue muscles with an absolute minimum of force why not adopt a static protocol instead?

The reasoning behind this was that physical movement, regardless of speed, carries the potential for force with impact. Static muscle contraction (isometric) can produce pure force (cellular energy) without impact.

We can see this for ourselves by holding a heavy object very still without moving. It is only a matter of time before we will become fatigued and then exhausted until we can’t hold the weight up any longer. We didn’t move an inch and yet our nerves, muscles and cardio-vascular systems were working very hard to produce enough force to keep the object suspended. (The only potential impact force would be to accidentally drop the object on the floor afterwards. Worse if it landed on our foot.)

NO INJURY

It is well known how easy it is to incur strains and pains from lifting weights in a gym. Yet there has always been a cavalier acceptance of such risks by exercise enthusiasts who utter such trite sayings as “no pain no gain” to justify their beliefs.

This same crowd has always been the loudest critics of Ken Hutchins and Super Slow for its over concern about safety.

The criticism defies logic, since it’s no one’s wish to encounter injuries while trying to stay fit.

NOT A THEORY

Although he has described himself as an “exercise theorist”, Hutchins did not just write books about exercise; he practiced it and instructed clients and students in his own studio using equipment that he himself designed. This is different from credentialed academic experts who rely on peer consensus for their point of view.

In medical jargon, Hutchins would be labeled a “clinician” who sees patients and has hands-on practical experience. He might also be called a researcher or experimentalist who is always interested in finding better ways to do things.

It was because of his long-time experience instructing real people with health debilities that Hutchins paid such close attention to exercise safety when considering any methodology that could be imagined and developed.

At the time of its inception, Super Slow was the only method of High Intensity Training (HIT) that promised the greatest safety because it not only included a deliberately reduced and controlled speed of movement, but also demanded meticulous instruction by educated trainers responsible for enforcing performance details with their clients. These details included correct postural positioning, elimination of form discrepancies, and proper breathing.

However, there are some extremely vulnerable individuals who still cannot tolerate meaningful muscular loading while applying force with movement, as slow and cautious as Super Slow is. For these people there needed to be found an exercise alternative to improve the state of their health.

With that thought in mind, Hutchins discovered a magazine article by John Little. It laid out a different approach to isometric exercise.

CONTRACTION IS EXERCISE

The deciding factor was the notion of extending the time or duration of a static exercise. Traditional isometrics is performed in 7 seconds. TSC extends the time- frame to as long as 3 minutes.

As explained in the conference, “if you allow more time in a static protocol, then you will cover the same ground [as Super Slow] because your muscles don’t know the difference.”

Put another way, skeletal muscles are engineered to cause movement of the skeletal frame and body; yet muscles may also function independently without body movement. Which also means muscles can be strengthened independently without body movement. They need just three things to be fully activated:

1. Volitional Effort
2. Constancy
3. Duration

First, we intentionally load our muscles with the body supported (joints locked) in a fixed or static position. Second, we maintain a constant (uninterrupted) contraction of the muscles at a specified level of force. Third, we do this for an appropriate duration.

Given enough time with sufficient effort, all muscles within proximity of the original working muscles will be recruited. That can include the entire spectrum of muscle fibers. The result is high intensity exercise at its best – with zero impact force!

Some members of the audience were bewildered. It seemed preposterous in 2012 to seriously consider selling an exercise program devoid of physical movement.

And no matter how it was explained, there were those, including doctors, who could not reconcile what they knew about exercise physiology and this new strange concept that had no precedent or established research to back it up.

Regarding the common cry for more studies and further research, it should be obvious to anyone who has no stake in his or her career that the academic community has little confidence in their own knowledge or insight. They prefer to be skeptical until a consensus is reached, no matter how long it takes.

Besides, a world-wide consensus already existed. Ask most people and they are likely to say that “exercise” is common knowledge. Yet the activities in most gyms are exactly opposite to the message presented here.

As one keynote speaker said, “It is not general exhaustion we are after, it is more specific. We are after the intensity without the force.”

IT WORKS

TSC appeared to be the very first method in the history of exercise to provide a genuinely safe yet highly effective alternative to dynamic high intensity exercise. Super Slow had almost succeeded. But by its very nature, technically, could never offer the ideal methodology.

This was the bombshell that was dropped softly. Some might say that Hutchins and company were committing business suicide, if it weren’t for the fact that they were earnestly searching for something better.

NO DOUBT

Proof was revealed in a series of slides. Data had been collected by software linked to load sensors in the exercise equipment. Although the flaw had long been suspected, it could never be proved until now. It was possible to see for the first time due to the development of the TSC feedback system.

The first slide showed a graph of a force line that had been produced on a leg press. It was noted that the subject was an expert trainer who performed the Super Slow movements extremely well. Nonetheless, during the negative or eccentric phase of every repetition at precisely the same point, was a distinctive drop of force by several pounds.

Such a drastic difference in force derails the intention of pure exercise, which wants to keep the muscle force production as constant as possible.

The result of such “respites” is (at best) a marginal stimulation effect for muscle growth and strengthening. At worst, a waste of time with no measurable or subjective improvement of strength or fitness.

Even more unwelcome would be the impact force to skeletal joints, connective structures and tissues that can occur without the person being aware of it until much later, when a chronic injury manifests for no apparent reason.

In contrast, the second slide displayed a TSC leg press with a negligible variation of force. The nearly unperturbed force line was only disrupted at the end of the 90 second set by rapid fatigue and sudden loss of strength.

SUPERIOR

It was the ideal workout, according to the speaker. The uninterrupted constancy of the TSC set produced a perfectly timed increase in high intensity while eliminating the potential hazards of impact force.

Those involved in the development of the TSC feedback system quite rightly felt they had uncovered an astonishingly simple strengthening method that could not be matched in terms of effectiveness and safety.

However, with respect for those who could not yet grasp the positive aspect of the message, a compromise was quietly agreed to.

TSC was not being offered as a replacement for Super Slow (they said), but as an adjunct, to be used primarily for clients with problematic injuries and debilities.

No one then was prepared to make claims on the superiority of TSC as a stand- alone exercise for a wider population. That would have to wait.

Thirty years, maybe? Only time will tell.