QUOTE OF THE DAY "ONE SHOULD ALWAYS BE IN THE PURSUIT OF THE HOLY GRAIL"

I am an avid reader. A book that I read over a year ago is called "Theory Application of Modern Strength and Power Methods" by Christian Thibaudeau". If you are a strength coach it can be purchased at charliefrancis.com. The quote in the foreword was written by Thomas J. Mylinski, a veteran of the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers. Until early 2005, he was also a strength coach for the Cleveland Browns with Buddy Morris.
One area the book covers is Eccentric Quasi Isometrics (EQI). Originally received exposure via Mel Siff (1994), the author of Supertraining. Most recently EQI has been used by Jay Schroeder, the strength coach responsible for the development of Adam Archuleta of the St.Louis Rams. Coach Schroeder has trained over 60 NFL players. Hey, not to bad. So, what are these EQI?
Eccentric refers to the portion of the bench press when the bar is lowered from full extension down on to your chest. Isometric means no movement at all. Nada. In this case quasi isometrics means that small movement occures when muscles stretch, even if it is just a little. When someone holds a static or motionless position for as long as 5 minutes, at some point they will be unable to maintain that position. For example, if you take two blocks that are 6-12 inches high, and get in the pushup position, with your hands on the blocks, try holding it for 4 to 5 minutes. Yes, I can do it at 47 years old. I'm not saying it is easy, but I can do it. It took about four weeks to build up to that level. I'm now in the process of adding weight on my back with the goal of reaching ninety pounds on my back for 5 minutes. I have others that are getting there. So what can this teach me?
Well when you are stairing at the floor, you can see how dirty it is, for one! Oh wait, I don't care about that. Actually part of the process is referred to as "neural imprinting". Thanks goes to Buddy Morris for learning this term. When you learn something new you have to think about it a lot, because it is not ingrained in your brain. Charlie Francis has talked about the ability for athletes to use their hindbrain (unconscious) versus their forebrain (largest part of the brain, abstract thinking). When you are using your forebrain to absorb this new concept, the rest of the body goes "Duh". When an athlete is able to perform something ( for example, dorsiflex the foot during running) and not thinking about it, then that info is now in the hindbrain. Neural imprinting is the term that partly explains the transference of info from forebrain to hindbrain. Why freshman have problems in this area is an entirely different issue. I won't discuss that here. Right, freshman!!
I hope I haven't lost to many people. But that was an important concept to at least sort of understand. Anyway, when you are holding the pushup position, at the bottom, you will feel a nasty stretch, that will scream at you to stop. You could also start to shake in your mid-section, which indicates weak core development. You could feel a burning sensation in the hips or lower back indicating muscle tension or the possibility of a visit to a chiropractic, doctor, massage therapist, acupuncturist, or other health care professional. So it can expose weaknesses in the athlete. Here are the various reasons you would use EQI:
1) Teaching proper technique in a lift. In the bench, shoulders down, elbows at a 45 degree angle, straight line from the shoulder to the ankle (No a frames or saggy buts).
2) Provides a tremendous stretch to the area in use. This you will see after using it a while. Initially you will go "this is crazy Dude!" You are basically training the golgi tendon organ (GTO) that the muscle and tendon are capable of more strength, and more explosive strength. The GTO (it was a sweet car in the 70's) is the guard in the tendon which lies between the muscle and bone. It tells the muscle to relax when there is to much stress placed on the muscle. It helps to protect the muscle and tendon from being injured. This is a slow and gradual process, so don't think you will get to strong that the GTO will go to sleep and you will tear the muscle off the bone.
3) It teaches mental toughness. I think that kids today need to get tougher. I use some World's Strongest Man (WSM) exercises like the farmers walk, to help the mental approach.
4) If used properly it can also be used to enhance recovery. The explanation is very detailed and probably beyond the scope of this website.
5) There are other areas such as Lactic Acid Tolerance, hypertrophy development, and a unique flushing affect called "reactive hyperemia". I would put people to sleep with explanations on those areas.
Suffice to say, this concept can be used in a variety of different exercises that are in every part of the body. Absolutely great stuff. I am acudave@yahoo.com