Product Description

'I had one little mini workout. I couldn't believe how short the workout was and how good I felt afterward ...This technique is going to change your life' - Tony Robbins, author of "Awaken the Giant Within". Bodybuilding pioneer, John Little revolutionized the sport with his seminal books "Power Factor Training" and "Static Contraction Training", both of which offered scientifically based systems for maximizing muscle gain in a mere fraction of the time required by traditional weightlifting techniques. Now, dozens of scientific trials later, he again revolutionizes bodybuilding technology with "Max Contraction Training".Representing a quantum leap forward in fitness training, "Max Contraction Training" is the culmination of John Little's more than two decades of research and experimentation. It is the most efficient way ever devised for maximizing muscle fiber stimulation in the shortest period of time. Imagine a 10-second workout (yes, you read that right!) performed once a week that can stimulate up to 30 pounds of muscle growth! The Max Contraction system reveals why you do not need to spend hours a day and multiple days per week in the gym to have a muscular body.With "Max Contraction Training", beginners and advanced bodybuilders alike can get faster workouts and more impressive gains than they ever thought possible. In this book, you'll find: breakthrough techniques that MAXimize muscle fiber stimulation, four times more efficient than conventional techniques; optimal time frames for training muscles for maximum growth - many taking as little as 10 seconds to complete; ideal exercise structuring for a total workout routine customized to your needs and lifestyle; valuable nutritional guidelines for promoting rapid muscle growth; and, the truth behind all the hype put out by supplement companies and how and why many supplements do more harm than good.In addition, Little covers the stunning news that science has revealed as being the quickest way to stimulate pounds of muscle growth, the ideal structuring of exercises in a workout routine, the failure of conventional exercise methods, the optimal time frame to train your muscles for maximum growth - and much, much more. John Little is the author of more than 30 books on bodybuilding, martial arts, history, and philosophy and the coauthor of "Power Factor Training" and "Static Contraction Training". He is the creator of the Max Contraction Training method of strength training and has worked alongside the biggest names in bodybuilding from Mike Mentzer and Arnold Schwarzenegger to Lou Ferrigno and Steve Reeves. His articles on health and fitness have been published in such magazines as "Muscle & Fitness", "Flex", "Men's Fitness", "Ironman", "Inside Kung Fu", and "Blackbelt".

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #365626 in Books
• Published on: 2004-01-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

From the Back Cover

"I had one little mini workout. I couldn't believe how short the workout was and how good I felt afterward . . . This technique is going to change your life."

--Tony Robbins, author of Awaken the Giant Within

Bodybuilding pioneer John Little revolutionized the sport with his seminal books Power Factor Training and Static Contraction Training, both of which offered scientifically based systems for maximizing muscle gain in a mere fraction of the time required by traditional weightlifting techniques. Now, dozens of scientific trials later, he again revolutionizes bodybuilding technology with Max Contraction Training.

Representing a quantum leap forward in fitness training, Max Contraction Training is the culmination of John Little's more than two decades of research and experimentation. It is the most efficient way ever devised for maximizing muscle fiber stimulation in the shortest period of time. Imagine a 10-second workout (yes, you read that right!) performed once a week that can stimulate up to 30 pounds of muscle growth! The Max Contraction system reveals why you do not need to spend hours a day and multiple days per week in the gym to have a muscular body.

With Max Contraction Training, beginners and advanced bodybuilders alike can get faster workouts and more impressive gains than they ever thought possible. In this book, you'll find:

• Breakthrough techniques that MAXimize muscle fiber stimulation, four times more efficient than conventional techniques
• Optimal time frames for training muscles for maximum growth--many taking as little as 10 seconds to complete
• Ideal exercise structuring for a total workout routine customized to your needs and lifestyle
• Valuable nutritional guidelines for promoting rapid muscle growth
• The truth behind all the hype put out by supplement companies and how and why many supplements do more harm than good

In addition, Little covers the stunning news that science has revealed as being the quickest way to stimulate pounds of muscle growth, the ideal structuring of exercises in a workout routine, the failure of conventional exercise methods, the optimal time frame to train your muscles for maximum growth--and much, much more.

John Little is the author of more than 30 books on bodybuilding, martial arts, history, and philosophy and the coauthor of Power Factor Training and Static Contraction Training. He is the creator of the Max Contraction Training method of strength training (www.maxcontraction.com) and has worked alongside the biggest names in bodybuilding from Mike Mentzer and Arnold Schwarzenegger to Lou Ferrigno and Steve Reeves. His articles on health and fitness have been published in such magazines as Muscle & Fitness, Flex, Men's Fitness, Ironman, Inside Kung Fu, and Blackbelt

About the Author

John Little has worked in the bodybuilding/ fitness industry for more than 20 years alongside some of its biggest names, including Joe Weider, Lou Ferrigno, Mike Mentzer, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

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Customer Reviews

Some excellent and essential information with a few niggles.
Max Contraction Training is John Little's follow up to the last book he wrote with Peter Sisco, 'Static Contraction Training'. Max Contraction Training contains some really good information and acts as a logical and worthy extension of the principles of high intensity training. However, the book is far from perfect and there are a number of problematic areas which Little does not satisfactorily address.

The early chapters of the book cover the underlying principles of strength training, and make it clear that the book is aimed at drug free people who want to follow an efficient and effective method of strength training founded on real scientific principles and research rather than the typical 'gym lore' and nonsense that gets published in the muscle magazines.

Little points out that he had been working on developing the 'Max Contraction' system before he teamed up with Peter Sisco to produce the 'Power Factor' and 'Static Contraction' systems and that he considers 'Max Contraction' to be the ultimate conclusion of the high intensity principles that underlie all the systems he has been involved with, which does kind of make you wonder why he didn't just publish this at the beginning and not bother with the other two.

He also goes in for a fair amount of repetition in getting the point about the position of full contraction being the only one in which all of a muscle's fibres can be forced to contract, and after a while this becomes a big of a drag. This is combined with a few mixed messages about safety which can become a bit confusing after a while. However, once you have figured out exactly what he is getting at you will find that the points he is raising are valid and contribute a great deal to your overall understanding of the science behind strength training.

The later chapters are concerned with the practicalities of training acoording to the scientific principles he has laid out. He gives a sound and well rounded basic routine to follow which is based around 'isolation' exercises (e.g. Leg Extensions and Leg Curls) which allow for the individual muscle or muscle group to enter a position of full ('Max') contraction and so activate all the muscle's fibres and utilise the full strength of the muscle. He then goes onto show you 'Bodypart Specialization' routines (e.g. Arms, Shoulders, Back, Legs) which clearly do not follow the principles he has laid out in the first part of the book as they entail doing more sets per bodypart rather than increasing the intensity of exercise.

Safety is also an issue, people who train on their own will be pretty much limited to using the weights that they can move into the position of full/'max' contraction on their own from full (or near full) extension for many of the exercises which, logically, reduces the effectiveness. What will really stick in the craw of many readers though, is that in selecting particular exercises he is clearly trying to get you to buy his 'Max Straps' which will only be available from his website, and will not be cheap either!

So, the book is deeply flawed, but also has some essential information that will do you a lot of good. I recommend that you first buy Little and Sisco's 'Static Contraction Training' and then use this to round out the picture. Where 'Static Contraction Training' focuses on compound exercises, this aims at isolation exercises. The two books and systems are complementary rather than competitive, and with some thought and common sense you can easily combine the best of the two books into a routine for yourself that makes the most of the equipment you have available to you.

Good in principle but inevitably unworkable.
As a person who has trained for many years I am always on the look out for new techniques, to achieve better gains in less time. After reading other reviews I thought the book sounded good although far fetched, but I was willing to keep an open mind.
After reading I was ready to put my new found knowledge to the test, but unfortunately was disappointed. I use a commercial gym and still found the exercises to be unworkable. The machine stacks just do not contain enough weight to perform the routines as required.
After reaching the limit of the gym equipment I thought a good test of my new found strength would be to try a previous routine. I was dismayed to find that I had to reduce the weight I had been lifting as it was too difficult, thus I had actually became weaker.
As a routine for the person who is already capable of lifting to the limits of commercial gym equipment, this program has nothing to offer. If you have access to machines that offer in excess of 400Lbs of resistance, or you are new to exercise then this system may enable you to reach your goals quicker, but did nothing for me.