Power Factor Training : A Scientific Approach to Building Lean Muscle Mass [Paperback]

Peter Sisco (Author), John Little (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1997

Bodybuilding experts Peter Sisco and John Little present a revolutionary new system for building maximum muscle in a minimum amount of time. Power Factor Training emphasizes very heavy overloading of the musculature and long rest periods between workouts, resulting in amazing gains in size and strength. This astounding guide details the proven physiological principles of the program, answers specific training questions, and outlines a concise workout schedule that is sure to benefit beginning, intermediate, and advanced bodybuilders.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Peter Sisco is the editor of the Training with Precision newsletter and the innovator of the Power Factor measurement of muscular intensity. His techniques have been used by bodybuilders and strength athletes in 58 countries since 1992.

John Little has been a bodybuilding and fitness writer for more than 15 years, recently with Flex magazine. He is the editor of Martial Arts Legends magazine and the author of The Warrior Within.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (April 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0809230712
• ISBN-13: 978-0809230716
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (86 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #177,505 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Serious Training System That Actually Works, February 3, 2000

By 

Karl Shreeves (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Power Factor Training : A Scientific Approach to Building Lean Muscle Mass (Paperback)

Power Factor Training and its three sequels (the Power Factor Specialization series) are excellent tools for those serious about maximizing their gains. I'm a certified personal trainer and this is the system I use. My personal results have been that Power Factor Training knocked me off a growth plateau I'd been on for six months, and despite having good muscle development already, I've had new, steady gains for more than five months.

Power Factor Training is the first weight training system that allows you to quantify and plan your progress. Until now, there has been no way to truely measure whether your muscles have more, less or the same strength than on your last workout. By effectively measuring muscle output, you adjust your training to accommodate your body's stimulus, recovery and growth ability. Sisco and Little have created what's probably the best system for maximizing muscle growth efficiency, and it absolutely works.

Power Factor: Measures raw power -- a "snapshot" of what your muscles can do in the short term. Power Index: Measures your muscles' abilility to maintain a Power Factor over time.

You adjust your training weight, reps, sets, time and schedule so that you're constantly increasing your Power Factor and Power Index. You systematically find the set/weight/reps/time combination for each exercise so that you constantly train at the point where you move the maximum amount of weight (max intensity). This varies with the individual depending upon a muscle's white and red fiber mix, so that one individual will train with maximum intensity with higher weight and fewer reps/sets, and another with lighter weight, greater reps and sets. Power Factor training allows you to find exactly the combination that maximizes intensity for each exercise and muscle group, to adjust it as you make gains, to know when you plateau and how to readjust to break off plateaus.

Power Factor training also embraces the use of Strong Range exercise, meaning that you maximize the weight and increase the reps for an exercise by limiting exercise motion to the maximum strength range (partial reps). Muscle growth stimulus results entirely from overload; once you move more than about 50% of your single rep max, you've activated more than 90% of a muscle's fibers. By working high weight/max weight/strong range, you maximize the overload and time in overload while maintaining maximum fiber activation. Done properly, strong range training also tends to reduce injury potential by keeping you out of the area with maximum joint stress.

Concerns with Power Factor Training Most concerns expressed about Power Factor Training result from misunderstanding or misapplying its principles. Many concerns focus on strong range training, which is really only a component of the system -- not THE system itself.

1. Concern one: The Power Factor formulas don't accurately measure force because they doesn't account for limb length, range of motion and torque. This is true, which the authors point out themselves, to extent that a Power Factor/Index is not comparable between two individuals or, to a large extent between different exercises, because of these variables. Sisco and Little point out that there's no practical way to accommodate all these variables in a workable system anyone can use, BUT a Power Factor/Index IS valid for comparing the same exercise performed by the same individual through the same range of motion, because the variables cancel out. This is all you need to measure power output and change, and you can do it with ANY exercise with ANY machine or free weights.

2. Concern two: Partial reps (strong range training) create "muscle imbalances" or limit strength development for the full range exercise. With respect to exercises that isolate a muscle group (e.g., bicep curls), this isn't true. Muscles don't grow in one part and not another because fiber distribution and activation pathways are random; a muscle either grows all over, or it doesn't grow at all. An exercise does NOT have to be full range to stimulate growth (in normal activity, muscle use is rarely full range and usually strong range).

Partial repping a compound exercise (multiple muscle groups involved --e.g. the squat) may reduce stimulus to some of the muscles compared to the full range motion. However, those muscles in the weak range; the solution is to target those muscles with a different exercise that stimulates them in the strong range. But, if you feel you need to perform an exercise full range, then do so -- the Power Factor and Index concepts still apply (but are not directly comparable to the same exercise performed in the strong range).

My personal experience is that as my partial rep strength for an exercise increases, so does my full range strength for the same exercise, and by using targeted, high intensity exercises for each muscle group, partial repping compound exercises has caused no "imbalances."

3. Concern three: Partial reps (strong range training) doesn't develop flexibility. This is true, but full range strength exercise isn't the best way to develop flexibility anyway. Ask anyone in dance, gymnastics or martial arts: if your goal is flexibility, perform flexibility exercises. If your goal is both flexibility and strength, optimize your training by training for these separately.

Some thoughts: For safety, Power Factor Training specifies some equipment requirements that you should follow (most well-equipped gyms have what you need). Strong range training is probably not the best system for beginners; several months to a year of basic weight training and full range exercise would be a good idea before trying to handle the super heavy loads involved. This develops automacity with the exercise movements and allows for tendon/ligament development. However, even a beginner using full range can calculate Power Factors/Indexes.

53 of 62 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars It Did Not Work, May 21, 2001

By 

Alan Dale Daniel (Carson City, Nevada, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Power Factor Training : A Scientific Approach to Building Lean Muscle Mass (Paperback)

Since the beginning of February of 2001 I have used the Power Factor training method described in this book. I purchased the Power Factor Training Log and used it, and the full body exercises therein, to train. Prior to starting on the Power Factor program I had been using free weights. During the program I followed the directions, and my Power Factor numbers did increase with each passing week (I worked out twice per week). The numbers for the partials I was doing were impressive, at least for me. By May I was doing squats with 330 pounds and bench presses with 230. I was doing two sets of each exercise listed in the A and B workouts in the Training Log. The exercise routines were intense. Because of the time factor, and the push to finish each exercise quickly and move on to the next, the exercise routine was demanding.

On May 19th, 2001 I did a full range test of my lifting strength. It had not improved. In most of the exercises the numbers remained static. I had some small improvement in the squats. After the full range test I was muscle sore for three days. Something is definitely different between the full range exercises and the Power Factor partials. And that something does not favor the Power Factor training method.

I think the training method was a failure. The charts I was keeping in the book showed a strong increase for several weeks followed by a plateau. After some rest the numbers improved marginally once more. After a rest of 5 days I took the full range test. The results were disappointing.

Because of my results I cannot recommend this book or any of the Power Factor publications. It seems many of the trainees have had my disappointing results. The authors need to do more testing to discover why some people are able to advance on this program and others are not. After 3 and one half months on the program it seems I would have shown some improvement; however, there was none.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential Reading if You're Serious About Weight Training, August 29, 2001

By 

Bruce Bonafede (Palm Desert, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Power Factor Training : A Scientific Approach to Building Lean Muscle Mass (Paperback)

I'm a 50 year-old man. When I found this book I'd been training with traditional methods for nine months. As is typical with those methods, I made good progress at first but leveled-off after a few months. I tried a number of different programs, and made some progress, but it was slow going. With PFT over the last two months progress has been steady, some of it dramatic. The Power Factor on my Seated Overhead Presses has gone up 133%, Bench Press up 78%, and Leg Presses up almost 180% - all in the past month. Amazingly, just before PFT I had been doing heavy, low-rep strength and powerlifting work, not light, high-volume routines, so it wasn't like all of a sudden I was trying heavy weight. This speaks to how productive the strong-range movements are which the authors advocate. The authors were also right in their advice on hooks, and I soon had to start using lifting hooks on my Deadlifts and Shrugs, as my grip could no longer handle the weights I was pulling. These have gone up 37% and 51% respectively in the past 10 days. PFT may also be of benefit to older lifters like myself because of its effect on joints, tendons and ligaments. I used to have to stretch daily to stay limber, now I only stretch on workout days and I never feel stiff anymore (anyone my age knows what I'm talking about). Even on the days I don't work out. Finally, one of the less-heralded benefits of this program is that since you have to reduce your workouts to once every 7-10 days, you are given back something most bodybuilders have forgotten they've lost -- time. PFT lets you work your body effectively, with great results, AND have a life. In my opinion, this book is essential reading if you're serious about weight training. And THIS is the one to read before you delve into the authors' specialization series. This covers it all and does so with logical arguments and an entertaining writing style.