Whats Better? Holding Contraction or reps?

[Youngmantis]

Sup people, i was wondering whats better for kung fu or gaining speed when doing calistenics, holding a contraction like holding a pushup, or doing multiple pushups. I"m not looking for muscle gain but rather looking for speed and power. What do you guys think? I heard doing multiple reps makes you faster, but than bulks up or muscle, but rather doing static contractions wont bulk your muscle but rather make it tougher and faster. Also in my kung fu class we do alot of stance training, which is static contractions, I also do breakdancing and thats why i need to a good workout that benefits both kungfu and breakdancing

[Toby]

Do a search. Someone on here was doing static lifts a while ago. Others didn't agree with it IIRC. About 6mths ago, I think?

[abobo]

I do static holds in a few forms, for example, handstands and L-sits, and also with hand grippers. But I do this to get stronger in those specific positions. I don't expect any carryover to speed.

It would be pretty hard to bulk up just from pushups. Even if you were trying to, the effect would be minimal.

[Toby]

What about pushups with someone sitting on your back :D?

Seriously, I remember someone (Ford?) saying that your body can't tell the difference between various exercises. So a pushup with the same effort as a benchpress will provide the same benefit (bearing in mind different actions). Therefore, bulking up should be just as possible as it is with benchpress, provided you're putting on a comparable load. Makes sense. Of course, for most people a pushup is nowhere near the same effort as their max BP, so you'd have to do weighted pushups.

[FatherDog]

Static holds will make you better at holding a position statically. Multiple reps will make you better at doing multiple reps.

If you want speed, do explosive pushups as fast as possible. Fast reps make you better at doing fast reps.

[Ford Prefect]

Toby is correct in that all your body really responds to is tension and not free-weights vs bodyweight, etc.

However Fatherdog is also correct in that your body responds to specific stimulus. Explosiveness is quite literally producing a large amount of force in a very short time. Isometric (static hold) exercises train you in the exact opposite manner in that you create a force over a long period of time.