Q: In a few of your recent newsletters you mentioned “postactivation.” What is that, and can I use it to build more mass?
A: With postactivation, you strategically use a continuous-tension isolation exercise, like leg extensions, to
Wait. Isn’t that pre-exhaustion? No, with pre-ex you superset the exercises—no rest between them—which diminishes your ability to generate
With postactivation, you rest after each set, which is key to ATP and nervous system regeneration. By inserting rest you actually increase your ability to generate
You can alter any Positions-of-Flexion program to include postactivation. For example, let’s use the POF lat routine from one of the most popular POF workouts, the 3D Power Pyramid Program [Chapter 2 in the Freak-Physique Stretch-Overload e-book]. Here’s how the original routine looks:
To morph that into a postactivation program, simply do a set of the contracted-position exercise, stiff-arm pulldowns, after the first two sets of the big midrange move, pulldowns. Rest about a minute after each set of every exercise:
Midrange: Front pulldowns, 3 x 8, 6, 3-4
Stretch: Dumbbell pullovers, 1 x 8-12
Contracted: Stiff-arm pulldowns, 1 x 8-12
Midrange: Front pulldowns, 1 x 8
Contracted: Stiff-arm pulldowns, 1 x 8-12
Midrange: Front pulldowns (add weight), 1 x 6
Contracted: Stiff-arm pulldowns, 1 x 8-12
Midrange: Front pulldowns (add weight), 1 x 3-4
Stretch: Dumbbell pullovers, 1-2 x 8-12
That’s only one more set than the original routine, but that extra set is necessary to get the postactivation effect. Using a contracted-position set after each big midrange set actually enhances the force-generating capability of the target muscle. It’s an effective way you can supercharge the classic pyramid method.
Believe it or not, on some big midrange exercises you’ll get stronger as the sequence progresses. We’ve seen trainees increase weight on each of the midrange sets and not lose reps—8, 8, 8, adding weight to each set. Amazing. More blood flow to the target muscle that occurs immediately after the occlusion from the contracted-position exercise is the key (on stiff-arm pulldowns you must keep tension on your lats throughout the set to force occlusion).
Postactivation actually mimics the study done on forearm occlusion we discuss in a few of our e-books. It demonstrated that when blood flow was blocked to the lower arm for two minutes then allowed to resume, the forearm muscles got 20 percent stronger instantly. [Journal of Strength Conditioning Research, 15:362-366]
So postactivation is excellent for strength, but does it pack on mass? Absolutely. For one thing, you’re attacking the three primary pathways of muscular hypertrophy—max force, stretch overload, and tension/occlusion—with POF, but you’re also amplifying the primary one—max force.
It’s such a powerful technique that we even use a special version of postactivation for every bodypart in the X-treme Lean High-Definition Workouts in the X-treme Lean e-book (pages 76-78) to accelerate fat loss.
Postactivation is a fantastic muscle-transformation tactic you can use to get huge—and lean too.
Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.X-Rep.com
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