Back in the 1990s, Steve’s very first book was titled Iron Man’s Home Gym Handbook. Looks like we’ve come full-circle. At the moment, there’s no place like home—or nowhere else to train but home…
Like most iron men and women, we’re at home with limited equipment. Luckily, our decades of bodybuilding experience have resulted in multiple mass-training tactics and moves to keep gains coming. Here’s Steve’s report on what he’s doing in his bare-bones pump-atorium.
It’s been a month since I’ve been to my commercial gym, but I’m holding my muscle nicely and even looking fuller in some areas. Amazing considering all I have is an adjustable bench and a set of PowerBlock selectorized dumbbells…
And the dumbbells are not monsters—mine only go to 50 pounds each. So what the heck am I doing to keep the gainz flowing with minimal weight and equipment?
1) Mass Tactics
There are a number of ways to attack the fast-twitch growth fibers without heavy weight, keeping them in the hypertrophy zone—for example, combining slo-mo sets and speed reps along with Slow-Twitch Exhaustion training—pre-exhausting the slow-twitch fibers to get higher fast-twitch activation after…
Pre-exhausting the “endurance” fibers—with higher reps or a quick series of lighter sets—not only gets more type-2 fast-twitchers to fire and grow, it also hypertrophies the type-1 slow-twitch fibers for a new layer of mass…
Our friend Jerry Brainum, trusted bodybuilding researcher for more than 40 years, was right on the money when he said, “It’s now known that type-1 fibers are also capable of showing a significant level of muscular hypertrophy.”
So don’t neglect those fibers to max out muscle size. Also, rotate in stretch exercises from our Positions-of-Flexion arsenal to trigger new levels of hypertrophy…
2) Stretch Moves
Recently, a new study emerged that verifies stretch-overload as a significant get-bigger trigger: “Stretch training induces unequal adaptation in muscle fascicles and thickness in medial and lateral gatrocnemii” [Scand J Med Sci Sports, Jan 30, 2017]
It was the calf muscles that were stretched against resistance for bouts during a six-week period. Muscle thickness increased by 5.6%, which is significant considering it was with ONLY stretch stimulation.
Our favorite hypertrophy researcher, Brad Schoenfeld, Ph.D., had this to say about the study…
“Studies in animals have shown that loaded stretch is a potent stimulus for muscle growth, most notably shown by the early work of Jose Antonio [a 300 percent increase in muscle size over a few months of progressive overload stretch]…. [But] this is the first study I’m aware of to show that a relatively modest loaded stretching protocol produces significant hypertrophy in humans…. The authors speculated that muscle damage was a driving force in the growth process.”
Stretch moves I use in my limited home gym include sissy squats, stiff-legged deadlifts, forward-lean calf raises, flyes, one-arm dumbbell rows, 2-dumbbell pullovers, incline one-arm lateral raises, incline triceps extensions, incline curls, and full-range crunches (upper back hanging off end of flat bench for some stretch).
Schoenfeld was also part of a study on light training vs. heavy training, with light training showing the same muscle gains—if you do it correctly (which we discuss in our updated ebook below)…
With the excellent workouts we’ve been having, not to mention our muscle fullness and new vascularity, we’ve updated our Quick-Start Muscle-Building Guide 2.0. There’s a big new section with complete home workouts that include STX, slo-mo sets, speed reps, and stretch moves—all tailored for a bare-bones home gym like mine…
There’s even a weight-free workout using some of the aforementioned methods, no equipment necessary.
We’ve got it at a limited new-release price of ONLY $9—Click the cover above or HERE.
Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
X-Rep.com
The “New” Perfect Physique
You’ve probably believed that women go crazy over huge muscles. You’ve probably even aspired to look like Arnold at some point.
The picture of the perfect physique seems to have changed over the years…
There were several years when it seemed women preferred a leaner and smaller physique like Brad Pitt’s in Fight Club.
Luckily, that seems to have just been a fad, and a more muscular look has become more desired again. Not pro bodybuilder big, but something in between with good muscularity and chiseled detail…
Alain Gonzales refers to it as the “Athletic-Aesthetic” physique, and women go wild over it.
Check out Alain’s 12-week program here: