Like a kid screaming “candy” at the grocery checkout over and over, I constantly harp on “change to gain”…
What does that mean? That there has to be something new in your workout for the muscular adaptation of growth to occur…
Add reps? Yes. Add weight? Yes. But once you’re past the early stages of lifting, achieving either of those on a regular basis ain’t happening.
But you can change other things while still emphasizing the ideal exercises. For example…
In Old Man Young Muscle I lay out my Base Workout for upper body and one for lower body. Those kick off each muscle with the ideal exercise. I use those most of the time…
Then in Chapter 9 I outline an alternate pre-exhaustion-inspired workout, which begins each muscle with a stretch move for high reps. After that, I follow with the ideal exercise for two sets, and end with one set of another move—whichever exercise is missing in the Position-of-Flexion chain.
Take chest for example…
Stretch: Flat fyes, 1 x 20
Midrange (ideal): Dumbbell decline bench presses, 2 x 12, 9
Contracted: Close-grip bench pushups, 1 x 10
I start with flyes for stretch overload…
I then follow that stretch move with the ideal exercise for two sets, then end with a contracted-position finisher…
It’s different on Base-Workout day: I start with the ideal exercise, dumbbell decline presses. I do two to three sets and follow with one or two sets of an add-on move, usually the close-grip bench pushups.
Mixing up the exercise order and starting with stretch overload on the alternate-workout day is a great change-to-gain shift.
That was the best way for me to inject some change even in my bare-bones home gym—a 50-pound PowerBlock dumbbell set, an adjustable bench and a doorway chinning bar.
It was a big reason my body quickly morphed into this, which is about seven weeks into my 10-week transformation…
That was with 35-minute workouts three times a week—and I rotated to the pre-ex workout every third session.
If you train in a commercial gym or have a more elaborate home gym, you could even switch exercises. For instance, do cable chest presses instead of dumbbell decline presses at the alternate workout…
Brad Schoenfeld, Ph.D., a highly respected hypertrophy researcher, has reviewed and been a part of many studies on how exercise selection affects muscle-size increases. His conclusion:
“Evidence suggests that frequent exercise rotation is warranted to fully stimulate all fibers within a muscle and thus maximize the hypertrophic response.” [Science and Development of Muscle Hypertrophy]
When it comes to building mass, change to gain—or remain the same.
New: Get the ideal exercise for each muscle, the best add-on moves for ultimate mass, complete 35-minute workouts, exercise start/finish photos, and details on building muscle fast and efficiently in Old Man, Young Muscle.
And you still get The Muscle-On, Belly-Gone “Diet” ebook FREE for a limited time when you add Old Man, Young Muscle to your mass-building library. Go HERE.
Steve Holman
Former Editor in Chief, Iron Man Magazine
www.X-Rep.com
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