Q: I know you praise multi-angular training for mass, specifically your three-way Positions-of-Flexion method. But you also seem sold on the ideal exercise for each target muscle. Do you ever do workouts with just the ideal exercises, no other ancillary movements?
A: Not very often, but I do on occasion to shake things up. As you probably know, Doug Brignole only does the ideal exercise for each muscle; however, his genetics are better than mine…
With my genetics, I strive to stimulate different “layers” of muscle, which I’ve found best developed via other pathways, like stretch overload or continuous tension…
Even so, most of the time you should emphasize each target muscle’s ideal exercise for ultimate size. That means doing it first at most workouts…
Those are the exercises that check off the Top-5 Efficiency, Productivity and Safety Factors (from Doug’s 16) that are outlined in the Old Man, Young Muscle.
And sometimes those ideal exercises don’t allow you to use a lot of weight…
Just keep in mind that the muscle does not know poundage; it only knows effort against resistance.
Quad training is a perfect example…
At most workouts you should lead off with one of the ideal quad moves, like sissy squats, the stretch-position exercise (you need very little extra weight because the line of force, resistance curve, etc. is damn-near perfect)…
That’s the Quad Father, Tom Platz demonstrating. He was a big believer in stretch overload.
After sissies, you can finish with a squat or leg press move (midrange for synergy) and/or leg extensions (contracted for occlusion).
Those three exercises make up a total POF quad routine—full range of motion training (ROM)—but you don’t have to do all three at each workout. I usually do a set or two of one of the missing-position moves after the ideal exercise…
While sissy squats are ideal for quads, keep in mind that the stretch-position exercise is not always the ideal for every muscle. For instance, for chest, it’s dumbbell decline presses, classified as midrange.
I’ll follow that with a stretch- or contracted-position move—and if you have cables, cable flyes can count as both, especially if you do X-Rep partials in the stretch position at positive failure…
There are a number of reasons, verified by studies, as to why the other exercise “positions” are good add-ons to build extra “layers” of mass…
One of the biggest reasons is “variation in muscle-fiber recruitment” (Fleck and Kraemer, two Ph.D. researchers).
That simply means that different exercises can produce unique fiber firing due to different leverages and planes of motion. Squats vs. leg extensions, for example.
However, the bottom line is that emphasizing the ideal exercise loads the target muscle most effectively and efficiently, which is why it’s the go-to move for the fastest growth stimulation.
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.
Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
Steve Holman
Former Editor in Chief, Iron Man Magazine
www.X-Rep.com
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