Lots of posts on social media about the new 2022 study comparing the muscle-growth results of two triceps exercises…
It was published in the European Journal of Sport Science (2022. Maeo, et al.). The subjects did their designated exercise for five sets of 10 reps twice a week for 12 weeks…
They used cables for both exercises, so the above photos are just for reference, not from the actual study (Jonathan didn’t participate, and he doesn’t have a twin).
If you don’t know the outcome, I won’t keep you in suspense: The overhead extension produced superior triceps growth as measured by change in muscle volume…
Long-head growth was almost 10 percent more, while hypertrophy in the other two heads was about five percent more—but both exercises did elicit significant growth.
You’d think I’d be muttering “I told you so,” considering that I have long championed stretch-position exercises as key growth stimulators. My Positions-of-Flexion mass-building “system,” which began taking shape back in the 1980s, has always included a stretch-position exercise for each major muscle group for that very reason (see Old Man, Young Muscle for the latest version and POF Exercise List).
Despite the results, this exercise comparison doesn’t prove that overhead extensions are superior to pushdowns. But it does appear to be superior to this TYPE of pushdown…
A pushdown with the cable running up and forward produces the most resistance at the triceps weakest point on the range of motion—at contraction—with very little stretch resistance. No wonder it lost the contest…
At contraction is where the fibers are crowded and can’t fire optimally, precisely why the muscle is weakest at that point…
The overhead extension, on the other hand, stresses the stretch position where the muscle can generate maximum force and optimally engage the most muscle fibers.
This study would’ve been much more revealing if it had compared overhead extensions with a pushdown in which the cable runs back behind the subject. That way both exercises would be closer to an ideal resistance curve—there would be maximum resistance near the stretch point and minimum at the triceps-flexed position.
If the object was to test which position produces the most growth, arms up or arms angled down, researchers didn’t make it fair. Both exercises should have been early-phase loaded and late-phase unloaded—harder at the stretch and easiest at contraction.
But I’m no scientist. Just an older bodybuilder trying to stay built for life—and not die before I can collect Social Security.
More on mass stimulation through muscle-stretch activation in the next training newsletter (Saturday).
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 and Jonathan Lawson
www.X-Rep.com
Recommended
Lemons and Masculinity…
SAY WHAT?!
If you’re a man over the age of 40, then pay attention…
Today’s man (that’s you) is under attack from multiple angles—you’re being told that being a MAN is no longer allowed, and the foods and drinks you’re enjoying are slowly and effectively stripping away your manhood, leaving you with:
- An increasing amount of jiggly belly fat that will NOT go away
- Decreased sex-drive and E.D. problems
- Trouble sleeping
- Depression
- Lack of confidence
- Joint and muscle pain
- Risk of an early and painful death
- And just not feeling like a man anymore
But the good news is it’s NOT your fault—you’ve been lied to and deceived…
You can also feel good in knowing there’s a very simple trick you can start doing today to reclaim your manhood (and it does NOT involve a pill, cream, prescription, or increasing your T-levels).
Sound crazy?
Click here to discover 1 simple trick, you can start doing today, to reclaim your manhood (more sex, less belly fat, more confidence, more strength, and…)