I’ve been asked why I use add-on moves after the ideal exercise for each muscle, while Mr. America/Mr. Universe Doug Brignole only does the ideal exercise and nothing more…
I go into the details in Old Man, Young Muscle, the biggest reason being that I subscribe to “variation in fiber recruitment,” as explained by researchers Fleck and Kraemer, as well as Brad Schoenfeld, Ph.D. Let’s dig a little deeper…
I put most of my chips on the ideal exercise for each muscle thanks to Doug’s analysis. Those moves get at most of the muscle fibers with a biomechanically precise line of pull—everything is in prefect alignment for optimal force production and mass stimulation plus the best resistance curve, etc.; however…
A lot of researchers suggest that every muscle has motor-unit subgroups, which can fire different bundles of fibers. To roust you out of your science-speak snore-fest, let’s look at biceps…
One subgroup may be optimally recruited when you curl to flex the elbow, and another subgroup activated when you supinate, or turn, your hand…
Those are the two functions of the biceps: elbow flexion and supination of the hand. In addition…
Different angles of pull appear to fire different motor-unit subgroups more optimally, for example a stretch-position exercise. That can activate different fiber bundles…
Of course, there is some overlap. A concentration curl in which you supinate as you curl, an Arnold favorite (Art Zeller photo below), no doubt activates both subgroups for those two functions, but…
Doing dumbbell curls with arms at your sides and back, as in an incline curl below (Gene Mozee photo) produces a different recruitment patterns to fire other subgroups and may allow you to achieve more complete development.
To repeat, the ideal exercises, due to their superior biomechanics and other factors, can produce excellent development alone. Doug’s ideal biceps exercise is alternate dumbbell curls…
You get elbow flexion plus you can produce supination with a twist of the wrist—but…
1) You don’t get the arm out and in front of the torso as you do with concentration curls.
2) You don’t achieve a full stretch and a forearms-angled-out pull as with incline curls.
So for most of us without genetic advantages and neuromuscular superiority, doing other exercises in addition to the ideal can improve mass stimulation due to unique fiber activation—firing different motor-unit subgroups…
To put it another way, for any single exercise, ALL of the fibers within the target muscle don’t have identical mechanical advantage, even if that exercise is “ideal.”
While the ideal gets you close to max-fiber recruitment, a different line of pull can activate or better engage other specific fiber subgroups for additional mass.
Back to biceps: I will do concentration curls with supination. I consider that my ideal. Then I may do stretch-position cable curls—pulling from slightly back behind my torso for a mild stretch—and cable close-grip hammer curls, thumbs up using a rope attachment, to bring in the brachialis and brachioradialis muscles.
I emphasize the ideal, supinating concentration curls, with two sets, and follow with one set of the others—or perhaps a rest/pause set…
I know that Doug disagrees. He does only the ideal exercise, which works well for him. So we’re on the same ideal-exercise road, but I veer off slightly to the add-on path to build mass…
(Thanks to trainer Vince McConnell for leading me to the above fleshed-out explanation of fiber-recruitment variation.)
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
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: