All this discussion on stretch and ideal exercises had me remembering a study from my Iron Man magazine days that has significant correlation to efficient mass building…
The exercise used was barbell squats, shallow, 0 to 60 degrees, or deep full-range, 0 to 120 degrees. It was a 12-week study. (Eur J Appl Physiol, 2013. Bloomquist, et al.)
Muscle growth was measured at several position on the front thigh, no doubt to account for any area-specific hypertrophy.
The deep squats, which put the quads in a more elongated, or stretched, position on each rep showed greater muscle growth in all areas of the quadriceps, especially closest to the knee.
The researchers said that growth is not necessarily modulated by a greater range of motion, but by effort in the more stretched range specifically.
In other words, it’s not the range of motion that’s the get-bigger trigger, but rather that the muscle achieves more stretch. And more growth happened with full-range movement even with lighter loads compared to partials.
Heavier top-end partials aren’t nearly as effective for hypertrophy—or perhaps you just have to do a lot more of them, as cyclists and sprinters do (I discussed that in a previous newsletter).
Ah, but what about partials in stretch-area of the stroke? Years ago I wrote about X-Only training, doing X-Rep partials for entire sets, only moving in the bottom third of the range of motion where stretch occurs. That’s the optimal force-generating, superior-fiber-recruitment area.
I’ve mentioned how eight-time Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman used this X-Only method on many of his exercises, including bench presses—the bottom half of the range—and shrugs, the bottom third. (See Beyond X-Rep Muscle Building for a complete look at his training day by day with exercise analysis.)
Did it contribute to his mass? Well…
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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ELIMINATE SHOULDER PAIN
Shoulder pain can affect your workouts forever. That’s not good!
That’s why we’re recommending advice from injury specialist Rick Kaselj, MS. His tips can help make your shoulders nearly bullet-proof.
Here are a few general tips from Rick (he goes into more detail in his program)…
Top 5 Tips To Bullet-Proof Your Shoulders
- Build Tension in Your Lats. When doing shoulder exercises, activate your lats and keep your shoulders happy.
- Prime Up Your Muscles. Most people do a warm-up that just lubricates the joint, but you need to activate and turn on all the muscles in your upper body.
- Technique, Technique, Technique. This is the number one reason why people injure their shoulders. You can’t go to the gym every day and work on your max lift.
- Watch Out for Fatigue. Cooking your smaller muscles in your shoulder complex, and that increases the risk of shoulder injury and pain.
- Work on Your Shoulder Blade Muscles. Many strength coaches will say you’re wasting your time on this, but if you want to have bullet-proof shoulders, you need to work on them.
Get all of Rick’s tips and tricks for pain-free workouts below: