We’ve determined that pausing between each rep at the stretch—stretch-pause—is less damaging than standard sets using a controlled “explosion” at the turnaround.
The next question: Which is better for hypertrophy, stretch-pause sets or more explosive-turnaround sets? (Again, these are controlled turnarounds, not pop-goes-the-tendon bounces, jerks, or heaves at the stretch point.)
The argument for stretch-pause being best for growth is that it allows the central nervous system time to gauge the poundage and more optimally line up the actin-myosin pairings. Those slide over each other to produce muscle contraction.
It’s one reason reps slow down toward the end of a set as the fast-twitch fibers take over—those end-of-set slower reps equal optimal fast-twitch-fiber “traction.”
On the other hand, a quick turnaround can trigger the myotatic reflex. To better explain that, here’s a passage from my Positions-of-Flexion training manual 3D Muscle Building…
“This reflex can force an emergency response from the target muscle and bring new fibers into the action…and that means a bigger, better growth response. Here’s how the phenomenon is defined in the book Explosive Power, published by Health For Life:
The stretch reflex originates deep inside each muscle fiber with a structure called the muscle spindle. The muscle spindle is a complex construction of muscle protein, fluid and nervous system receptors. Within this structure is a special type of muscle fiber that does not have the contractile qualities normally associated with muscle. These special fibers, called intrafusal fibers, are wrapped with nerve cells that relay information from muscle to the central nervous system. When a muscle is stretched quickly, the tension in the intrafusal fibers stimulates these nerve cells, sending messages out to the central nervous system at great speed. In response, the central nervous system triggers a muscle reflex that generates a fast and powerful contraction. This myotatic, or stretch, reflex is a protective mechanism that provides an extra burst of strength to resist force encountered suddenly. When the reflex is triggered, a very large proportion of the muscle’s fibers suddenly contract.”
So the damage AND hypertrophy winner is standard quick turnaround sets. They appear to be more damaging but also better at fiber recruitment and therefore growth stimulation. So should you use stretch-pause sets at all? I do…
I’m experimenting with stretch-pause on my first high-rep ideal-exercise set—but only at my Saturday workouts. That’s because I only have a three-day rest till my next workout, so I want somewhat less trauma for complete damage recovery and supercompensation, or growth, to occur…
All of my other sets on Saturday are of the regular, quick-turnaround variety. Those provide plenty of extra hypertrophic firepower at that Saturday workout.
On Tuesday, I’ll have a four-day rest window after, so I do ALL sets with quick turnarounds as well as add stretch-position exercises, which are also more traumatic.
As I mentioned, I call it TNT—Traumatic/Non-Traumatic, although it should really be TLT: Traumatic/Less Traumatic, but those initials are about as exciting as this newsletter when I discuss my first bodybuilding contest. Oh, that’s tomorrow—with pics.
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.
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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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