Q: Should I flex and squeeze the target muscle at the top of each rep? I don’t like wasting time in the gym. I want to get the most out of each set.
A: Only on specific exercises should you squeeze at the top of each rep…
Those exercises are contracted-position moves—where there is maximum resistance at the flex point. For example, triceps extensions…
For most ideal exercises like dumbbell decline extensions or sissy squats, the squeeze is not necessary. Notice that there’s no resistance at the top of those; the mass-building benefits are in the bottom “stretch” half of the exercises’ stroke…
In fact, with a flex on those, you will fatigue the muscle prematurely, which may have you stopping the set early due to top-end fatigue…
Recent research is showing that resistance where the muscle is elongated is the main key to optimal hypertrophy stimulation, which is why the ideal resistance curve is early-phase (stretch) loaded and late-phase (contracted) unloaded…
So why do contracted-position exercises, like pushdowns, at all? According to hypertrophy researcher Chris Beardsley…
Different exercises can cause different regions of a muscle to grow…. When a muscle fiber produces a large contractile force with its active elements, it bulges outward because of the large number of actin-myosin cross bridges that form, which stimulates the fiber to grow in diameter.
In other words, stretch resistance and contraction resistance appear to have unique growth effects on the target muscle. While that’s somewhat controversial, it is more accepted that different exercises produce a variation in fiber recruitment…
It appears that you get different fibers to fire or at least a unique order of contraction with different exercises…
That’s why I recommend either a stretch- and/or a contracted-position exercise as an add-on AFTER the ideal exercise. So for chest…
Ideal: DB decline presses
Add-on: Flat-bench flyes (stretch) or cable crossovers (contracted)
For exercise classifications—ideal, stretch and contracted—for the most popular exercises, see the POF Exercise Matrix on pages 42 and 43 of Old Man, Young Muscle.
Latest Release: 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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