I really miss my friend Mr. America/Mr. Universe Doug Brignole and our back-and-forths on training. His biomechanics knowledge was at the savant level, and his ideas did so much to make my workouts—as well as many others all over the world—more efficient and safer…
One thing Doug and I disagreed on was the need for exercise variation. He believed you could get maximum development with one ideal exercise for each muscle—nothing more…
I, on the other hand, think that the ideal provides “optimal” mass stimulation, but that add-on exercises can provide variation in muscle-fiber recruitment via unique resistance points and training the target muscle along different planes of motion…
And therefore those add-ons can “add on” more mass…
For example, the deltoid is divided into three heads—front, side, and rear. Do you need only one exercise for each of those? Possibly. Each is a small segment of muscle; however, check out this pic of 20-year-old Tristyn Lee’s delt…
Where does the medial head end and the rear head begin? Look at all of those fiber bundles. Some researchers have said that in reality the deltoid has more than 10 “heads.”
Now, you probably don’t need 10 different exercises; however, I would think that different angles of pull would line up some fibers better than others…
For example, for the posterior head, perhaps a downward-angled rear lateral with cables at one workout and a more horizontal pull at a different workout, like a standard rear-lateral raise with dumbbells…
The first provides the rear heads with the ideal resistance curve at a downward angle; the second, with dumbbells, provides the most resistance at the top weakest position along with a more horizontal line of pull…
I discussed the medial head a few newsletters ago. Using a one-arm cable lateral, the ideal, plus a forward high cable pull did great things for my delt roundness…
I’m sure it was due to a unique line of pull as well as a different max-contraction point—low vs. high.
You could apply this to every muscle. For example, decline press vs. flat- or even low-incline cable flyes. Each of those may affect unique areas of the pec muscle to a degree. There’s a reason it’s fan-shaped—multiple lines of pull…
Of course, if you want to do only one exercise for each muscle, the ideal gives you the most mass bang for your effort buck. In other words, that’s the one to emphasize for the most muscle size.
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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