I’ve been discussing how to mitigate the major factors that cause damage—too much of which can derail growth…
1) Too many sets to failure—high-rep and low-rep sets both cause damage in different ways.
2) Too much volume—each additional set has diminishing returns.
3) Too much heavy negative, or eccentric, emphasis.
4) Too much muscle-stretch work.
I mentioned that the Old Man Young Muscle protocol can help minimize most of those…
1) One high-rep set and three lower-rep sets per muscle twice a week—so eight sets total per week. (You may be able to handle more depending on your age, recovery ability, etc.)
2) 20-second rests between sets.
3) 2 exercises per muscle—ideal plus one, usually rotating a different add-on move each workout—either stretch or contracted.
The way the 35-minute OMYM workouts are set up, there’s a three-day rest from Saturday to Tuesday, and a four-day rest from Tuesday to the next Saturday.
Because of that, the less-traumatic contracted-position add-on exercise is for Saturday due to only three days of recovery.
I save the more-traumatic stretch add-on move for Tuesday’s workout, after which I have four recovery days instead of three.
So my biceps workouts may be…
Saturday
Ideal: One-arm cable curls, 20 / / 10
Contracted: Facedown one-arm concentration curls, 10 / / 7
Tuesday
Ideal: Simultaneous, separate-handle cable curls, 20 / / 10
Stretch: Incline curls, 10 / / 7
So that’s 8 sets a week for biceps, which works well for an old guy like me. As mentioned above, you could add sets if you’re younger and/or more genetically gifted; however, keep your set total in the 8-to-12 range per week and see how it goes.
Should all of those sets be to failure? That’s tomorrow’s topic.
Sculpt your perfect physique: Get the ideal exercise for each muscle, the best stretch and contracted 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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