You’ve no doubt seen all the studies showing that stretch-loading builds muscle mass significantly faster than contraction emphasis…
For example, Maeo, et al., compared the triceps pushdown (contracted-position exercise) to the overhead triceps extension (stretch-position exercise. (Euro J Sports Sci. 2022.)
The stretch-loaded overhead extension built significantly more triceps mass over a 12-week period than the pushdown—one-third more mass in the long head.
Wow, that’s quite a difference. So does that mean we should ignore muscular contraction in our quest for faster hypertrophy? Well, it’s not quite that cut and dried…
In fact, you should do both at the same or different workouts. Why? For one thing, each appears to produce growth in different areas of the target muscle…
Also, according to researcher Chris Beardsley, that area-specific growth occurs more quickly from stretch-position exercises.
In other words, contracted-position growth takes longer to occur than stretch-mediated hypertrophy, which may level off.
So to build maximum mass, you’ll get a burst of size first from stretch-position exercises. But as you continue to train over the course of weeks and months, muscle-fiber girth will continue to increase from the contracted-position moves.
For maximum mass, you want that double dose of muscle growth.
That’s another reason both stretch- and contracted-position exercises are included in the Old Man, Young Muscle workout, as well as full Positions-of-Flexion programs—midrange, stretch, and contracted (there’s a full-range POF workout in chapter 9 page 68 of OMYM).
Your Efficient Mass-Building Handbook: For complete mass workouts that include Speed Sets, the ideal exercise for each muscle, and the best stretch and contracted add-on moves, get your copy of 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
X-Rep.com
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You’ve probably believed that women go crazy over huge muscles. You’ve probably even aspired to look like Arnold at some point.
The picture of the perfect physique seems to have changed over the years…
There were several years when it seemed women preferred a leaner and smaller physique like Brad Pitt’s in Fight Club.
Luckily, that seems to have just been a fad, and a more muscular look has become more desired again. Not pro bodybuilder big, but something in between with good muscularity and chiseled detail…
Alain Gonzales refers to it as the “Athletic-Aesthetic” physique, and women go wild over it.
Check out Alain’s 12-week program here: