Q: Loved the newsletters on the direct-indirect mass effect. I have a cable setup, so I’m wondering what you think of face pulls for indirect middle delts and upper back toward the end of the workout. I thought it could replace the dumbbell lateral shrugs you suggested.
A: For the uninitiated, you train a muscle directly first, with the ideal exercise and usually an add-on move.
Then you train that same muscle indirectly later in the workout. That means you get short rests during direct work and then a longer rest before you hit that target muscle again with indirect work…
For example, for delts you emphasize the ideal exercise, which is incline one-arm laterals or, if you have a cable setup, one-arm laterals with pulley set at waist height. You can follow with a contracted-position exercise, like one-arm standing laterals…
That delt routine gives you the short-rest mass effect for your middle heads…
Then later in the workout, around 10 to 15 minutes later, you do indirect work to hit the muscle again, which provides a long-rest mass effect…
For indirect upper-back and middle-delts, I like lateral shrugs. It’s almost like a partial dumbbell upright row with dumbbells out wide and a shrug at the top. Here’s a seated cable version…
I’ve found that standing and slightly back from the cables is better than seated to get more middle-head work. If you use dumbbells, lean forward slightly, pulling dumbbells to about waist height.
Face pulls are a good replacement move—if you can tolerate it. Shoulder-joint pain means you should do the lateral shrugs instead…
Remember, no joint pain is a good thing when it comes to riding the longevity gain train.
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.
