Q: I love Positions of Flexion. I can totally feel it working new fibers, and the pump is off the charts. I’ve been doing midrange, stretch, and then contracted, but I just saw that you sometimes recommend the stretch-position exercise last. Is that a good idea? Why do that?
A: The standard order is midrange, stretch, and contracted, as you’ve been doing. For example, for triceps, it’s close-grip bench presses (midrange), overhead extensions (stretch), and pushdowns (contracted)…
The reason that’s best MOST of the time is because you get muscle synergy on the midrange move—it’s usually a multi-joint exercise, so multiple muscles work together so you’re driving up a heavier load. That produces massive fiber activation.
Next, with the stretch move, you trigger an emergency response from the target muscle. Hitting it in the stretch position with overload tricks the nervous system into thinking there is
Okay, you’ve got more fibers activated, so you now go to a contracted-position isolation exercise. With that, you can best feel the target muscle contracting. And that allows you to really squeeze and fire the extra fibers “awakened” by the stretch—not to mention you finish with a skin-stretching pump.
So what happens if you want a new angle and switch up the order to go midrange, contracted, stretch? For one thing, the muscle is more pumped when you get to the stretch exercise, and there’s more fatigue, so you’ll be able to focus on and feel the stretch more. That can be important for triggering anabolic hormone release within the muscle, which stretch moves do well.
While that’s a great thing in and of itself, we do it more to force the muscle to cope with a NEW stress every so often—to shock more size. We have a handful of go-to moves without the POF protocol, so one way to get change to gain without switching to inferior exercises is to shuffle the position order…
Another favorite is modified Pre-Exhaustion. This does NOT mean supersets—you simply move the contracted-position exercise to the first spot. Then you do the big midrange move and end with stretch….
By isolating the target muscle right off the bat, you give it a direct hit. Now you’ll feel the muscle much better on the multi-joint midrange move that’s second. Remember, it’s contracted, midrange, stretch for modified Pre-Ex…
Stretch last and/or contracted first—change to gain to give you a new angle on your training and a big mass blast.
1) The Pre-Ex 3X Mass Workout: pre-exhaustion and modified pre-ex (full programs with 3X, rest/pause,
2) The official Positions-of-Flexion mass-building manual, 3D Muscle Building (includes full programs and variations), is available HERE <==
Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.X-Rep.com
Testosterone prescriptions do more HARM than good for older men
Millions of men are struggling with the problems associated with low-T in today’s world, such as extra belly and chest fat, low energy and stamina, lack of sexual desire, ED problems, and loss of muscle.
Sadly, millions of men also turn to Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT) to try to overcome these problems and try to feel like a new man again…BUT there are some VERY concerning problems with TRT that every man NEEDS to know.
After reading the article below, you might want to consider alternate routes of boosting your T levels naturally instead of through something that’s potentially as harmful as TRT…
–> Why Testosterone Replacement Therapy can do more HARM than good (for any ladies reading this, please pass this on to your husband or boyfriend if they are using or have considered using TRT)