Q: Your analysis of stretch and stretch exercises has been interesting to say the least. You’ve said that you often include an ideal-exercise set on which you pause for a count in the stretch position on every rep. Do you think stretch-pause sets cause more damage than regular sets?
A: Well, it is a stretch-hold, as Jonathan is doing on the Ab Bench above, albeit the hold is only for a second—but you’re doing it on multiple reps in succession.
We know that simply stretching a muscle does cause some damage as well as hypertrophy…
By inserting those stretch-pauses between each rep, it would seem that you produce more damage than a regular set—but consider this…
On a standard set, when you quickly move from lowering the weight to lifting it—negative to positive stroke—you amplify the stress on the muscles, tendons, and ligaments compared to pausing at the stretch point.
That’s because you use a controlled “explosion” at the turnaround. That quick reversal is fairly traumatic. It’s also more dangerous than pausing, especially on a lower-rep set during those last few difficult reps…
An extreme example is if you bounce the weight, like swole gym bro trying to slam up a new personal bench press record and having to be carted out of the gym on a gurney.
From that analysis, it appears that standard, quick-turnaround sets, even under control, are more damaging—and dangerous.
The next question: Which is better for hypertrophy, stretch-pause sets or explosive-turnaround sets?
I’ll have the answer tomorrow as well as how to integrate each into the Old Man, Young Muscle workouts.
New: 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
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: