In Chapter 9 of Old Man, Young Muscle, you’ll find the Stretch-First POF Workout…
It’s a great variation from using the ideal exercise first, as you start with the important full-stretch range with high reps—for example, dumbbell flyes first for 20 reps followed by the ideal chest move, decline presses for two sets—10, 7.
As many studies are showing, stretch loading produces the most muscle growth quickly…
Yes, the ideal exercises have some stretch loading as well; however, using a unique FULL-stretch move first is a good switch to get unique fiber activation and perhaps more fast-twitch fibers into the action due to the myotatic reflex from full stretch…
That reflex is basically an emergency response from the nervous system that triggers more fibers to fire in order to prevent injury from the full stretch…
But what about using a contracted-position exercise first?
In a previous newsletter, I mentioned the stiff-arm cable pull-in for lats (pics below). It’s a variation of the stiff-arm pulldown, only you set the high pulleys out wide so you pull your arms into your body instead of driving them straight back…
That creates a more accurate line of pull for the lat fibers—pulling the arms straight back is not nearly as lat-centric.
If you have trouble feeling your lats, try doing the cable stiff-arm pull-ins first for a high-rep set before moving to the standard cable pull-ins…
Some of the bodybuilders using the OMYM workout and/or the STX method have said that the occlusion, or blood-flow blockage, from the contracted-position exercise first produces better results from the ideal exercise after.
Give it a try for more muscle size. You can find contracted-position exercises, as well as the stretch-position and ideal moves, for every muscle in the POF Exercise Matrix on pages 42 and 43 of Old Man, Young Muscle.
Your Efficient Mass-Building Handbook: For more mass-building tips like the above plus complete workouts that include 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
www.X-Rep.com
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