Q: In Old Man, Young Muscle you discuss muscle synergy during compound [multi-joint] exercises like squats. Most of the ideal exercises are isolation. I’m a big believer in the synergistic mass-building power of those big exercises, and in past Postions-of-Flexion workouts, you usually started body parts with a big “midrange” exercise. Is it detrimental to still favor compound exercises first?
A: In OMYM “synergy” is defined like this: The interaction or cooperation of two or more things to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects.
In previous POF workouts, most target-muscle routines began with a synergistic compound exercise: decline presses for chest, some type of multi-joint squat for quads, row for mid back, pulldown or chin-up for lats, etc.
I still believe in synergy and see no problem if you want to begin a target muscle with a so-called big exercise; however, that strategy is somewhat less efficient and more dangerous, especially for older bodybuilders like me…
The ideal exercises are a godsend for geezer muscle seekers. They allow the most mass-building bang for your effort buck with near total safety—no joint-crushing, spine-mushing poundages necessary.
That’s especially true with the OMYM workout in which you start with a high-rep set and use short rests to accomplish maximum mass stimulation.
Notice that the OMYM workout still includes synergistic moves, like dumbbell squats for quads AFTER sissies, dumbbell rows AFTER one-arm back pulls, and a few others…
So I’m with you on the synergy concept being important. At my age, I just prefer to do them later in the target-muscle routine for less danger. Plus, I believe the ideal exercises provide more efficiency for optimal hypertrophy, so I emphasize them up front.
Your Quick Fast-Mass Blueprint: Learn how to accelerate your mass gains with the STX method, Speed Sets, and complete ideal-exercise-based training. The 35-minute workouts also include the best stretch and contracted add-on moves. Get 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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