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? [Read more…]
Mass Mantra #12
Here’s a recent quote from respected hypertrophy researcher Brad Schoenfeld, Ph.D: [Read more…]
Mr. America’s Riled Response
In a previous newsletter I printed a conversation between myself and my friend Bill, an avid climber and mountain biker who is also a retired physicians assistant.
We discussed how some compound, or multi-joint, exercises may be beneficial to some trainees depending on their goals—for example [Read more…]
Compound Moves for Mass?
After a previous newsletter that included a conversation with my friend Bill about compound, or multi-joint, moves vs. Doug Brignole’s ideal exercises, most of which are isolation, he had more to add… [Read more…]
New Angle to Push Your Muscle Size Higher
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)…
[Read more…]Shocking New Muscle Mass: TORQ – DP 4X – Modified Pre-Ex
Q: I do four-week phases of different workouts from your various e-books. That strategy works great for me. I’ve gained 10 pounds of muscle in three months, and that’s after training consistently for 10 years. I’m getting ready to start the Modified Pre-Ex 3X Mass Workout. After all the positive talk about TORQ, I was thinking about using that on the first exercise, the isolation move. Is that a good idea for building new muscle mass?
A: Absolutely. We’ve talked about that before, and we used to use TORQ-ed up modified Pre-Ex as a shock tactic in our old Freaky Friday workouts… [Read more…]