positions of flexion Archives

Bigger, Rounder Attention-Grabbing Shoulders

Q: Broad shoulders get girls’ attention, but mine are narrow. And on top of that, my delts are flat. Should I do more presses to round them out? I notice in 3D Muscle Building that you have presses as more of a front-delt midrange exercise. Aren’t they good for side delts, too? BTW, I love 4X mass method and am using it almost exclusively.

A: Overhead presses primarily train the front-delt heads. Plus, they can impinge the shoulder capsule if performed incorrectly. That’s why we generally suggest doing them at the end of our delt routine. A good Positions-of-Flexion full-range shoulder hit, 4X style on every move, would be…

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Triple-Threat Approach to Massive Muscle Growth

Q: I’m a big believer in your Positions-of-Flexion workouts. I have gotten more growth with that [3-exercise approach] than with anything I’ve tried. One exercise I often have a problem with is incline curls [the stretch move for biceps]. Is there a substitute?

A: Thanks for the POF props. A lot of trainees find the simplified 3-way full-range approach a logical way to more size and muscle fullness. It’s an efficient method for picking exercises to train a muscle completely with just a few exercises. You get muscle synergy, stretch overload, continuous tension/occlusion, and anabolic hormone release as well as full-range fiber activation…

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Top 3 In-the-Gym Fat-Burning Tricks

Q: What can I do during my workouts to get leaner right now? I have some pounds to lose, especially around my middle. My goal this year is to see abs all summer, so I want to get rid of the fat fast.

A: You may be doing some of these things already, but here are our top-3 tips to ramp up fat burning in your weight-training workouts (of course, you also have to adjust your eating to make these tricks super-effective):

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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)…

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High-Rep Overload for Muscle Growth—How Much Is Too Much

Q: I’m intrigued by the Super TORQ ultra-high-rep approach. But I’m also making great gains with your standard 3-exercise Positions of Flexion training. Can I use his method on one of the three exercises for each bodypart in the POF routine, or would that be too much?

A: If you’ve read the interview with Doug Brignole in The Ultimate Power-Density Mass Workout 2.0 and checked out his program there, you can see that he only does ONE key exercise for each target muscle with that extreme high-rep approach…

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TORQ Your Abs to Whittle Your Middle

Q: Do you guys ever use Super TORQ (50-40-30-20-10) on abs? I’m using your Positions of Flexion, so I do incline knee-ups and full-range crunches. But I can’t get anywhere near 50 reps on incline kneeups. Should I just skip them?

A: Yes, Super TORQ is great for abs! No, you should not skip knee-ups…

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Small Bones, Big Arms

Q: I’ve been training like a madman for six months, but my arms haven’t budged. I’m getting stronger, and I do see more veins on my biceps, but my arms are still skinny. A guy at the gym told me it’s because I have small bones. My wrists are under 7 inches around, and he said I can’t expect much size with small wrists. Is that true?

A: Um, in a word, NO. It’s not true. The size of your wrist has nothing to do with where your biceps and triceps attach, how much muscle-fiber density your muscles have, or your ability to pack on muscle mass.

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Eye-Popping Biceps Peak—and More Muscle on Your Physique

Q: I have X-traordinary Arms and really appreciate the “in-for-out, out-for-in” rule. My question is, because concentration curls are an “in” exercise and work the outer head, should I do those first if I want to concentrate on more biceps peak?

A: Yes, switching the order of the exercises in Positions-of-Flexion protocol can positively affect a target-muscle’s development. Biceps is a perfect example.

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One-Station Mass Attacks (Improvise for Muscle Size)

Q: My gym always seems to be crowded—and people “camp out” on equipment. It’s hard to work in because I’m using the 4X method and rest only 30 seconds between sets (I love the Positions-of-Flexion version). Should I just lengthen my rest times to work in on a piece of equipment?

A: If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. In other words, you can “camp out” on equipment too—sometimes you can do your entire POF 4X bodypart routine in one spot. For example…

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Rotation for New Mass Creation (automatic anabolism)

Q: I’ve been using all-heavy training (6-8 reps) on everything up until now. I just started using your 4X method, and I swear I can already feel new growth happening. It’s also a relief on my tattered joints. I want to try it exclusively for a month or two. Will my weights increase or should I add sets? Just looking for the best “change to gain.”

A: Since this is your first time using the 4X mass method, you’ll get stronger as your muscle grow more adept at DENSITY training…

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