M.E SCIENCE
By Jack Lotter
MAXIMUM
GROWTH
MINIMUM TIME
UNDERSTANDING THE POSITIONS OF FLEXION
PRINCIPLE FOR MUSCLE HYPERTROPHY
MORE IS BETTER, OR IS IT? CAN LESS BE MORE?
B
odybuilding is a sport
of extremes and
too often today the
notion of “more is better” is
unfortunately the norm.
Why take in 2.2g of protein
per kilogram when you can
take in 4? Why take in a certain
amount of limited calories per
day during a bulking cycle
when you can take double?
Sometimes it takes far more
discipline as an athlete to
know when to harness the
proverbial reins on our
training and diet schematic, to
know when to pull back and
to know and both understand
that “more” is not necessarily
better, but rather adopt the
philosophy that “better is
better”, to improve our training
gains, overcome plateaus
and progress onto the next
66
Muscle Evolution
level, whatever our respective
aspirations.
Too often one hears from
athletes bragging about
3.5hrs training in a day.
As much as I admire their
enthusiasm, I find myself
frowning in disdain far more.
The truth remains that unless
an athlete is using superfluous
amounts of anabolics, the
human body’s propensity to
grow and recover adequately
is put to the test, not just
in terms of induced micro-
trauma in the muscle from
training stimulus, removal
of waste products and by-
products and the hypertrophic
stimulus thereof, but remove
our central nervous system
is far too often underlooked,
and as such, misunderstood
and fatigued.
Enter POF, or ‘Positions of Flexion’. This training method was
built, developed and refined by Steve Holman, the editor of
IronMan magazine, who purportedly managed to use this exact
methodology to gain over 80lbs (36kg) of pure muscle mass, and
compete without the use of drugs in anyway whatsoever. Pretty
impressive by any standards, anabolic or otherwise.
Steve proposes that a simplified notion of training stimulus,
utilising a protocol I will detail and elaborate on further below,
with just the right amount of intensity can get maximal muscle
development without overdoing it for hours in the gym and
running the risk of overbearing our body’s propensity to recover
and release massive amounts of the dreaded cortisol. The
sessions are no longer than 45 minutes to an hour and, in my
opinion, are a fantastic training medium for natural athletes
looking to better their musculature, or as a training “bridge”
during the post-cycle therapy (PCT) cycles between androgen
usage to compete with dwindling natural anabolic hormone
levels, increased catabolism and reduced recovery rates one
endures coming off such cycles.
Positions of Flexion works on three muscle contraction
principles with maximum intensity and reduced training volume.
By utlising a spectrum of certain exercises per muscle, it is
theorised that one can activate all the necessary stimulus for
muscular hypertrophy.
THESE CONTRACTION PRINCIPLES ARE BROKEN INTO
THREE SEGMENTS DURING A WORKOUT AS FOLLOWS: