How to Make Room for More Muscle Growth

Remember when you started to grow and your shirts were getting too tight? Imagine that shirt being made of some super-strong material and it actually kept you from growing any more. It would hold back your real potential for muscle growth, wouldn’t it?

That describes the fascia. Fascia are strong sheaths of connective tissue that surround your muscles. It’s like luggage filled with muscle that keeps it from flopping around everywhere. Once it’s full you can’t fit any more of your “stuff” because there’s not room.

Where does your stuff/muscle go when the luggage doesn’t get any bigger? Nowhere. Muscle growth comes to a screeching halt because the muscle has nowhere to expand and grow.

Expanding or stretching the fascia is much like undoing the zipper on expandable luggage… it allows the luggage to fit more of your valuables. Stretching and expanding the fascia allows the muscle to expand.

Fascial stretching is accomplished by first filling it up with blood, maximizing the PUMP then stretching it vigorously. It’s like jiggling to zippers and loosening it before opening it. Expanding the fascia a little at a time to give your muscle room to grow.

There are several ways to accomplish this. Personally I like a variation of Steve Holman’s
Position of Flexion. Use high reps sets of a contracted position exercise in superset with a stretch position exercise also for high reps and hold the stretch on the last rep.

An example would be the straight side of a Scott Curl Bench (spider curl side) contracting tightly at the top followed immediately by the angled side of the bench, which works the biceps in the stretch position bench. 3 or 4 sets of 15 to 25 reps will accomplish the goal. Of course you’ll want to follow his concept on every muscle group. Fill up those muscles then force the fascia to expand.