Home Gym Handbook: Review by Charles West, IRONMAN Aug '91

I have to admit that I bought IRONMAN’s Home Gym Handbook because it’s the first book to contain information on the Positions-of-Flexion (POF) training approach. Steve Holman, the book’s author and IRONMAN’s editor in chief, developed POF, and the magazine frequently runs articles that feature the logical muscle-building protocol.

When I received the book, I immediately turned to the advanced POF chapter and devoured the information. It explained why and how each muscle group has three positions of flexion—midrange, stretch and contraction—with each position requiring only one exercise. Training each muscle’s three positions helps create fuller more-complete development—and it does so a lot faster than the random shotgun approaches out there with no rhyme or reason behind exercise selection.

I decided to put POF to the gym and test one piece at a time, starting immediately, so I replaced my regular arm routine with the POF regimen at my next workout.

After five sets of biceps and five sets of triceps, I was a little taken aback by the growth ache I got in my arms from so few sets. The response might have occurred due to the change in training stimulus, but whatever the reason, I found these two POF routines extremely effective.

Then a funny thing happened. Instead of shelving the book in my bodybuilding library—I train in a commercial gym, so I didn’t think I’d be interested in the rest—I decided to give it a quick read—a decision triggered by the effective info I gleaned from the POF chapter. Here are a few of the interesting things I found:

In Part 1: Under Construction, Holman explains, in three chapters, how to set up a home gym, how to make it as productive as possible and what to buy as add-ons. These chapters got the wheels turning, even in this commercial-gym advocate’s mind.

In Part II: Strategic Home Training, which consists of eight chapters, Holman talks about everything from muscle growth and the Efficiency-of-Effort concept to choosing the proper exercises and recovery ability. He also provides effective bodybuilding routines for the reader to mull over, including complete regimens for hardgainers, women and athletes.
All of those routines are tied together by a common concept: phase training, a type of intensity regulation schedule based on Dr. Hans Selye’s General Adaptation Syndrome of stress. I won’t detail the entire philosophy here; suffice it to say that it warrants serious experimentation by anyone interested in perpetual progress in the gym, home or otherwise.
Along the way, Holman discusses a weight-free workout, specialization and tried-and-true intensity tactics, such as forced reps, descending sets and rest/pause. He also details a few new ones, like slow-mo training, 1 1/4 reps and isometric stops. Brutal techniques but very interesting and all worth some experimentation in the gym.

The advanced training chapter was my favorite. It’s where Holman dissects his Positions-of-Flexion theory and then rebuilds it by elaborating on its rationality. He analyzes each bodypart, breaking it down into its individual positions and describing the movement necessary to work each particular “angle.” Then he constructs complete POF routines and an advanced itinerary with phase training at its core. This is a very comprehensive chapter, one I read a second time for motivation as well as to get a total grasp of POF. It’s truly a revolutionary concept.

To tell you the truth, I was surprised by how much I liked this book, considering that I don’t train at home—although that’s where I started many years ago. With its 140 pages of practical information and concepts it won me over, plus the fact that Holman never fails to explain to the reader why something works; he doesn’t expect you to take things at face value.

And what about the home-gym philosophy? Was I swayed? I have to admit that after reading this book I’m thinking about buying a bench, a weight set and a few extra plates or maybe the PowerBlock selectorized dumbbell set—nothing elaborate, but just enough equipment so that I can do arms and delts at home, or maybe train calves and forearms in the morning instead of driving all the way to the gym.

I may never become a total home-gym convert, but I did learn from this book. Total home-gym training isn’t for everybody, but everyone can benefit from having a basic home gym–and this book can show you the way.