Q: Being drug-free, I was very interested in the advice from Bodybuilder X [in The 4X Mass Workout]. Considering that he has trained with a lot of pros while he was using drugs and he has also trained drug-free, his advice is priceless. For drug-free guys he says he likes 3 weeks of high-intensity-style power training alternated with 3 weeks of lower-intensity, slightly higher-volume workouts [similar to the 4X Mass Workout]. What do you think about this: 3 weeks of total-10x10 training, followed by 3 weeks of total-4X workouts, followed by 3 weeks of the Power Pyramid [a straight-set lower-rep Positions-of-Flexion workout listed in The X-traordinary Muscle-Building Workouts e-book]?

A: That looks like a great mass-building, progress-yielding progression. You shift gears every 3 weeks for plenty of muscle-stimulation tweaks...

10x10 for the first 3 weeks gives you PURE DENSITY training so you totally blitz that side of the key 2A mass fibers. Your muscle pumps will be outrageous, but three weeks is about right to get the most from that style of training. Plus, that’s when you’ll start getting bored doing 10 sets of one exercise for each muscle (even though with 30 seconds between sets it only takes about 10 minutes to completely thrash a bodypart).

The next 3 weeks is total-4X workouts, which gives you a mix of POWER AND DENSITY. Only the last set of each 4-set sequence is to all-out exhaustion--much like 10x10. But you use heavier weights than on 10x10. That’s because you only do 4 sets. You also do more than one exercise per bodypart, so you get new mass stimulation. Fewer sets on more exercises gives you a power edge, a multi-angled mass-building attack and a unique deep muscle burn.

For the last 3 weeks you use multi-angular Positions of Flexion--the Power Pyramid from the XMBW e-book. That shifts your muscles into PURE-POWER mode with only minor density edges. That will satisfy your craving for heavier poundages and build new neuromuscular efficiency--which will give your muscles more punch if you cycle back to 10x10 again for another 3-week pure-density blast.

We haven’t tried it, but on paper your 9-week workout stack should be an incredibly effective mass jack. Prepare to grow!

Q: I notice that you guys always work abs with a leg-raise exercise first. Why don’t you ever do crunches first to really burn out the abs? Aren’t crunches best?

A: Incline leg raises train the entire rectus abdominis with help from the hip flexors. In other words, leg-raise moves are the big compound exercises for abs. Even though there is an emphasis on the so-called lower abs, the entire muscle gets hit with muscle teamwork (synergy).

So incline leg raises are to abs what squats are to quads--the big midange move. Crunches are more isolated, like leg extensions for quads--the contracted-position move. Therefore crunches are best used to finish off the abs with tension and occlusion, or blood-flow blockage.

You can train crunches first every so often, but keep in mind that it’s pre-exhaustion. Once again, think about what happens when you train leg extensions first right before squats. It can be good for a few workouts, but your quads are generating much less force on the main exercise, squats, because they are prefatigued.

So most of the time keep kneeups first for your best ab-etching burst.

Note: For quick, effective, full-range ab routines as well as ab-muscle analysis, diet tips and the top-9 ab myths, see the X-traordinary Abs e-book.