Q: On the X-centric Mass Workout, I’m getting a lot bigger and stronger using the 4×10 finisher for all body parts. It’s great! My question is, as I get stronger should I stop at 10 on the last set, even if it’s easy? Or should I keep repping until muscle failure [on the fourth set]? I know to go up in weight at the next workout, but I don’t want to waste the one where the weight is easier.
A: For the uninitiated, 4×10 (from the 4X Mass Workout e-book) is taking a weight that you can get about 15 reps with, but you only do 10. Rest 30 seconds, then do 10 more and so on until you complete four sets. If the weight is right, you shouldn’t get 10 on your last set or two. If you do get 10 on your last set, add weight at your next workout…
So what happens as your strength increases and you get 10 on the fourth set fairly easily? We suggest you continue repping until you can’t get another—even if you do 12, 13 or 14. You want the last set to be all out so you get to as many muscle fibers as possible—but here’s another option that we first tried on strict cable curls that blew up our arms bigger than ever at the end of our biceps workout…
If you get 10 on the fourth set, rest 30 seconds and do a fifth set. If you get 10 again, rest 30 seconds and do another set. Keep doing that until you can’t get 10. That will usually be only one or two extra sets. It’s brutal, but it takes the muscle to a growth-producing place it’s never been before.
At your next workout, increase the weight and go back to 4×10—which should really be 10, 10, 9, 8. Then when you get stronger and do all four sets with 10 reps, add a set or two—until 10 reps isn’t possible. Add weight at your next workout so you’re back to 4×10 and so on.
That density-expansion technique can be applied to any of the 4×10 finishing exercises in The X-centric Mass Workout—or the last exercise of any workout, for that matter (including 4X workouts, obviously). It’s a real growth getter!
Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.X-Rep.com
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