Q: I just finished 8 weeks on your beginning program [in the Quick-Start Muscle-Building Guide]. What muscle attack should I do next?
A: After the beginning programs in the Quick-Start Muscle-Building Guide, try the workout on pages 21-23 of The X-centric Mass Workout. You will still be doing a big midrange exercise and a more isolated contracted-position exercise for each muscle, as you are now, but you’ll use more volume and specific mass-building variations (power + density)…
For example, you still do squats and leg extensions as your quad workout, but instead of a couple of standard sets of each, you do this:
Leg presses or Squats, 4 x 9, 7, 5, 7NA
Leg extensions, 4 x 10
On the first exercise, you pyramid—add some weight to each set so your reps go down: 9, 7, 5. Rest two to three minutes between sets to generate max power. That will improve your nerve force and muscle size and strength on the power plane…
Then on your last set of squats, reduce the weight and do it negative-accentuated (NA) style; that is, one second up and six seconds down for 7 NA reps. That provides a new mass stimulus and triggers muscle trauma, which will help you burn fat during the muscle-recovery process (the extra damage burns calories to repair).
On leg extensions, you do four sets, in 4X style. You pick a weight with which you can get 15, but you only do 10—that first set is easy. Rest 30 to 40 seconds, then do 10 more—the second set is a little harder. Rest 30 to 40 seconds, then do 10 more—almost can’t get 10. Rest 30 to 40 seconds, then do a last (fourth) set of as many as you can. You should fail at less than 10 on that fourth set. If not, add weight at your next workout.
The 4X technique finishes off the key 2A growth fibers with a quick four-minute density blast. You’ll feel these, believe us. And what a pump!
You do the pyramid + 4X for every muscle. That will prepare you for a more extensive POF mass-building routine that includes traumatic stretch-position exercises—like overhead extensions for triceps and sissy squats for quads. For example, the Direct/Indirect Workout in that same e-book (pages 28-30 of The X-centric Mass Workout).
Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.X-Rep.com
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