Q: I like the idea of doing something different on the last set of a 4X sequence. You mentioned a drop set, and that works great. What about a heavier pure-negative set? Like on curls my partner would lift it for me, and I would lower [a heavy weight] slowly for six negative reps.
A: That depends on what you’re trying to accomplish. Pure negatives—your partner lifts the weight, and you lower in six seconds—are designed to attack the force-generating myofibrils in the muscle fibers, which means they are primarily for strength building with only minor size effects, so not really building a lot more muscle…
The myofibrils are actin and myosin pairings. Those strands pull across one another to produce power. By lowering a heavy weight slowly, you’re putting on the brakes as the actin and myosin strands grab and release for slow lowering. That “friction” can cause muscle damage, which is why pure negatives get you so sore (that can be a good thing, as you’ll see)…
Realize that when your partner lifts the weight, tension is removed from the target muscle, so you are essentially doing a set of rest/pause pure negatives. That’s another reason they are primarily for strength rather than size—it’s heavy single negatives with short rests between…
We prefer an X-centric, or negative-accentuated, set. On each rep, YOU raise the weight in one second, then lower in six—no need for a partner. Use a weight that allows about seven reps so you get 49 seconds of tension time. That will give you plenty of myofibrillar trauma from the slow lowering (yes, you will get sore—just not as sore as from pure negatives), and you’ll get constant target-muscle tension throughout the set to build more muscle…
What’s so great about CONTINUOUS tension? Well, a major contributor to muscle size is the sarcoplasm. That’s the energy fluid in the fibers. To force that to expand for major muscle fullness, you have to keep tension on the muscle for longer periods and/or use short rests between standard 10-to-12-rep sets—as with 4X mass training…
So on a 4X sequence, you’d pick a weight with which you can get 15 reps, but only do 10. Rest 30 seconds, then do 10 more, rest 30 seconds and go all out on your THIRD set. Now reduce the weight, rest 45 to 60 seconds and do an X-centric set—one second up, six seconds down.
The longer rest after the third set will allow extra energy regeneration so that you can produce more force on the X-centric set (use that longer rest if you opt for a heavier pure-negative set as well). X-centric-style training is an excellent method to build more mass via sarcoplasmic AND myofibrillar expansion—plus it helps you burn more fat outside the gym…
How can X-centric training build more muscle and still burn body fat after you’re done working out? It’s because the myofibrillar trauma requires energy to repair the microtears that the slow lowering produces. And a lot of that repair energy comes from bodyfat—your metabolism is ramped up for days after as regeneration happens, so you’re burning fat continuously (pure negatives do that too, as the major muscle soreness indicates)…
So as you can see, combining 4X and X-centric training is excellent for BIG gaining—without tendon, ligament, and joint straining.
Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.X-Rep.com
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