Q: I’ve been using the POF-Power/Super-TORQ Mass Workout [in the Power-Density Mass Workout 2.0 e-book]. My mass gains have shot up significantly over the past several weeks. Alternating heavy POF work with Super TORQ [high-rep work on only one exercise] is producing the best growth response in years. My question is about the optional deadlifts that begin the Friday workout. Doing 8-10 reps hurts my back, so I’m thinking about using only one 15-to-20-rep set instead. Is that okay, or should I just train through the pain?
A: First, never “train through the pain” of injury. More on your lower back in a moment. Let’s address the question of reps…
We’ve discussed how squats or deadlifts up front in a workout can help prime anabolism for the rest of the workout. Here is what Ph.D. researchers Gabriel and Jacob Wilson found in an experiment training legs before arms…
Arms trained with legs achieved an increase in the part of the biceps with the largest cross-sectional area—the biceps peak—while no changes occurred in the arms trained alone. The arms trained with legs also had greater relative improvement in biceps curl strength than the arms trained alone as well as other favorable muscle adaptations… Studies suggest that training large bodyparts before smaller ones increases the smaller bodyparts’ growth.
Sets for legs in that experiment involved 8-12 reps, as listed in the Power-Density Mass Workout you’re following; however, we believe that the higher reps should work as well—15 to 20—maybe even better….
After all, the 20-rep squat program is a godsend for packing on muscle mass….
According to Randall Strossen, Ph.D., the classic high-rep squat regimen—one to two sets of 20-rep squats a week to begin workouts—is mass building dynamite:
Men who had been unable to register significant gains with other routines were suddenly gaining 20 pounds of muscle in a month or two.
Strossen himself gained 30 pounds of muscle in six weeks on such a program. And those gains were from only one set of high-rep squats two times a week to begin his workouts.
As for your back pain, you should address that NOW before it gets worse. Renowned rehab specialist Rick Kaselj has just released his new time-tested program Fix My Back Pain…
We highly recommend it to everyone. It’s quick pre- and postworkout moves you can do to rehab your own back. And you can continue with your regular workouts. Simply add these proven back-fixer-uppers to get yours to a pain-free state….
Plus, you’ll get Rick’s 48-Hour Back Pain Rescue Guide at no charge. Check it out HERE <==
Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.X-Rep.com
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