Q: I’m super impressed! I’ve been on the Size Surge workout for four weeks, and I’ve gained 7 pounds. My shirts are tighter with no increase in my waist, so it seems to be all muscle. The program calls for a back-off, or low-intensity, week between the two training phases. Is that really necessary, or can I go right into Phase 2? I don’t want to lose any mass. Any time I’ve taken a week off or even reduced my training, I’ve gotten smaller.
A: No, do not go right into Phase 2. The back-off week (#6) between the two phases has a definite purpose. It will allow your nervous system to recharge and your muscles to completely recover so you can push into the next phase with more intensity. And during that downshift week, you should get bigger, not smaller, despite what you thought you experienced in the past. Here is what hypertrophy researcher Brad Schoenfeld, Ph.D., says about the process…
Research from my lab and others using objective measures of hypertrophy consistently show that not only don’t you lose muscle…but that it promotes growth. While you should certainly be in tune with your body and use it to make alterations in your program, it’s important to recognize that psychological factors can provide a false impression of what is actually occurring in the body over time.
In other words, you are probably imagining that you are getting smaller during a lower-intensity phase—IF you trained hard during the five weeks prior. And the Phase 1 Size Surge routine is all heavy training with plenty of muscle stimulation and trauma, so a downshift week is mandatory. Then when you hit the full-range Positions-of-Flexion workouts in Phase 2, you will continue to make big jumps in muscle size—perhaps not the 20 pounds that Jonathan gained during his very first Size Surge odyssey, but you’ve already packed on a solid 7, so there’s more to come—lots more IF you follow the protocol as outlined…
Reread Chapter 2 about how Nautilus inventor Arthur Jones would have already-big bodybuilders take many days off in a row when they first came to him to train. Then with only one workout after the layoff, they would add a full half inch to each arm measurement. Amazing! That should convince you of the hypertrophic power of stepping back to pack on more mass.
NOTE: The Size Surge Workout 2.0, the step-by-step legendary mass-building program, is only $9 HERE
Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.X-Rep.com
Mass-Building Lessons From the Master Trainer
Vince Gironda was the Iron Guru, a bodybuilding legend ahead of his time. His most famous pupil in the bodybuilding world was the very first Mr. Olympia Larry Scott, and he also trained many Hollywood stars back in the day, like Clint Eastwood, and even Arnold consulted with him and was a fan (even though Vince told Arnold that he was a “fat f**k” when he first arrived in the U.S.).
Many of Vince’s mass-building tricks and methods have been forgotten, buried by information and misinformation overload on the Internet, but now you can find them all, his true methods, in this must-have, 330-page Vince Gironda e-book anthology…
You get everything from “Train 21 Rest 7” to 10-8-6-15 to Vince’s Stone Age Nutrition, the 8×8 method and program and much, much more (remember, it’s 330 pages). And it’s on sale at a discount for a limited time: Simply use the code GIRONDA20 at checkout for an extra 20 percent off.
Vince Gironda: Legend & Myth (300-page anthology + many bonus gifts and programs) HERE