Q: I heard that you guys prescribe high-rep sets to etch in muscle cuts. That’s wrong. I’m a certified personal trainer, and I learned that high reps do not make a muscle more defined. You can only do that with diet to thin your skin.
A: You’re correct that higher-rep sets don’t “etch in muscle cuts” per se; however, as we discuss in our Fat-to-Muscle e-book, high-rep sets, 15 to 20, do heighten muscle burn, and that lactic acid surge can increase growth hormone output. [Can J App Phys. 22:244-255. 1997.] GH has been shown in research studies to be an extremely potent fat burner. In other words, it thins the skin by reducing subcutaneous fat—and that eventually gives you more muscle detail.
While the bodybuilders of yesteryear used to think that increasing their rep range on exercises like leg extensions and concentration curls were directly chiseling the muscle they were working, the resulting fat loss and muscle detail they got was actually due to more GH release from an increase in lactic acid. After all, spot reducing an area, like the abs, isn’t possible—or is it?…
Studies show that one barrier to shedding fat from the largest storage depots, like the abdomen and the back of the thigh, is lack of blood flow. If you increase the capillary beds with some higher-rep sets, fat mobilization should be enhanced there. While
And while we’re on the subject, stretch-position exercises in Positions-of-Flexion training, like incline curls for biceps and pullovers for lats, can also add to the fat-to-muscle effect. Here’s what top researcher Jerry Brainum had to say after reviewing a study on that topic…
Stretching specifically increases the release in
muscle of insulin-like growth factor 1. IGF-1 is considered the primary anabolic mechanism for releasing growth hormone and is essential for muscular growth and repair following exercise.
Once again, you get GH release from muscle stretch, so fat-burning is increased. Even more important, when you stretch a muscle against heavy resistance, you create muscle damage. That’s another key element in our Fat-to-Muscle Workout.
When you damage muscle with specific types of weight training, your metabolism revs up dramatically during the repair process, which can burn bodyfat for days (if you do it correctly). That’s exciting, but there’s big-muscle-building news when it comes to stretch exercises too. Back to Brainum…
“In addition, stretching is the primary stimulus to the intramuscular production of a variant of IGF-1 called mechano-growth factor, which may be the most anabolic muscle hormone factor of all.” [Br J Sports Med. 41:224-26. 2007.]
All of the above is why we continue to praise Positions-of-Flexion training. It trains each muscle through a full range of motion—midrange, stretch, and contracted…
That total-angle training results in more complete development faster, via a number of different pathways, including maximum force (fast-twitch fiber enlargement), stretch overload (anabolic hormone increases and possible fiber splitting), and continuous tension/occlusion (capillary bed expansion and anabolic hormone release). Plus, each of those has specific fat-burning effects as well
As we mentioned, one key ingredient of the Ultimate Fat-to-Muscle Workout is higher reps on the last continuous-tension exercises, like pushdowns for triceps, leg extensions for quads, and cable flyes for pecs for growth hormone release via muscle burn and enhanced blood flow—but there’s more…
Higher reps on continuous-tension exercises also develop the mitochondria in muscle cells. The mitochondria is the power supply where bodyfat is burned. More massive mitochondria equals faster fat-to-muscle results.
Bottom line: For a faster fat-to-muscle transition, include a stretch-position exercise for each muscle and end each bodypart routine with a continuous-tension contracted-position exercise for 15 to 20 reps. It hurts, but it works.
Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.X-Rep.com
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