Q: I’m using The Ultimate Fat-to-Muscle Workout because I need to get ripped quick. It feels great, I’m seeing more muscularity, and people are commenting on how lean I’m getting. The thing is, I’m really sold on 10×10. I just bought and read The Ultimate 10×10 Mass Workout, and it sounds awesome. I even tried it on arms, and mine just blew up bigger than they’ve ever been. My question is, Can I add 10×10 to the Fat-to-Muscle Workout somehow?
A: We can tell you’re very motivated, and that’s more than half the battle to getting the ripped, eye-popping physique you’re striving for. You just have to be careful not to overtrain. That said, keep in mind that the 10×10 method is very taxing, which is why we usually suggest you use it on one Ultimate Exercise per bodypart, no other work for that muscle.
Yes, we’ve discussed adding one set each of a stretch- and contracted-position move to complete the full-range Positions-of-Flexion chain, but that’s the limit. For example, barbell curls, midrange, 10×10; incline curls, stretch, 1 x 9; and concentration curls, contracted, 1 x 12. Even that may be pushing it for some trainees.
The Ultimate Fat-to-Muscle Workout uses another powerful technique, negative-accentuated (NA) sets. The NA method is designed to trigger muscle trauma, which can ramp up fat burning after the workout. That’s why your muscularity has become more dramatic…
When you use NA, you raise the weight in one second and lower it in six for about seven reps. You get almost 50 seconds of tension time, a unique mass stimulus, but the real benefit of the slow lowering is that it increases muscle microtears. That ignites an intense repair process after the workout that can take days—so you’re burning fat 24/7 due to metabolic momentum (research shows that fat fuels the muscle-repair process).
You would no doubt overtrain quickly if you used both NA sets and then 10×10, but you can use 4X (similar to 10×10 “style” but with fewer sets). To work that shorter “density” sequence into your program, we suggest you end with it on the contracted-position exercise for each muscle—instead of using the two higher-rep sets listed. For example, here’s how your new Fat-to-Muscle triceps program looks (the only change is on the last exercise):
Midrange: Lying extensions, 2 x 9, 7
Midrange: Lying extensions (NA style), 1 x 6-8
Stretch: Overhead DB extensions, 1 x 7-9
Stretch: Overhead DB extensions (NA style), 1 x 6-8
Contracted: Pushdowns (4X/10×10 style), 4 x 10
Remember, 4X is using a lighter weight and doing 10 reps on each set with only 30 seconds between sets. So on triceps pushdowns, you start with a weight that you could get about 15 with, but you only do 10; then you rest 30 seconds and do 10 more, and so on until you complete four sets. The last set should be brutal, and you should NOT be able to get 10. If you do, add weight to that exercise at your next workout.
The pump and burn you get with 4×10 at the end will be unreal, and it’s the perfect growth grand finale for every bodypart. Blowing up the muscle after traumatizing it—in this
Note: For more on 10×10 training and programs, see The Ultimate 10×10 Mass Workout e-program. For more on fat-burning training techniques and programs, see The Ultimate Fat-to-Muscle Workout e-book. Or, if you really want to rip it up (and save some money while you’re at it), get our Triple-Shredded deal HERE.
Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
X-Rep.com
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