Q: I remember from your old daily training blog (which I really miss) that you guys would make changes at every workout (or at least it seemed like it). Should I be doing that, or should I stick to a routine as it’s written for six weeks, then try something new? You’ve also mentioned things like “X-Fade” and “DXO” after some exercises. Do you have an e-book that explains those?
A: The frequency of change your muscles require to keep growing depends on your experience. Beginners and early intermediates don’t need change very often because they’re getting stronger as neuromuscular efficiency, or nerve
If you’re more advanced, however, you need frequent change. Your muscles have learned to adapt quickly, so to get a new uptick in mass you need new stimulation. As we always say, even one small change can trigger bigger gains. That’s one reason we’ve written a lot of e-books, as each one contains unique programs and techniques…
For example, you mentioned the X Fade technique. That’s from our Beyond X-Rep Muscle Building e-book, which also contains many other X-hybrid techniques. Our Ripping Phase Routine (pages 56-58) incorporates many of the key X-hybrid techniques, and we believe those tactics are the reason we added another 10 pounds of mass after our initial X-Rep experiment. Here are our after photos from our first X-Rep year next to our Beyond-X afters the following year…
We used different techniques at every workout. That gave us important variation for new adaptations; however, we stuck to the exercises, sets,
For instance, on rope rows, a contracted-position exercise for lats, at one workout we used an X-Fade; that is, at the end of the set we would get help into the top contracted position for X-Rep partials, crank out as many as possible flexing the muscle hard….
Then we would lower to near the arms-extended position for semi-stretch-point X-Rep partials. So you do end-of-set X-Rep partials at two points on the stroke.
At the next workout, we might use Double-X Overload. That’s taking a slightly lighter weight than you use on a normal set, but you do an X-Rep partial at the bottom semi-stretch position between each full rep. So you do a rep, lower, double dip at the bottom, then pull up for another full rep. It emphasizes the key semi-stretch point where max-force generation and fiber activation occurs.
Change can trigger bigger gains, so switch up tactics often—and you’ll grow like never before!
Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.X-Rep.com
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