Q: You’ve said that to get the best muscle-size gains, you have to use both power and density to build both sides of the 2A muscle fibers. But in The X-traordinary Size Surge Workout program, it looks like it’s all power with no endurance [density] work. So how could it produce such spectacular results in Jonathan?
A: The Size Surge program does have a dominant power emphasis, especially in phase 1, the anabolic primer segment. But there’s also some density, or endurance, work (and it expands for bigger mass gains, as you’ll see)…
For example, if you use the optimal rep speed, which is about 1.5 seconds up and 3 seconds down, you’ll get about 40 seconds of tension time on the first set of each BIG exercise. That’s because you use a poundage that allows 9 reps on the first set.
If you watch most wannabe-big bodybuilders training, you’ll see sets that last less than 20 seconds—all power, zero density, which is why gains are so slow: they get no density size effects, which the key 2A muscle fibers require…
Also notice that for many muscle groups in the phase 1 Size Surge program, there’s a follow-up continuous-tension isolation exercise included, such as leg extensions for quads, leg curls for hamstrings, pushdowns for triceps, etc…
True, it’s usually for only one set, but that’s all it takes to choke off blood flow from the target muscle for a growth response. That 40 to 50 seconds of total tension/occlusion will do sizable things for the endurance side of the 2As! It’s the perfect chaser to the power-oriented big exercise you do first…
And power in and of itself is a key get-bigger trigger, so always strive to get stronger. As Arthur Jones, the creator of Nautilus machines and the father of high-intensity training, said:
When the actual progress of an individual trainee is carefully charted over a period of a few months, several rather surprising results will become immediately apparent; for example, while strength levels will increase in a series of gentle curves, increases in size of the involved bodyparts—and thus apparent increases in muscular mass—will result in a stair-step pattern.
What Jones is saying is that strength increases are usually fairly steady, fluctuating slightly up and down but on a distinctly upward trajectory, while size increases come in sudden spurts or bursts followed by plateaus—a stair-step pattern. Says Jones,
In effect, size increases permit strength increases—and strength increases force size increases.
At one point, Jones was fanatical about measuring his arms and noted that once they grew almost a full inch overnight. Now that’s a growth spurt!
Jonathan remembers his steady strength increases during the very first Size Surge experiment—and by the end, week 10, he’d packed on 20 pounds of muscle, so he obviously got a few significant stair-step size spurts along the way, just as Jones predicted.
The bottom line is that power is important, but density, or endurance, is a key contributing factor to muscle mass as well. And you do get density during phase 1, as explained above, then to stair-step your size gains, you get even more in phase 2 when you move to full-range Positions of Flexion…
With full-on POF mass training, you attack the midrange-, stretch-, and contracted-position of each target muscle. With that you get density size effects via blood-flow blockage during contracted-position exercises, like concentration curls, to finish off each muscle…
Plus, you also get density size stimulation on stretch-position exercises. Most of those produce occlusion as well as ultimate anabolic stretch overload. Those are exercises like incline curls for biceps and sissy squats for quads…
Whether you’re on Jonathan’s Size Surge program or something else, always be sure you get some longer tension-time sets to pack on extreme mass fast; don’t settle for sluggish gains produced by all lower-rep, short-set workouts.
NOTE: The X-traordinary SIZE SURGE Workout is Jonathan Lawson’s legendary two-phase mass program that packed 20 pounds of muscle on his frame in only 10 weeks. See all the changes he made to the original workouts, transcribed from his training journal and in printable templates so you can duplicate his incredible gains. You also get his eat-to-grow diet, anabolic acceleration methods, and loads of tips and tricks. Plus, an interview with a top-level bodybuilder who trained
Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.X-Rep.com
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