Q: I’m getting excellent results with 4X mass training. Sometimes my workouts go over an hour, which concerns me. I’ve heard that the hour mark is when testosterone becomes depleted. Many trainers say not to be in the gym over an hour or your T is shot. Should I cut back? What are your thoughts/solutions?
A: The one-hour testosterone-depletion scenario completely depends on your level of T (older trainees generally have less) and the workout you’re doing—the bodyparts you’re working, how much intensity you’re using and how many heavy all-out sets you’re including…
For example, if you did a 90-minute arm workout with mostly isolation exercises, you’d no doubt have plenty of T left as compared to a 90-minute leg workout with squats, leg presses, etc. Bigger muscles, more intensity, more cortisol release…
Keep in mind that the stress hormone cortisol is what smothers testosterone. Our 4X style of training with moderate poundages was designed to minimize cortisol due to the reduced joint stress with moderate weights and only one all-out set per exercise. A 4X sequence, with its short rests, also pushes a lot of growth-promoting blood through the target muscle…
Remember, for 4X you pick a weight with which you can get 15 reps, but you only do 10; rest 30 to 40 seconds, then do 10 more—and so on until you complete four sets. You go all out on the fourth set, and if you get 10 reps, you add weight to that exercise at your next workout.
As you can see with 3X or 4X you get a lot less muscle-eating stress than doing three all-out joint-jarring sets with your heaviest poundage. Less cortisol is why 4X is perfect for building mass for most trainees with stressful responsibilities—like school, jobs, families, etc.—especially when they’re on a ripping diet…
4X mass training is a great way to train for size, and we highly recommend it to EVERY bodybuilder—even if you only use it for a few four-week phases every year; it will shift your size building into high gear…
And speaking of testosterone, research shows that doing a big exercise—squats or deadlifts—first in your workout drives UP your testosterone, bathing the muscles you work after in that anabolic jet fuel. We have named that method First-T-Burst Training—and it may be something you want to try for a burst of new size.
Excellent 3-days-per-week programs that use First-T-Burst method include the Mass F/X Workout in 3D Muscle Building and phase 1 in Jonathan’s X Size Surge Workout. You can integrate the 4X mass method into either of those programs to boost the big-T super-saturation size effect. It’s an anabolic blood bath to get your size on the rise.
Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.X-Rep.com
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