Q: I understand that heavy weight isn’t important for maximum muscle growth. Can you tell me what I should include in my workouts to build the most mass possible in the shortest time. I want to get bigger.
A: Well, “heavy” weights are important, but “heavy” is relative to YOU—and dependent on muscle fatigue. You may struggle with 20 pounds in a certain exercise at the END of a bodypart workout. So that 20 pounds is “heavy” for you on that exercise at that moment…
That’s why we like to say that the weights you use must be “challenging” rather than “heavy.” And you should strive to increase the weight when possible, which may not be very often. But luckily there’s a lot more to building maximum mass than just getting stronger…
As we’ve explained, low-rep heavy training primarily thickens the myofibrils, the force-generating strands in the fibers. Powerlifters target the myofibrils, as well as nerve force, with low-rep sets to increase strength. The thickening of those strands accounts for some growth, but…
The major muscular hypertrophy occurs in the sarcoplasm, the energy fluid surrounding those strands. That’s why bodybuilders who train with higher reps, supersets, etc., are generally more muscular than most powerlifters—it’s how they train…
Training at least some sets with higher reps and/or short rests between sets EXPANDS the sarcoplasm. You do need to build the myofibrils too, but it’s the sarcoplasm that contributes the most to muscle size. That’s exciting on a number of levels, as you’ll see below…
Okay, with that rolling around in your head, here are 5 keys to more muscle mass you should include in MOST of your workouts to build extreme muscle mass fast…
1) Synergy. It’s also known as muscle teamwork, and you get that on the big compound exercises. For example, on a decline bench press your chest is the primary mover, but your triceps, delts and even lats assist. These are usually more natural movements than isolated moves. The body was designed to work best synergistic exercises—”midrange” in Positions-of-Flexion mass training—which better involve the mass of the muscle fibers.
2) Stretch. If you’ve been reading this e-zine for a while, you no doubt have seen our reference to the animal study the produced a 300 PERCENT muscle mass gain in only one month of stretch-only “workouts.” That shows the size-building power of putting a muscle into a full stretch against challenging resistance. Examples include flyes for chest, sissy squats for quads, and overhead extensions for triceps. POF bodypart routines all contain a stretch move.
3) Continuous tension. This is best produced via contracted-position exercises in POF—like pushdowns for triceps, concentration curls for biceps, leg extensions for quads, etc. Those moves put the target muscle into its contracted position against resistance—and there is resistance throughout the stroke—no rest anywhere, or at least there shouldn’t be. That continuous tension produces occlusion, or blood-flow blockage, which triggers large gains in sarcoplasmic mass—if the tension time is long enough…
4) Hypertrophic tension time. Low-rep work gets you about 20 seconds of tension time, which builds strength (myofibrils). The optimal hypertrophic tension time is 40 to 90 seconds. Even the low end, 40 seconds, takes a while. And you’d have to do 30 reps or more to get the upper end of that hypertrophic tension time (60 to 90 seconds). You must also keep the target muscle engaged the entire time—FEEL it working.
5) Muscular fatigue. You must train the target muscle until it is spent. In other words, you should do enough volume to reach the GROWTH THRESHOLD. That can be different for different people—and even for different muscles. Short rests between sets can accelerate cumulative fatigue—and that’s a good thing for extreme-growth stimulation, especially in the sarcoplasm.
The Positions-of-Flexion mass-building method insures that you get numbers 1 through 3 above. It’s usually 3 exercises for each muscle: midrange for synergy, stretch for stretch overload, and contracted for continuous tension…
But to get 4 and 5, you will need to do a variety of rep ranges and/or manipulate rest times between sets. That really adds a sixth key to the above list: CHANGE.
For example, you could do the big midrange exercise and stretch move heavy with lower reps, then finish with a contracted-position exercise using higher reps and/or short rests (4X density). (There is a complete POF workout with those parameters in The X-centric Mass Workout e-book.)
Be sure you cover the 5 mass-building keys above most of the time, and at least every few weeks you should make a CHANGE for MORE BIG GAINS.
Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.X-Rep.com
Stop Being Embarrassed!
Man-Boobs Syndrome, or “moobs,” is becoming an epidemic primarily because of diet mistakes and rising environmental toxins. You might be more familiar with the medical name: Gynecomastia. “Gyno” is caused by an increase in estrogen in men as their testosterone drops. A quarter of all older guys suffer from man breasts, according to the Mayo Clinic, but even younger men are leaving their shirts on at the beach or pool because of it.
Our colleagues over at Critical Bench have a must-read page that focuses on the problem, and there’s plenty of good info you need to know…