Q: I’m starting to drag at the gym, and I don’t look forward to my workouts anymore. I’m starting to think I’m overtrained. I haven’t grown in a while, but I DON’T want to take a layoff. Even backing off to low-effort workouts sounds like a bad idea because I don’t want to lose my gains. What should I do?
A: Boy, does that sound familiar. We always tell trainees that they need a break to regenerate and keep the growth process rolling, but they never take one (and neither do we—bad). That’s an easy way to end up overtrained.
In your case, one of the best things you can do is to do a few weeks of sarcoplasmic-size training. Remember, the sarcoplasm is the energy fluid in the muscle…
By concentrating on a training style that primarily stresses that without hammering your joints or producing too much trauma in the myofibrillar strands, you heal quickly and avoid getting overtrained—plus, you get more growth along the sarcoplasmic pathway AND produce new vascularity.
What style of training are we talking about? For your situation, 10×10 would be our recommendation. That’s just one key exercise for each target muscle. You pick a weight with which you can get 20 reps, but you only do 10; rest 35 seconds, then do it again. Repeat for 10 sets.
Sounds like a simple 10-minute routine—and the first few sets are easy. Almost too easy. But the sets get brutal quickly, and the pump and burn are unreal. It’s a new size generator and a potential body fat incinerator…
Remember, growth hormone is a potent fat burner, and muscle burn is one of the keys to getting a big GH response. Your muscles will definitely get, um, “toasty” during 10×10.
The sarcoplasm is also where the mitochondria are located. Those are the cellular powerhouses where fat is burned. That’s another reason you get cut quick—but don’t dismiss it as “low effort” fat-burning routine. It builds MASS FAST…
Loads of overtrained bodybuilders have experienced incredible new size gains with a 10×10 phase. Mr. Natural Olympia John Hansen added 2 inches of solid muscle to each leg with that method—and it only took just over a month. Imagine what it could do for your arms (turn them into vein-streaked pythons).
You’re a prime candidate for 10×10. Get on it for a few weeks, and prepare to GROW like never before—no layoff necessary.
NOTE: For more 10×10, including ALL-10×10 workouts as well as heavy/light versions, see The Ultimate 10×10 MASS Workout.
Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.X-Rep.com
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