Q: I just got the your Size Surge 2.0 e-book. Great programs and tons of motivation (Jonathan is a beast). My question is on the M4X workout you have listed with the finisher set added on. Instead of negative accentuated or pure negatives, could I do your 30-20-15 TORQ method instead? I really want to incorporate the upper hypertrophic-tension time [60-plus seconds] for more mass.
A: You could do that; BUT it’s a pretty large increase in total volume. That’s because instead of only one additional “finisher” set, you’re doing three. And instead of 7 extra reps, you’re doing 65! Quite a big difference…
That could work well if you have excellent recovery ability—or if you only do it for one or two muscle groups each week.
A better route is to use that TORQ [tension-overload repetition quantity] method on the 4X exercise, the contracted-position move.
On biceps, for example, that would be concentration curls. Instead of 4×10 in 4X style, you do 30-20-15. So your M4X Size Surge biceps workout would be…
Midrange: BB or DB curls (pyramid), 3 x 8, 6, 5
Stretch: Incline curls (3X), 3 x 10
Contracted: Concentration curls (TORQ), 3 x 30, 20, 15
Finisher: Reverse curls (PN or NA), 1 x 7
(PN = Pure Negatives, NA = Negative Accentuated)
So instead of 40 reps for concentration curls (4×10), you’re doing 65 with TORQ. AND now you’re also getting up into the high-end hypertrophic tension time on the first 2 sets of concentration curls—and over 40 seconds on the third set.
Because the volume/rep increase isn’t so severe, you can do that for each bodypart in the Size Surge M4X Workout 3-Way Split—that is, use TORQ on every contracted-position move.
Just be prepared for some pain, but the high-end tension-time work will give you some great new MASS gains.
Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.X-Rep.com
NO MORE SHOULDER PAIN
Shoulder pain can affect your workouts forever. That’s not good!
That’s why we’re recommending advice from injury specialist Rick Kaselj, MS. His tips can help make your shoulders nearly bullet-proof.
Here are a few general tips from Rick (he goes into more detail in his program)…
Top 5 Tips To Bullet-Proof Your Shoulders
- Build Tension in Your Lats. When doing shoulder exercises, activate your lats and keep your shoulders happy.
- Prime Up Your Muscles. Most people do a warm-up that just lubricates the joint, but you need to activate and turn on all the muscles in your upper body.
- Technique, Technique, Technique. This is the number one reason why people injure their shoulders. You can’t go to the gym every day and work on your max lift.
- Watch Out for Fatigue. Cooking your smaller muscles in your shoulder complex, and that increases the risk of shoulder injury and pain.
- Work on Your Shoulder Blade Muscles. Many strength coaches will say you’re wasting your time on this, but if you want to have bullet-proof shoulders, you need to work on them.
Get all of Rick’s tips and tricks for pain-free workouts below: