Danny Padilla was known in pro bodybuilding back in the day as “the Giant Killer.” That’s because at only 5’2”, his perfect mass-symmetry combo allowed him to beat bodybuilders who were much taller and larger than he was.
We’ve discussed the training method that helped him place in the top five of many pro contests back in the ’80s. For each exercise, he used a moderate weight for 12 reps per set with short rests between—never more than a minute. When he was able to do 12 on all five sets, he would up the weight a bit. The first sets were fairly easy; the last few were brutally hard…
So the first few sets were exhausting primarily slow-twitch fibers—and getting them to grow. The last two or three sets were very difficult and had him activating primarily fast-twitch growth fibers.
It’s a very efficient way to train to get a double-barreled growth effect—extreme hypertrophy in multiple fiber types. So if you’re still struggling with the idea that moderate weights can build mega-mass, here’s another photo of Padilla from the front…
If his moderate-poundage-short-rest system sounds familiar, it’s because we based our 4X Mass Method on Danny’s training, which was an off-shoot of Vince Gironda’s Density training…
The bonus of this style is that you don’t have to use joint-crushing poundages—the weights for 4×10, 4×12, or 5×12 are moderate due to the fatigue/exhaustion factor created by short rests between sets. That’s excellent for younger trainee looking to preserve their joints as they build mass as well as older bodybuilders who are training around aches and pains. Oh, and the pump is unreal…
Winter is the perfect time to try 4X for multi-muscle-fiber growth success–no high-rep sets or joint stress. For loads of motivating info and programs…
> The 4X Mass Workout 2.0 is available HERE
If you want our NEWEST e-book that includes 4X, Positions-of-Flexion programs and many free mass-building bonuses…
Grab this multi-e-book package for your muscle-building library: the After-40 Muscle-Size Manual package HERE
Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.X-Rep.com
Mass-Building Lessons From the Master Trainer
Vince Gironda was the Iron Guru, a bodybuilding legend ahead of his time. His most famous pupil in the bodybuilding world was the very first Mr. Olympia Larry Scott, and he also trained many Hollywood stars back in the day, like Clint Eastwood, and even Arnold consulted with him and was a fan (even though Vince told Arnold that he was a “fat f**k” when he first arrived in the U.S.).
Many of Vince’s mass-building tricks and methods have been forgotten, buried by information and misinformation overload on the Internet, but now you can find them all, his true methods, in this must-have, 330-page Vince Gironda e-book anthology…
You get everything from “Train 21 Rest 7” to 10-8-6-15 to Vince’s Stone Age Nutrition, the 8×8 method and program and much, much more (remember, it’s 330 pages). And it’s on sale at a discount for a limited time: Simply use the code GIRONDA20 at checkout for an extra 20 percent off.
Vince Gironda: Legend & Myth (300-page anthology + many bonus gifts and programs) HERE