Vince McConnell is a friend and trainer I admire due to his application of logic and attention to efficiency in his workouts and those of his clients. (Note: His Instagram is @mcconnell_performance, Website is McConnellAthletics.com)
Here’s a screen grab from one of his YouTube videos of him experimenting with Doug Brignole’s pendulum sissy squat…
He’s a proponent of Brignole’s ideal exercises—like I said, he likes efficiency. And he has quite a few trainees with whom he uses them, along with his version of my Slow-Twitch Exhaustion method. Here are some of his observations from the trenches…
I find anything over about 23 reps to be less efficient for the base set of STX. More than that and there seems to be too much loss in muscular engagement early in that set.
So I teach clients to shoot for 16 to 20 reps in the base set of STX, rest 20 seconds, then get 8 to 10. If they’re doing three sets, they rest for 10 seconds then go for 4 to 5 more.
And on all sets, we leave one rep in reserve.
As for the add-on exercise, I’ve found two sets to be optimal. A base set for 12-15 reps followed by a 15-to-20-second rest, then 8 to 10. Again, all sets go to one-rep short of failure.
Vince is staying very close to what I outline in Old Man, Young Muscle and reporting excellent results with his clients. He says that most prefer STX to standard training with more rest between sets—better gains, shorter workouts…
Keep in mind that the a recent study looked at that method, performed by Enes, et al. (2021). They used experienced lifters, not beginners—and each group’s training volume was equal—same number of sets. The groups were…
1) Traditional training, which took significantly longer due to at least 1 1/2-minute rests between sets.
2) Drop sets, reducing the weight by 20 percent at failure and continuing for the designated number of sets—only a few seconds of rest to reduce the weight.
3) Rest-pause (my way), using rests of 20 seconds between sets.
Results: After eight weeks, the hypertrophy gains were the same in each group—although it’s worth noting that the 20-second rest-pause group got a slightly superior growth result. It was the winner—but just by a nose, or maybe a muscle fiber or two or three.
New: Get the ideal exercise for each muscle, the best add-on moves for ultimate mass, complete 35-minute workouts, exercise start/finish photos, and details on building muscle fast and efficiently in Old Man, Young Muscle.
And you still get The Muscle-On, Belly-Gone “Diet” ebook FREE for a limited time when you add Old Man, Young Muscle to your mass-building library. Go HERE.
Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.X-Rep.com
FREE Protein!
One of our favorite proteins has a try-it-free, no-strings offer, and we don’t want you to miss out. No, this is not a trick or scam—it’s simply a way for BioTrust to get you to try their great Low-Carb protein, no strings whatsoever (just pay a small shipping cost). We’re not kidding…This is an incredible offer, but there’s a limited supply, so grab yours today before the offer runs out** —and it’s delicious, by the way!
–> Secure Your FREE Container NOW! (limited inventory)
**One free container per household