Q: I understand the benefit of the high-rep-set-first STX method. But for me the pain is unbearable when I get past 12 reps. Will 12 work to exhaust the slow-twitch fibers so that fast ones are better initiated on the second [lower-rep] set?
A: I feel your pain. It does hurt—and some trainees have a lower tolerance than others…
My training partner for 20 years, Jonathan Lawson, despised high reps. He could tolerate pain; however, he had many more fast-twitch fibers so he was more in tune with lower reps…
The best way I’ve found to get slow-twitch pre-exhaustion with lower reps is the 4X method—four sets that gradually get more intense…
We devoted an entire ebook to that mass method back in 2010 because it worked so well for both of us: The X-traordinary 4X Mass Workout…
The method isn’t as efficient as high-rep-set-first STX. That’s because you spread the effect over more sets. Here’s the method summarized…
Pick a weight with which you can get 15 reps, but only do 10. Rest 30 seconds—or as long as it takes your partner to complete his or her 10 reps—then do another 10. Rest 30 seconds again and so on until you complete four sets of 10 reps. Go to failure on the last set.
If you get 10 reps or more on your last set to failure, which is the fast-twitch money set, add weight to that exercise at your next workout…
Note that you’ll be adding weight to all four sets because you use the SAME weight throughout the 4X sequence—for example 35-pound dumbbells on standing curls…
Many successful bodybuilders from back in the day used this method. One was legendary short bodybuilder Danny Padilla, a.k.a. The Giant Killer…
He liked five sets, and often used it on multiple exercises leading up to a competition—which is when he was on, um, “special supplements.”
4X is a great way to keep cortisol, the stress hormone, in check as you stimulate an incredible array of muscle fibers. You also get a skin-stretching pump.
If you want to try the 4X method, I recommend using the ideal exercises and workouts in Old Man, Young Muscle. You can use 4X on the ideal exercise, then add one or two sets of an add-on move.
There’s will still be pain to gain, but it’s not quite as insane.
Your Efficient Mass-Building Handbook : For complete mass workouts that include Speed Sets, the ideal exercise for each muscle, and the best stretch and contracted add-on moves, get your copy of 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
Former Editor in Chief, Iron Man Magazine
www.X-Rep.com
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