X-Reps for X-tra Mass- or Damage?

Q: Your info on finishing off a muscle with drop sets had me reconsidering some things. I try to avoid adding unnecessary damage, so not doing drop sets as a finisher makes sense. But what about your X-Rep method? Do those add damage without benefit?

A: I’ve been asked that very question. Dale and John were the first, and I’ve used my answer a number of times since. Here it is…

End-of-set X-Rep partials are a good size enhancer for contracted-position exercises only, like pushdowns. (Contracted moves are explained and listed in OMYM2.)

X-Reps are stretch-area partials at the end of a full-range set, as pictured above, and are a different animal than drop sets….

X-Reps: You use those 3 to 5 stretch-position partials at the end of a contracted-position exercise to “patch” the faulty resistance curve—you are continuing the set in the strongest area, which still has power. That can engage more of the target’s fast-twitch growth fibers.

Drop set: At the end of a set, you reduce the weight once or twice, continuing the exercise, accumulating 10 or more additional full-range reps.

You can see why drop sets add much more muscle damage—multiple full-range reps on sets when the hypertrophy stimulus is minimal.

Remember, the growth stimulus tails off significantly after set 3, with set 1 producing the most by far.

Yes, some damage is unavoidable, but the only way to avoid it is to not work out. Pretty sure you can’t grow without training…

The bottom line is that you want to avoid unnecessary trauma at all costs…

So with X-Reps you extend the set with a few precision partials at the muscle’s strongest position to engage more fast-twitch fibers.

With drop sets, you do additional low-stimulus “sets” of multiple full-range reps.

Drop sets produce a lot of unnecessary cumulative trauma that can hijack recovery resources before your next workout, resulting in slow to no growth.

Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.