Q: I’m starting the three-days-per week Size Surge program next week. I want to use the high-rep-set-first MMX method to jack up muscle gains with more growth as you’ve been explaining. My question: Do I just add a high-rep set to the first exercise for each muscle, or do I make the first set listed for that exercise the high-rep set? If I add a set, does it make the volume too much?
Adding a set to so many exercises could make the Size Surge program over-taxing for most trainees. We explain a better progression in a moment. First, we like to start answers to questions about the Phase 1 SS program with a look at the split. Here it is…
Monday: legs, chest, back, delts
Wednesday: deadlifts, calves, arms, abs
Friday: legs, chest, back, delts
For each muscle you do one or two exercises and two to four sets total for each muscle group. Simple. For example, your delt routine on Monday and Friday is…
Overhead presses, 2 x 7-9
DB upright rows, 2 x 7-9
To get the mass-boosting benefits of the MMX method to jack up muscle gains, you want a single high-rep set first for each bodypart. We suggest keeping your sets at 2 on presses, but make the first a 20-repper…
As you rest for around 40 seconds, add weight for your second set so that you get the designated 7-9 reps. Go to failure, rest 10 seconds and then rep out again. That’s the rest/pause method for even more fast-twitch fiber activation…
So now your new “juiced” twice-a-week shoulder routine looks like this…
Presses, 2 x 20, 8 R/P 4
DB upright rows, 2 x 7-9
Use that two-set high-to-low-plus-rest/pause-to-grow on the first exercise for every muscle group. That includes squats or leg presses for quads, chins or pulldowns for back, bench presses for chest and so on. Use it on Wednesdays too.
For those who aren’t familiar with the MMX method, the preliminary high-rep set give you slow-twitch-fiber growth stimulation, and you also pre-fatigue those “endurance” fibers so you activate more higher-growth-potential fast-twitch fibers on the heavier sets. That’s based on a Brazilian study published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology…
In the study the researchers had one group do a preliminary set of leg extensions with 20 percent of their one-rep-max before moving to heavier sets. The other group did only standard sets with 75 percent of their 1RM. Rests between sets for both groups were 30 seconds to one minute. Here are the results from the researchers…
“The men who started their workout with the light set built up more muscle strength than the men who trained their legs in the traditional way. The scans also showed that doing a set to failure with light weights resulted in a bigger increase in MUSCLE MASS.”
There you go–infusing Size Surge with MMX is a proven way to supercharge muscle growth.
Tools to Jack Up Muscle Gains
For more on MMX high-low to grow method and many innovative, quick size routines, tips and tricks, see the MMX Fast Mega-Mass Workouts e-book.
SIZE SURGE: For variations as well as the complete original program Jonathan used to pack on 20 pounds of muscle in 10 weeks, grab a copy of The X-traordinary Size Surge Workout 2.0–a perfect hyper-growth routine for winter.
Till next time, train hard–and smart–for BIG results.
–Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.X-Rep.com