Q: Okay, what’s the deal with these workout “secret codes” you guys always use? I know what X Reps are—they’ve helped me add a lot of mass. But what are DXO and X Fade?
A: Top secret. We can’t reveal those. LOL! Seriously, those are other mass tactics we work into our routines—at least when we remember how great they work for packing on new size (more on that in a moment)…
We do our best to remember to explain as we go, but we sometimes forget that not everyone has been with us for the last 15 years… The specific secret codes (LOL!) you mention are from our Beyond X-Rep Muscle Building e-book. We wrote that a little over a year after our first X-Rep transformation happened…
After we made such great gains with end-of-set X-Rep partials, we had a lot of the pieces to the mass-building puzzle figured out. That led us to devise “X-hybrid tactics” like Double-X Overload, X Fade, and X/Pause.
There’s even a chapter in Beyond X on X-centric training, but it’s not the “X-
Anyway, lately, we’ve each been using a lot of these “forgotten” tactics in our current routines. That’s because we’ve been going back over our previous e-books to answer questions, and that reminiscing usually clicks on the lightbulb…
We recalled that when we began incorporating these X-hybrid tactics into our programs, we added almost another 10 pounds of muscle. And that was AFTER our X-Rep transformations (no, we did NOT use drugs)…
Big gains like that are uncommon for advanced trainees like us, especially considering that we’re drug free. (We’re getting excited all over again recalling this.)
And now that we’re older, even though Jonathan likes to use some heavier weights once in a while, we’ve stopped going mega-heavy. We can still add many of these mass tactics to the LAST SET of a 4X sequence with no fear of joint damage…
Here’s an example with Double-X Overload on incline curls, 4X style…
Pick a pair of dumbbells with which you can get about 15 reps, but only do 10. Easy set—like a warmup almost. Rest 35 seconds, then do it again. That’s set 2. Do that same weight again for one last set, #3—which should be pretty hard—you barely get 10….
Now rest 35 seconds one last time, but grab a slightly lighter pair of dumbbells and crank out an all-out DXO set…
Lower to the bottom, curl up one-third of the way only, lower to full stretch, then do a full rep. You could call these 1 1/3 reps. Use that bottom double-hitch on all reps until you can’t stand the pain. That’s new growth stimulation you’re feeling because of the extra emphasis on stretch overload…
You know how important stretch overload is. We often mention the animal study that produced a 300 percent mass gain after only one month of stretch-overload “workouts.” Amazing stuff.
Give DXO a go and you’ll kick in loads of new growth.
Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.X-Rep.com
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With proper intermittent fasting, you can transform your physique faster than ever…
If you want the real-deal info on how to use intermittent fasting (IF) and how it works, our colleague Brad Pilon has been researching and testing it since way back in 2006…
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Brad’s book Eat Stop Eat is THE book on Intermittent Fasting. Besides the nuts and bolts of what to do and when to burn fat and build muscle simultaneously, Brad covers all the research on IF-related topics…
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