Wednesday I did antagonist supersets, all moderate reps and the workout was reduced volume. Today it was back to MMX–high to low reps. Felt great–so good in fact that I may stick with the more abbreviated superset workout on Wednesdays. Hey, change to gain… [Read more…]
Steve: Full-Body MMX (antagonist supersets)
Woke up feeling under the weather. I entertained the idea of missing, but I decided I wasn’t that bad off. All I needed was a shorter, less-intense version of MMX, which is where antagonist-muscle supersets come in. Supersets can be intense, but I did the first round as X-centric, a 1/6 rep cadence, on most exercises. I upped the weight for the second round and did around 10 reps for each exercise. Worked great, and I was done in about 35 minutes… [Read more…]
Steve: Full-Body MMX (Rest/Pause add-on)
I discussed bumping up the intensity/volume with either an add-on drop set or rest/pause (R/P). The rest/pause add-on won (the number in parentheses)–but even that small amount of extra work with a static hold after, I had to cut it short, as you’ll see… [Read more…]
Steve: Full-Body MMX (extended sets)
The shapely blonde gal who was on the Smith machine Wednesday was on the leg extension today. Yep, again she got in my way–but that’s okay. I simply did calves first, which felt great. And on every exercise today I tried to do some form of extended sets–from X Reps to Static Holds to Supersets… [Read more…]
Steve: Full-Body MMX (mega pump)
My last workout was Thursday, so I’ve had three full days of recovery (with a few runs in there too). The result: mega pump today. By the end of the workout I looked like I’d added 10 pounds of muscle. Motivating–and I felt great after. So my two-workout week worked well for revitalizing me. Here’s what I did today… [Read more…]
Steve: Full-Body MMX (recover to grow)
Today is Thursday, usually an off-from-the-gym day for me. But with these full-body workouts three times a week for multiple weeks, I’ve been feeling a bit drained. Solution: Recover to grow with a two-workout week–Monday and Thursday. The extra day of rest made a huge difference. The pump was better, I had more energy and I didn’t need a nap after the session. The question is, Should I go back to three workouts next week or keep it at two for one more round?Monday’s workout may tell the tale and dictate the workout sequence. Here’s how today’s full-body blast went… [Read more…]
Steve: Full-Body MMX (stretch-holds)
I’ve been trying to use stretch-holds at the end of the last set of every exercise–or X-Rep partials. It really ups the intensity considerably. The recent study by Jacob Wilson, Ph.D.,showed significant increases in muscle size using that method. But today I noticed something: It does take a toll. I was wiped out after today’s workout…
Steve: Full-Body MMX (speed reps)
I’m hitting my stride with full-body workouts–feeling bigger, pumps are great. But I always like to introduce some change to gain–and today that meant more pain. For chest I did Low-incline flyes supersetted with Low-incline DB presses–and I did the presses in X-celeration, or speed reps, style, which is 1.5 seconds per rep. Wicked burn, mega pump…
Steve: Full-Body MMX (anabolic drive)
I always wake up on Wednesdays with fear plus excitement. I know I have to hit the gym and attack a grueling 20-rep set of Feet-forward Smith-machine squats right off the bat–at 6:50 a.m. Fear. But it’s also exciting because I know that the hypoxia from that set, as well as from the lower-rep sets after (10, 8), can trigger overall muscle growth–anabolic drive. Good motivation to hit the rest of the workout hard–and grow like never before…
Steve: Full Body MMX (metabolic uptick)
I made a small change to gain today–and it created a big metabolic uptick. The change: After my high-rep set, I stuck with the same weight for the second two sets. In other words, I added weight for my second set, when stayed at that weight for my third. That gave me a few more reps on every exercise. I was surprised at how doing only 2 to 3 extra reps per exercise all the way through took a serious metabolic toll. In fact, I had to go home and take a nap–not kidding. I was wiped out. Bonus: The pump was bigger too…