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Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 109: Danny Padilla Onstage Mass

Here’s Danny Padilla once again featured in our weekly Zen. Thickness and mass perfection onstage in the ’70s.

Danny Padilla twisting side chest pose on stage in black and white

We’re fans of his physique as well as his training style that amplified his genetic gifts and preserved his joints…

In fact, our workouts evolved in many good way thanks to info on Danny’s training—and Vince Gironda’s methods as well.

Padilla’s workouts were best described as “progressive muscle-fiber exhaustion” using only moderate weights. That means no hammering joints into submission with crazy poundages…

That moderate-poundage style saved our joints and has us still training and gaining into old age—Steve is in his early 60s.

Our 4X Mass Method that we’ve been using for years now, is based on Danny’s training, which was an off-shoot of Gironda’s Density Training…

It consists of moderate weights for four to five quick sets. The method is designed to gradually exhaust the various muscle fiber types due to short rests between sets.

It’s a thorough, efficient, and safer way to get total muscle growth in almost all fiber types.

The 4X method is excellent for younger trainee looking to preserve their joints as they pack on new mass, as well as for older bodybuilders who are training around aches and pains. Oh, and the pump is unreal…

Now is the perfect time to try 4X for major muscle-growth success. For loads of motivating info and programs…

> The 4X Mass Workout 2.0 is available HERE.

4X Mass Workout 2.0 cover - You're Not a "Hardgainer"

Get the 4X Mass Workout for Muscle-Growth Success

Or for our other favorite density method, check out STX growth-threshold tactic in our latest retooled ebook, that includes many mass-building home-gym workouts…

> Quick-Start Muscle-Building Guide 2.0 is available HERE.

Quick-Start Muscle Building Guide 2.0 cover

Get the Quick-Start Muscle-Building Guide 2.0

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

—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.X-Rep.com

Mass-Building Lessons From the Master Trainer

Vince Gironda - Master Trainer

Vince Gironda was the Iron Guru, a bodybuilding legend ahead of his time. His most famous pupil in the bodybuilding world was the very first Mr. Olympia Larry Scott, and he also trained many Hollywood stars back in the day, like Clint Eastwood, and even Arnold consulted with him and was a fan (even though Vince told Arnold that he was a “fat f**k” when he first arrived in the U.S.).

Many of Vince’s mass-building tricks and methods have been forgotten, buried by information and misinformation overload on the Internet, but now you can find them all, his true methods, in this must-have, 330-page Vince Gironda e-book anthology…

You get everything from “Train 21 Rest 7” to 10-8-6-15 to Vince’s Stone Age Nutrition, the 8×8 method and program and much, much more (remember, it’s 330 pages). And it’s on sale at a discount for a limited time: Simply use the code GIRONDA20 at checkout for an extra 20 percent off.

Vince Gironda: Legend & Myth (300-page anthology + many bonus gifts and programs) HERE

Learn From the Legend!

Rest/Pause Mass Burst

Q: What’s your opinion of rest/pause training, the way Mike Mentzer used to do it? I’ve read that he did heavy singles with six to 10 seconds between sets, and he did only four of those rest/pause singles for each exercise.

A: We discuss Mike Mentzer and his rest/pause training in Beyond X-Rep Muscle Building (starting on page 38). His technique was as follows… [Read more…]

Trouble with 10X on Chins

Q: I’ve been hitting it heavy for a few months, so I’m planning to switch to your 10×10 Mass Workout for a few weeks. I’ve done two workouts so far with 10X, and it feels great so far, and the pump is awesome. One problem I have is chins—there’s just no way I can do 10 sets of 10 reps with only 30 seconds of rest between. I know I can do pulldowns instead, but I believe chins are the superior back builder. Any suggestions?

A: You have a few choices. Famous Hollywood trainer, Vince “Iron Guru” Gironda, favored 8×8. You could try that instead of 10×10. Vince called that his “honest” muscle-building workout, and his trainees’ muscles got bigger, fuller shapes with 8×8.

Jonathan Lawson doing chin-ups

One of the most famous proponents of the 10×10 method was our colleague, Olympic coach, and muscle-size-and-strength expert the late Charles Poliquin. Here was his advice to those who couldn’t manage 10×10 on chins…

The law of repeated efforts will enable you to develop the work capacity to perform all 10 sets… Start at 10 sets of 5 reps as your first goal so that you can accumulate volume. Then progress to 10 sets of 6, and so on.

So once you get all 10 sets—or almost all—for 5 reps, add a rep at our next workout so you attempt 10×6. Keep striving to bump up your rep count…

Also, there’s no hard-and-fast rule that 30 seconds is the ideal between-sets rest. You can use 45 seconds or even one minute. For sarcoplasmic-expansion stress—building the energy fluid in the fibers—which is what 10×10 is all about, one minute should be the limit…

As for your comment that chins are better than pulldowns, maybe not better—just different. Pulldowns allow you to angle your torso for a unique lat-fiber hit. There’s really no way to angle your torso on chins to vary the stress on your back…

Lat pulldowns

To get a best-of-both worlds double hit, you could start a 10×10 sequence on chins, and when you can no longer get 10, move to pulldowns. You’ll have to experiment with the poundage so that your first set of pulldowns isn’t too easy but also not close to failure…

Say your chins go something like 10, 10, 10, 9. That’s four sets. Rest 30 seconds, then move to pulldowns. Your reps should go something like 10, 10, 10, 9, 9, 8. And your lats will be thoroughly pumped from hitting two slightly different angles of pull. It’s a great double attack to get your back jacked…

Jonathan Lawson flexing his back and arms outside

Feel the Pump and See Results from 10×10

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

—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.X-Rep.com

Recommended

Mass-Building Lessons From the Master Trainer

Vince Gironda - Master Trainer

Vince Gironda was the Iron Guru, a bodybuilding legend ahead of his time. His most famous pupil in the bodybuilding world was the very first Mr. Olympia Larry Scott, and he also trained many Hollywood stars back in the day, like Clint Eastwood, and even Arnold consulted with him and was a fan (even though Vince told Arnold that he was a “fat f**k” when he first arrived in the U.S.).

Many of Vince’s mass-building tricks and methods have been forgotten, buried by information and misinformation overload on the Internet, but now you can find them all, his true methods, in this must-have, 330-page Vince Gironda e-book anthology…

You get everything from “Train 21 Rest 7” to 10-8-6-15 to Vince’s Stone Age Nutrition, the 8×8 method and program and much, much more (remember, it’s 330 pages). And it’s on sale at a discount for a limited time: Simply use the code GIRONDA20 at checkout for an extra 20 percent off.

Vince Gironda: Legend & Myth (300-page anthology + many bonus gifts and programs) HERE

Learn From the Iron Guru

Washboard Abs with Mass

Q: I just started the Size Surge program. I love it and can already see results! I just had a question about abs. In the this program, you have only one day for abdominal work. Is that really enough to get great washboard abs? Can I add some ab training to other days or maybe the off days?

A: You can add some ab work if you like, but keep in mind that your abs are getting a lot of work supporting your torso on all the big exercise you’re doing on Monday and Friday—from presses to upright rows to squats. Notice how Jonathan has washboard abs in this photo as he does dumbbell shrugs, showing that they’re almost always working to some degree… [Read more…]

New Muscle Size With a Power-Density Jolt

Q: Just read The Ultimate Power-Density Mass Workout. Absolutely great! I read it all in one sitting. It really made me think, so I’m redesigning my workout using your programs. But don’t higher-rep warmup sets cover the endurance component of the 2A fibers? And what about X Reps? They extend a set, so I would think they also affect the endurance side of the important 2As as well.

A: You’re right on both counts—to a degree. Warm-up sets aren’t intense, so very few fibers are involved—and many that are fall into the slow-twitch category, rather than the important fast-twitch 2As. [Read more…]

Specialize for Size with Power-Density

Q: I’m making my best gains ever with the Power-Density Mass Workout. I’m already up six pounds in four weeks, and I see new muscle somewhere every workout, training just about 40 minutes a session. I have a question about my lagging bodypart, shoulders. Can I add sets to the listed workout, or how should I force my shoulders to grow like my other bodyparts?

A: Most of the bodypart routines in the Basic Power-Density Mass Workout consist of only one Ultimate Exercise per muscle group. That makes for quick, simple workouts: First you pyramid the weight over three sets for max force, or Power; then you reduce the weight and attack tension, or Density with a 10×10-style sequence, but using only four sets… [Read more…]