Dedicated to Your Physical Transformation
Q: I’ve been using the POF Direct/Indirect Mass Workout in the 4X 2.0 e-book. Doing great! I’m loving it and I feel much bigger already. But my arms are my weakest muscle groups, so I’m thinking about doing a second arm workout on Saturday. That would have me training five days a week instead of four. Is that okay?
A: That’s a great program—and because you’re using moderate-weight, growth-threshold training, you can tolerate more frequent work for most bodyparts; however… [Read more…]
Q: It seems like every month I have to miss a few workouts because of life, like business trips, family stuff, etc. If I know I’m going to miss like a chest and back workout, should I just add those bodyparts to my last workout? Or should I skip and pick up with that workout when I’m able to? The add-on idea is appealing, but I don’t feel like I do the muscle group justice unless I train it with all three Positions of Flexion. But then the workout is too long and I feel overtrained. What should I do to make up for missing workouts?
A: Even if you’re only going to miss one workout, you’re going to feel as if you’re shrinking in those areas if you don’t work them… [Read more…]
Q: I do four-week phases of different workouts from your various e-books. That strategy works great for me. I’ve gained 10 pounds of muscle in three months, and that’s after training consistently for 10 years. I’m getting ready to start the Modified Pre-Ex 3X Mass Workout. After all the positive talk about TORQ, I was thinking about using that on the first exercise, the isolation move. Is that a good idea for building new muscle mass?
A: Absolutely. We’ve talked about that before, and we used to use TORQ-ed up modified Pre-Ex as a shock tactic in our old Freaky Friday workouts… [Read more…]
Q: I’m reading the Super-Size e-book. Jordon’s 18-pound muscle gain is inspiring and a great story, but I’m 45 years old. He’s in his teens. I don’t think I can train heavy even at every other workout the way he did. Should I try it, even at my age? I got great gains with The Anabolic After-40 Muscle-Size Manual, but this one has me intrigued to see if I can get big during my next training phase.
A: Well, glad you’re immersed in and inspired by The Super-Size Crash Course, but you should keep reading. Chapter 6 lays out a great alternate Phase 1 program—without heavy pyramids… [Read more…]
Q: I’m reading the Beyond X-Rep Muscle Building e-book, and I noticed that you have a section on X-centric training. But it’s not the same as what you describe in my X-centric Mass Workout e-book. Is one better than the other?
A: X-centric is our X-Rep vernacular for eccentric, which is the negative stroke of an exercise; that is, the lowering of a weight, like the downward portion of a bench press. [Read more…]
Q: I’m going to the Heavy/Light Ultimate 10×10 Workout for about six weeks. Hitting one exercise with 10×10 for a muscle and then doing full-on Positions of Flexion heavy at the new workout sounds ideal to cover all the mass bases. My question is, do you think [Doug Brignole’s] Super TORQ might be better than 10×10?
A: Interesting idea. Remember 10×10 is taking your 20-rep-max weight, but only doing 10 reps. Easy. But you rest only 40 seconds, then hit 10 more—and so on until you complete 10 sets… [Read more…]
Q: I’ve recently had to cut back my workouts to three days a week and was looking back through many of the X-Rep e-books. I came across the Mass F/X program in 3D Muscle Building that looks fantastic. Just what I’m looking for. But I would like to use TORQ instead of the drop sets and rest/pause on tension-time days. Will that be too much work?
A: Tension-Overload Repetition Quantity is one of the best DENSITY training techniques we’ve found for blowing up the muscle with new sarcoplasmic size… [Read more…]
Q: I’ve been using the POF-Power/Super-TORQ Mass Workout [in the Power-Density Mass Workout 2.0 e-book]. My mass gains have shot up significantly over the past several weeks. Alternating heavy POF work with Super TORQ [high-rep work on only one exercise] is producing the best growth response in years. My question is about the optional deadlifts that begin the Friday workout. Doing 8-10 reps hurts my back, so I’m thinking about using only one 15-to-20-rep set instead. Is that okay, or should I just train through the pain?
A: First, never “train through the pain” of injury. More on your lower back in a moment. Let’s address the question of reps… [Read more…]
Q: Your Positions-of-Flexion [mass-training system] has helped me get huge with a lot of new muscle over the past six months. Thank you! One question I have is with hamstrings. In both the 3D Muscle Building e-book and The Ultimate Mass Workout, you have feet-forward Smith machine squats as the best midrange hamstring exercise. Don’t my hams get plenty of midrange work when I do squats or leg presses as my midrange quad move? Can’t I just skip the Smith squats and maybe do extra sets on stiff-legged deadlifts [hamstring stretch] and leg curls [hamstring contracted]?
A: We’d like to say yes, but, to be truthful, you don’t get a lot of hamstring innervation with free-bar squats or even leg presses with your feet high on the footplate… [Read more…]
Q: What’s your opinion of loosening exercise form at the end of a set to get a few more reps? Like on curls I keep the reps strict for the first six or seven, then I use some upper-body motion to complete two to three more reps. I’m using the 4X method, so the weight [throughout the 4 sets] is only moderate, not heavy. I’m only using momentum to fight the fatigue buildup at the end of the fourth set. Is that okay, or should I keep my reps strict through the entire 4X sequence?
A: Because the poundage is moderate on a 4X sequence, that’s all the more reason to keep it strict all the way through. Momentum will only take the tension off the target muscle. A very SLIGHT form alteration is acceptable, but keep it as strict as possible to the end of the fourth set… [Read more…]
