4x method Archives - Page 3 of 3

To Squat or Not

Q: I’ve read a lot of your stuff over the years, especially when you had your daily training blog, so I have to ask: What’s the deal with squats? You’ve said before that they always injure you due to spine compression, and you’ll never do them again. But then I see them as the first quad exercise on leg day in some of your routines. You’re contradicting yourselves.

A: Not a contradiction; just another discovery. The way we used to do squats—building up to heavy weights over a number of sets with longer rests—produced more injuries than we care to remember. It was usually our lower backs that got jacked. As we found out the hard way over the years, having 350 pounds jamming down on your spine for even a few sets can do lots of cumulative damage. We’re living proof… [Read more…]

Easier Training and Big-Muscle Gaining

Q: I’m getting close to 60 years old and have been training with weights for almost 40 years. After trying to use heavier and heavier weights, I have a lot of joint aches and pains and can no longer do many exercises. I just wanted to say thanks for your 4X Mass Workout. I’ve been using it for a month and am seeing new muscle size. I’m amazed. Even many of my joints are feeling better because of the medium weights that must be used for 4X. Thank you—but I wish you’d come out with 4X about 20 years ago. Maybe I’d still be able to do bench presses and military presses.

A: We’re glad the 4X method is working so well for you. We’ve had a lot of feedback from older trainees over the years saying that 4X is a revelation and that they are finally gaining muscle again without much joint stress. Heal-alujah! (For more age-friendly muscle-building madness, check out the Anabolic After-40 info at the bottom of this page.) [Read more…]

X-hybrid Techniques: DXO vs. 1 1/4s

Q: I have your e-book with all the X-hybrid techniques [Beyond X-Rep Muscle Building]. I’m having some excellent workouts integrating one or two every time I train. My question is about Double-X Overload. As you describe it, I do a quarter rep down near the stretch position between each full rep, but I’ve also read you guys say you’ve used 1 1/4s. What’s the difference? Isn’t DXO the same as 1 1/4s?

A: The simple answer is that Double-X Overload (DXO) stresses the STRETCH or semi-stretch point—when the muscle is elongated. For example, at the BOTTOM of a press or flye. [Read more…]

Before and Afters: Steroid-Using Bastards?

Q: I’ve been a dedicated lifter and eating healthy for over 20 years, and if Jonathan Lawson achieved the huge ripped size he had in those photos at the X-Rep.com Web site drug-free, I’ll eat my shorts. 🙂 Steve Holman maybe would be believable as drug-free, but I’m skeptical there too.

A: We’re not sure which photos you’re referring to, but on the left below are our afters from our first X-Rep year (the program we used is in The Ultimate Mass Workout) and on the right is the following year using many X-hybrid techniques (our program and methods are in Beyond X-Rep Muscle Building). We get the steroid accusation a lot—Jonathan especially because of his better bodybuilding genetics—but we’re both drug-free in all of our photos. Get out those shorts and start chewing… [Read more…]

No B.S.: 4X for Mass-Building Success—Even Mentzer Would Confess

Q: I’m a big believer in Mike Mentzer’s Heavy Duty system of one all-out set to failure for each exercise. That’s why I think your 4X method is total B.S. Mentzer cited studies and found from personal experience that intensity is the key to muscle growth. With 4X you’re using lighter weights and not going to failure, which wastes a lot of sets. It can’t work, and I think you should feel ashamed for promoting it as miracle mass-building system.

A: We didn’t say it’s a “miracle” system (although some trainees have said it worked mass miracles for them). We simply said that we GUARANTEE that our 4X programs will build NEW MASS for just about anyone. We’re absolutely positive of that because it’s got ALL the critical components to trigger bigger gains quickly—and that includes intensity (we think Mentzer would agree as you’ll see, and that’s no B.S.)… [Read more…]